How this calculator works
A pantry plan starts from energy need and then divides it into foods that store well. The basket behind this page is built for one adult for one day and provides about 2200 kcal: potatoes, bread, oats, pasta and rice for most of the energy, a modest amount of meat, eggs and cheese for protein, and vegetables, fruit, nuts and a little honey and mayonnaise for the rest. Adults of any sex are counted as one share and children as 0.6 of a share, which is a planning simplification rather than a nutrition assessment. The weight of the basket is what you would actually buy, so the cereal, root vegetable and dried goods dominate; fresh items such as milk, peppers and apples are included at a level you could keep for a short stay rather than a long one. The figures are a starting basket, not a rule.
Formula
adult equivalents = women + men + 0.6 x (girls + boys). total food (kg) = sum over foods of (adult grams x adult equivalents x days) / 1000. Energy = sum over foods of (grams x kcal per 100 g / 100) x adult equivalents x days. The basket provides about 2200 kcal per adult per day.
Worked example
Two women, two men and two children under 18 for 14 days give 2 + 2 + 0.6 x 2 = 5.2 adult equivalents. Potatoes are 250 g per adult per day, so the total is 250 x 5.2 x 14 = 18,200 g, or 18.2 kg. The whole basket weighs 1405 g per adult equivalent per day, so this household needs about 1.405 x 5.2 x 14 = 102 kg of food, and the energy works out to about 2200 x 5.2 x 14 = 160,000 kcal.
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Frequently asked questions
Is this enough for a real quarantine?
It is a balanced starting basket at about 2200 kcal per adult per day, which is enough energy for most adults but not a personal nutrition plan. Households with young children, pregnant people, older adults or medical diets should adjust the quantities and check with a health professional.
Why do children count as 0.6 of an adult?
Children eat less than adults, and a single factor keeps the arithmetic simple. It is close to the average for school age children; a toddler eats considerably less and a teenager can eat as much as an adult, so adjust the counts if that matters for your household.
Why is fresh food included in a quarantine list?
The basket includes milk, apples, peppers and other fresh items at levels that suit one to two weeks, with storage in a fridge. For a longer stay, swap the fresh items for frozen or canned equivalents and add the storage you have.
How should the food be stored?
Keep dry goods cool and dry and rotate the oldest first. Canned and dried goods hold for months; fresh produce, dairy and meat are the items that set the real limit. The mass totals here do not include water, which every household also needs to store.