Gluten-free in a Natural Disaster

Sandy has been a big wake up call to me, in part because it was supposed to do much more damage here, too. It’s 2 weeks out and the area where I grew up is still without power, and much of NY and NJ are in the same boat.

Now, obviously many people have suffered a lot of loss and inconvenience. But what about g-free folks? Most of the food at shelters or evacuations sites is probably not gluten-free. It’s a great time to plan ahead & investing in your future comfort and health NOW. After all, it seems like we’ve been having once a century storms about once a year, so the odds are it will come in handy.

Do you have a 3-day food supply as FEMA recommends? And what if you had to make it 2 weeks? I’d have enough food for 5 days because I have latent squirrel genes, but 2 weeks would be pushing it.

Here are some ideas. Some require hot water or a manual can opener.

• Canned beans Eden Foods Beans
  Eden is tested for gluten and BPA free, too)
• Canned chicken
• Canned salmon (bonus for ones with a pull top lid!)
• Canned tuna
• Canned soups and stews (a few brands that label as gluten-free are options from Progresso labeled g-free, Amy’s Soup labeled g-free, Pacific foods, Dinty Moore Beef Stew or
  select Dinty Moore microwavable cups etc.)
• Canned veggies: canned tomatoes, corn, green beans.
• Jarred veggies: roasted red peppers, pickled veggies including pickles
• Condiments, ideally in little packages of mustard, mayo, etc.
• Jerky
• UHT (shelf stable) milk
  or milk alternatives
• Nut Butters or squeeze packs

Ready to go meals:

• GoPicnic has a variety of easy, ready to eat options
  Go Picnic has a variety of nice options
• St. Dafour has some ready to eat meals. Bonus—they’re in local stores

These require heating:

• Gluten-free emergency kit
• Options from Trail Food Express
• My Own Meal

Starches:

• Cold cereal—So many to choose from!
• Just hot add water G-free oatmeal packs
• Ready to eat rice, wild rice and quinoa packets, such as Seeds of Change (no gluten-ingredients used), Trader Joe’s, etc. Caution on Uncle Ben’s—some contain wheat.

Snacks:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Bars:
  • Larabars®
  • Pure bars®
  • Raw Revolution Bars®
  • Kind bars®
  • Bumble Bars®
  • No Opportunity Wasted bar®
  • NuGo bars®
  • Zingbars®
  • Rise bars

  .

• Dried Fruit
• Fruit leather
• Canned fruit
• Tortilla chips & jarred salsa
• Potato chips (rice chips, etc.)
• Bagged pre-popped popcorn
• Crackers—gluten-free, of course, like Crunchmaster’s or Mary’s gone crackers

Sanity savers:

• Gluten-free chocolate
• Cookies—consider stashing a 2 pack of a gluten-free brand, like Pamela’s, Enjoy Life, etc.
• Hot cocoa
• Tea

DOUBLE CHECK THAT EVERYTHING IS GLUTEN-FREE!

It’s also worthwhile to think about

• water
• medications
• food for your furry, feathered or finned friends
• other necessities. 

A camp stove, matches, a sterno, generator, etc. will come in handy, too. For other, more general preparedness resources please see the FEMA website.

And, of course, my sympathy for everyone directly involved in this disaster.

PS—The NY region still needs help. Please consider donating if you are so inclined!