About Citizen Food Prep
Citizen Food Prep is a free, independent tool built for families, homesteaders, and individuals who want a clear, honest answer to a simple question: How much food and water do I actually need to store?
Our Mission
To give every household a reliable, science-backed starting point for emergency preparedness — no fear-mongering, no upselling, no fluff. Just practical numbers grounded in official guidelines.
Why We Built This
When I started researching emergency preparedness for my own family, I found most resources were either vague blog posts ("store three days of food!") or dense government PDFs that required significant cross-referencing to be useful. There was no simple, single tool that combined FEMA water standards with USDA caloric guidelines and gave you a real, personalized number.
I'm passionate about citizen preparedness and self-sufficiency — not out of fear, but out of the belief that resilient households make resilient communities. Whether you're preparing for a winter storm, a regional power outage, a job disruption, or a longer-term emergency, having a calculated food and water reserve removes one layer of uncertainty.
So I built the calculator I wished existed, and made it freely available.
How the Calculator Works
The Citizen Food Prep calculator uses published daily caloric needs from the USDA Dietary Guidelines 2020–2025, broken down by age and gender, and adjusted by your household's activity level. Water requirements follow the FEMA Ready.gov standard of one gallon per person per day. Food category breakdowns (grains, proteins, fruits & vegetables, fats, dairy) follow USDA MyPlate proportional recommendations scaled to your storage duration.
All calculations are performed locally in your browser. We do not collect, transmit, or store any of the data you enter. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Important: Results are estimates intended as a planning starting point. Consult a healthcare provider or registered dietitian for guidance specific to medical conditions, allergies, or special dietary needs. See our Sources & Disclaimer page for full methodology notes.
What We Believe
- Preparedness is practical, not paranoid. Having a two-week food supply is standard advice from FEMA and the Red Cross — not extremism.
- Good information should be free. There's no paywall, no account, no email required to use this tool.
- Official guidelines matter. We ground every calculation in publicly available government standards, not opinion.
- Families of all sizes deserve accurate numbers. The calculator handles mixed households — different genders, children, and pets — because real households are mixed.
Contact & Feedback
Questions, corrections, or suggestions? We'd genuinely love to hear from you — especially if you spot a calculation error or want to suggest an improvement. Reach us at our contact page or directly at contact@citizenfoodprep.com.