1-Year Emergency Food Supply for a Family of Four

A year of food for four is about 2.9 million calories: 8,000 a day x 365. Kits sold as "1-year" are one-person products, so one covers a family of four for about three months. A full year takes four of them: 96 buckets, about 1,640 lb, and $12,767.20 at the partner's price.

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The target: 2,920,000 calories

• 4 people x 2,000 calories = 8,000 calories a day (the 2,000-calorie figure FDA uses as a general guide; see how much food a family of four needs)
• 8,000 x 365 days = 2,920,000 calories

The planning number is an average. Teenagers, pregnancy and activity all shift it, and a year amplifies any error, so a household with unusual needs should read the nutrition note first. This is the largest tier of an emergency food supply for family of four.

What one "1-year" kit actually covers

My Patriot Supply's 1-Year kit was read on 2026-10-14. The company sells it as one person for one year, two people for six months, or a family of four for three months.

The arithmetic: 727,840 / 8,000 = about 91 family-days, which matches the company's "3 months." One kit is a quarter of a year for four people, not a year.

Four kits: cost, space and water

Four kits come to 2,911,360 calories, which is 99.7 percent of the 2,920,000 target, so "about a year" is accurate. Two other details:

• Four 3-Month kits at $797.95 each come to 4 x $797.95 = $3,191.80, the same price as one 1-Year kit, and feed four people for about 90 days. Buying in 3-Month steps spreads the cost without changing the total.
• The 578 gallons are water to prepare the food. Drinking water is separate: at Ready.gov's baseline of one gallon per person per day, four people use 4 x 365 = 1,460 gallons a year (Ready.gov, Water). The water guide covers sourcing.

For a first purchase, the 1-Year kit is priced above, and the 3-Month kit is the same food in a smaller package.

Price per calorie, with other brands

Computed from each company's published figures, read 2026-10-14:

On published calories, Be Prepared's kits cost less per calorie than My Patriot Supply's, and Mountain House's cost more. Be Prepared's 1-Year kit is $2,279.88 for 12 buckets at 1,888 calories a day, and it says that feeds a family of four for three months. Mountain House's 1-Year page lists 1,080 pouches, 2,160 servings and about 88 gallons of water, with a 30-year taste guarantee. Price is not the only factor: each company states a different shelf-life promise, a different menu, and its own return terms. The side-by-side comparison lays them out. Augason Farms' 1-year kit page could not be read on 2026-10-14, so no Augason figures are given.

Shelf life: what is claimed and by whom

My Patriot Supply states up to 25 years when stored properly. Be Prepared states up to 25 years unopened, in cool, dry storage at 55 to 70 F, and up to one year after a pouch is opened. Both are the sellers' statements, not tested results on this site, and both depend on storage conditions. Even a year-long supply is used up well inside those windows; what matters is keeping it cool, dry and rotated. See how long emergency food lasts.

A staged plan instead of one purchase

Each stage is a decision point you can stop at. Prices were read on 2026-10-14.

Does your household need a full year?

A year of food is a lot of buckets and a lot of money, and the water it needs is a larger task than the food. Ready.gov's guidance for most households is "several days" of food, with no longer period stated. A reasonable question for many households is whether stages 3 or 4 meet the situations they actually plan around, such as an outage, a storm, a job loss or a supply disruption. A full year is a choice for households with storage space, budget and a specific reason, and the staged table makes stopping at an earlier step an ordinary outcome. The My Patriot Supply review covers the partner's terms, including its 30-day return window on unopened products.

FAQ

How many calories is a one-year supply for a family of four?

About 2,920,000 (8,000 x 365).

How many 1-year kits does a family of four need?

Four, by the partner's own figures: one kit is a family of four for about three months, and four three-month periods make a year.

How much does it cost?

At My Patriot Supply's price read on 2026-10-14, four 1-Year kits are $12,767.20 (4 x $3,191.80).

How much space does it take?

Four 1-Year kits are 96 buckets and about 1,640.52 lb (4 x 410.13 lb).

How much water goes with it?

About 578 gallons to prepare the four kits (4 x 144.5), and 1,460 gallons a year to drink at one gallon per person per day.

Sources

• FDA, Calories on the Nutrition Facts label: https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/calories-nutrition-facts-label (read 2026-10-14)
• Ready.gov, Water: https://www.ready.gov/water (read 2026-10-14)
• Ready.gov, Food: https://www.ready.gov/food (read 2026-10-14)
• My Patriot Supply: https://mypatriotsupply.com/products/1-year-emergency-food-supply-2-000-calories-day, https://mypatriotsupply.com/products/3-month-emergency-food-supply-2-000-calories-day, https://mypatriotsupply.com/products/4-week-emergency-food-supply-2-000-calories-day, https://mypatriotsupply.com/products/72-hour-kit-sample-pack (read 2026-10-14)
• Be Prepared, 3-Month and 1-Year kits: https://www.beprepared.com/products/emergency-essentials%C2%AE-3-month-1-person-emergency-food-kit, https://www.beprepared.com/products/1-year-emergency-food-kit-emergency-essentials (read 2026-10-14)
• Mountain House, 1-Year kit: https://mountainhouse.com/products/1-year-emergency-food-supply (read 2026-10-14)

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