2 Week Emergency Food Supply for a Family of 6
Supply Plans · Targets follow FEMA and Ready.gov guidance · Prices checked July 2026
Quick answer
A family of 6 needs about 168,000 calories to cover two weeks, plus 84 gallons of water. The checklist below hits those targets with regular grocery store items for roughly $315 at current prices, and stores in about five large totes.
Targets: 2,000 calories and 1 gallon of water per person per day
Every combination has its own page, so the numbers are always exact and the link you share always shows the right plan.
168,000
Calories to cover
84 gal
Water
≈ $315
Est. cost, July 2026
5 totes
Storage space
The shopping checklist
| Item | Quantity for 6 | ≈ Calories | Lasts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains and staples | ||||
| White rice | 15 lb | 24,750 | 4 to 5 yrs | |
| Rolled oats | 8 lb | 13,600 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Pasta | 9 lb | 15,300 | 2 to 3 yrs | |
| Crackers | 6 boxes | 9,600 | 6 to 9 mo | |
| Proteins | ||||
| Canned chicken | 18 cans | 4,200 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned tuna | 12 cans | 2,250 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned beans | 24 cans | 9,300 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Peanut butter | 5 large jars | 33,000 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Fruits and vegetables | ||||
| Canned vegetables | 30 cans | 4,500 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned fruit | 18 cans | 5,400 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Dried fruit and nuts | 6 lb | 15,000 | 6 to 12 mo | |
| Fats, dairy, and extras | ||||
| Cooking oil | 3 qt | 23,100 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Shelf stable milk | 12 qt | 7,200 | 6 to 12 mo | |
| Honey and sugar | 6 lb | 10,350 | Indefinite | |
| Salt, spices, coffee, cocoa | 1 set | 3,000 | Varies | |
| Water: 84 gallons total | ||||
| Bottled water, 24 packs | 11 cases | n/a | 2 yrs | |
| 5 gallon jugs | 9 jugs | n/a | 1 to 2 yrs | |
Totals land slightly above the 168,000 calorie target on purpose: quantities are rounded up, and appetite goes up in a real emergency. Swap freely inside each category to match what your family actually eats. to take it shopping. No email required.
In the app
Turn this list into your family's number
Add these items once and Provision Planner counts it for you: how many days you are covered, what expires when, and what to restock. About 2 minutes, and the free plan is enough to start.
See how many days you haveDays covered
14 days
Peanut butter, 5 large jars
+2.8 days
White rice, 15 lb
+2.1 days
Cooking oil, 3 qt
+1.9 days
2 weeks goal reached · 17 items tracked · expiry warnings on
Two weeks is the number the agencies actually want
Three days is the floor for evacuation. Two weeks is what FEMA and Ready.gov recommend you hold at home, and it is the length the serious events keep demanding: hurricanes, ice storms, the week the supply chain hiccups and shelves stay empty longer than anyone expected.
This is the first length where storage becomes a real decision rather than a shelf. It is also the last one that a normal household can build entirely out of a normal grocery run, which makes it the most achievable meaningful target on this page. Most families who get here stop worrying about the topic.
Six people move through a plan faster than the arithmetic makes it feel. Storage leaves the closet and goes onto shelving, the largest sensible package of everything becomes the right buy, and it is worth splitting the supply between two places in the house. One burst pipe is a realistic way to lose all of it, and losing half is a much better outcome than losing the lot.
What two weeks actually looks like
Day 3
AM Oatmeal with dried fruit and honey
Noon Tuna and crackers
PM Rice and beans with canned vegetables
Day 8
AM Peanut butter on crackers, canned fruit
Noon Chicken and rice bowl
PM Pasta with canned vegetables and oil
Day 13
AM Oatmeal with peanut butter
Noon Bean and vegetable stew
PM Chicken, pasta, and canned fruit
Frequently asked questions
Is 2,000 calories per person per day enough?
It is the standard planning baseline, and it is what this page uses: 168,000 calories total for 6 people over two weeks. Young children need less, teenagers and adults doing physical work need more. If your household skews either way, size up or down one step with the selector above, or let Provision Planner calculate it per person.
Why so much water?
One gallon per person per day is the FEMA minimum for drinking and basic hygiene, which is where the 84 gallons comes from. Plan for more in hot climates, for pregnant or nursing family members, and for pets. Water is the item families most often undershoot.
How do I keep all this from expiring?
Buy foods your family already eats, store the newest purchases at the back, and eat from the front. The Lasts column above shows how long each item keeps. Provision Planner tracks the dates for you and warns you before anything expires.
The list is the easy half. Knowing what you already have is the other one.
Most households own more of this than they think and still miss one thing that matters. Provision Planner counts what is in your cupboards against this plan and tells you the days you genuinely cover, and what to buy next. Water for a family of 6 is 84 gallons, which is covered in more detail in the water plan for this household.
See how many days you coverRelated plans
Go deeper: The 2-Week Emergency Food Supply List · Does Bottled Water Expire?
Calorie and water targets follow FEMA and Ready.gov emergency planning guidance. Cost estimate reflects typical U.S. grocery prices for July 2026 from our monthly price check. This is general planning guidance: adjust for allergies, medical needs, and what your household actually eats.