Thursday, September 22

Welcome to the 7 Day Challenge. For the next 3 days, we are “PRACTICING” our Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage Plans. Each day will bring a NEW mock emergency or situation that will test at least one of the reasons “WHY” we strive to be prepared! REMEMBER: No going to a store, gas station, or spending any money for the next 3 days! Please feel free to adapt the scenarios to fit your own family and situation.

Earthquake strikes! An intense earthquake struck your area and knocked out the power lines, gas lines, and city water pipes. Your fridge food was lost due to the earthquake shattering the glass shelves in your appliances. Your home is safe to stay in but you must survive and stay fed until your utilities are back up and running.

Goal: PRACTICE living without electricity and running water

Today’s Tasks:

• Keep your family warm (or cool) as furnace blowers and A/C will not work without electricity
• Practice powerless cooking by cooking all your meals and snacks using no electricity or gas and no running water.
• You can’t use any perishable foods in your cooking today.
• You must find a way for you (and your family if applicable) to bathe or shower today.
• You can’t flush the toilets because there is no running water to refill the tank. If you have stored water you can use it to manually flush
• Clean all of your dishes using only stored water (practice water conservation tricks)
• Calculate how much water you used today, how long can you live on what you have stored?
• Before dark, locate flashlights, candles, or other light sources. Assess your battery supply.
• Plan a fun family activity tonight with no electronic devices (board games, ghost stories, shadow puppets, be creative!)
• Share what you are learning with the facebook group – that’s the one electronic you can use (loophole)

SHARING TIME: Visit the Facebook Event Page and share a picture of you cooking something without electricity. Let’s discuss how prepared you feel if you were to have to face this type of emergency.

>>>We’re also sharing on instagram! @foodstoragemadeeasy #fsme7daychallenge

Today’s Limitations:

• For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants.
• DO NOT USE POWER AT ALL TODAY (even if you have a generator, it helps to practice!)
• DO NOT USE RUNNING WATER AT ALL TODAY (not even for flushing toilets)

Advanced Tasks:

• Make one ore more powerless cooking tools to use today. Here are a few options: #10 can stove, #10 can grill, cardboard box oven
• No laptops, iPads, phones, etc. (even if you have a way to charge them, don’t!) — You can only use them for the purposes of sharing on Facebook for education purposes.
• Calculate how many meals you can cook based on the fuel that you currently have. Use our fuels handout for a guideline on calculating.

-Jodi Weiss Schroeder
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net