1 Month Emergency Food Supply for One Person
Supply Plans · Targets follow FEMA and Ready.gov guidance · Prices checked July 2026
Quick answer
One person needs about 60,000 calories to cover one month, plus 30 gallons of water. The checklist below hits those targets with regular grocery store items for roughly $115 at current prices, and stores in about two 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.
60,000
Calories to cover
30 gal
Water
≈ $115
Est. cost, July 2026
2 totes
Storage space
The shopping checklist
| Item | Quantity for 1 | ≈ Calories | Lasts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains and staples | ||||
| White rice | 6 lb | 9,900 | 4 to 5 yrs | |
| Rolled oats | 3 lb | 5,100 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Pasta | 4 lb | 6,800 | 2 to 3 yrs | |
| Crackers | 3 boxes | 4,800 | 6 to 9 mo | |
| Proteins | ||||
| Canned chicken | 7 cans | 1,650 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned tuna | 5 cans | 950 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned beans | 9 cans | 3,500 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Peanut butter | 2 large jars | 13,200 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Fruits and vegetables | ||||
| Canned vegetables | 11 cans | 1,650 | 2 to 5 yrs | |
| Canned fruit | 7 cans | 2,100 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Dried fruit and nuts | 3 lb | 7,500 | 6 to 12 mo | |
| Fats, dairy, and extras | ||||
| Cooking oil | 2 qt | 15,400 | 1 to 2 yrs | |
| Shelf stable milk | 5 qt | 3,000 | 6 to 12 mo | |
| Honey and sugar | 3 lb | 5,200 | Indefinite | |
| Salt, spices, coffee, cocoa | 1 set | 1,050 | Varies | |
| Water: 30 gallons total | ||||
| Bottled water, 24 packs | 4 cases | n/a | 2 yrs | |
| 5 gallon jugs | 4 jugs | n/a | 1 to 2 yrs | |
Totals land slightly above the 60,000 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
30 days
Cooking oil, 2 qt
+7.7 days
Peanut butter, 2 large jars
+6.6 days
White rice, 6 lb
+5.0 days
1 month goal reached · 17 items tracked · expiry warnings on
A month is where rotation starts to matter
At thirty days you are no longer assembling a kit, you are running a small inventory. Food bought today will still be sitting there next spring, which means expiry dates stop being a detail and become the whole discipline. Newest at the back, oldest to the front, and eat from your storage so it turns over.
The failure mode at this length is almost never running out. It is opening a tote in fourteen months and finding half of it went off quietly while you were not looking. Anything you would not happily eat this month does not belong in a month's storage.
Storing for one is the easiest version logistically and the hardest one psychologically, because nobody else notices the gaps. The advantages are real: it fits in a closet, costs less than any other plan here, and can be built in one or two ordinary shops. The mistake to avoid is buying family-size tins. Opened alone, most of a large can goes to waste, so buy the smaller format even when the unit price looks worse.
What one month actually looks like
Day 5
AM Oatmeal with dried fruit and honey
Noon Tuna and crackers
PM Rice and beans with canned vegetables
Day 15
AM Peanut butter on crackers, canned fruit
Noon Chicken and rice bowl
PM Pasta with canned vegetables and oil
Day 25
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: 60,000 calories total for one person over one month. 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 30 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.
See how many days you coverRelated plans
Go deeper: The 3-Month 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.