Gluten-Free Emergency Preparedness

Creative Commons via scandifoodie.blogspot.com

 

In the world of emergency management, we often encourage folks to store food for disasters, but rarely do we see information for specific food allergies. 

This past summer, the Gluten-Free Insider wrote an excellent blog post on preparing for emergencies from a gluten-free perspective. 

In their article, it is recommended to consider:

• Dehydrating food as this allows you to control the content and ensure it is gluten-free. 
• Canned meats, fish & beans.
• Avoiding prepared, canned meals as they are often mostly water and less nutrient-dense.
• Boil in bag meals and meal replacement beverages can also be an option if they are available.
• Dried meats and fruit (like low-sodium jerky or fruit leather)   You could make your own beef jerky and fruit leathers to save money and ensure they are gluten free.  Here are some Jerky Tips & Recipes.
• Gluten free energy/protein bars are quite widely available.
• 
  
• Rice is often suggested as a good staple for a gluten free emergency kit. Quinoa is better from a nutrient standpoint, it cooks quickly and can be made in a variety of ways (with cinnamon & sugar or cayenne, garlic & beef jerky). Boil in bag rice is very convenient. Brown rice is better nutritionally, but takes a lot of time and fuel to cook.
• Celiac.com suggests packing a small 3 cup rice cooker but you may be without power so you may want to consider a small single burner camp stove or sterno stove with extra fuel. You can even make your own sterno stove. Make sure you have adequate ventilation when cooking with any kind of combustible fuel.
• Dry soup or bouillon cubes can be a good way to add flavor to your emergency meals.
• Pepper, salt, sugar, other spices such as garlic, cayenne, chili, cinnamon. While you don’t need these, they can help make your rations taste a whole lot better. 
• Coffee, tea, chocolate mix, powdered milk.