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Yesterday we explained why governments are telling citizens to stockpile food — and why the real reason is routine disaster readiness, not a secret war warning. This companion piece answers the follow-up question readers asked: stockpile what, exactly, and how much? We went through the official guidance from the European Union, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the United States — and the surprise is how much they agree, and how little space the answer takes: for most countries, it fits on a single pantry shelf.
The 72-hour standard — and the countries that ask for more
The benchmark almost everyone now uses is 72 hours. The European Union's Preparedness Union Strategy, adopted in March 2025 under crisis-management commissioner Hadja Lahbib, asks every household in its 27 member states to manage alone for at least three days. Finland built its entire preparedness concept around the same number — the 72tuntia (72 hours) recommendation backed by its authorities and rescue organisations. The Netherlands' Denk vooruit ("Think Ahead") campaign and Poland's Safety Guide, posted to Polish households from December 2025, both work to three days as well.
Two countries ask for more. Sweden's booklet "If Crisis or War Comes", delivered to every Swedish household in November 2024, tells people to manage on their own for at least a week. Germany's Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) goes furthest: ten days of supplies if possible — while stressing that even three days already helps a lot. The United States is the stylistic outlier: Ready.gov sets no fixed number at all, just "several days".
The water math
Water comes first on every list, and the figures cluster tightly: between two and three litres per person per day. Finland advises at least two litres of drinking water per person per day, plus extra for cooking and hygiene. Germany's BBK works on two litres — 1.5 litres for drinking and half a litre for cooking. Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland all land on about three litres. America's one gallon per person per day (about 3.8 litres) looks bigger, but it is meant to cover sanitation as well as drinking and cooking.
Turned into shopping, that means: one person needs roughly nine litres for the standard 72 hours at three litres a day; a family of four needs about 36 litres. Sweden's one-week standard works out at 21 litres per person. Germany's ten-day standard is 20 litres per person — 80 litres for a family of four.
Food that lasts
The food rules are identical everywhere: items that keep without refrigeration, can be eaten as they are or prepared quickly with little water and energy — and, a point the Nordic guides stress, foods your household actually eats. Finland's 72-hour brochure gives the most concrete shopping list of any government: for one adult for three days, roughly 6 litres of water and other drinks, 600 grams of vegetables and root vegetables, 400 grams of fruit and berries, 200 grams of potatoes, 200 grams of pasta, rice or other grains, 550 grams of bread and cereals, and a litre of milk or other dairy.
Germany scales the same idea up. Its official basic-supply calculation comes to about 13.8 kilograms of food per person for ten days, built around roughly 2,200 calories a day across grains, vegetables, fruit, dairy, meat or fish, and fats. The German guidance also popularised the "living stockpile": buy a little extra of what you normally eat, use the oldest first and replace as you go, so nothing expires unused. Canned and dried foods keep for years rather than weeks — the real risk is forgetting what you bought. One small item recurs on the lists: a manual can opener, without which the cans are just decoration.
Medicine, documents and cash
Three non-food categories appear on every list. Medicines: Sweden's booklet advises keeping essential prescription medicines at home for about a month where possible — its example is diabetes medication — far beyond the food horizon. Documents: the EU's kit puts identity documents in a waterproof pouch, and Poland's guide recommends copies of key documents in both paper and electronic form, plus a packed evacuation backpack to grab immediately. Cash: Sweden suggests holding enough cash, in small denominations, to last at least a week; the Netherlands puts an exact figure on it — about €70 per adult and €30 per child — because card machines and cashpoints die in a blackout.
Light, power and information
A battery-powered or hand-crank radio is the one item no government leaves out: when power and mobile networks fail together, it is the last channel standing. Around it cluster a torch with spare batteries, a charged power bank, candles and matches. The Dutch campaign adds the maintenance habit most households skip — check the whole kit every six months and replace anything expired.
What most people forget
Pets are the biggest blind spot, and three governments now name them explicitly: Sweden devotes a page of its booklet to pets, including their extra water; Finland's kit list includes pet food, and Ready.gov adds pet food and extra water for animals. Babies come next: Ready.gov lists infant formula, bottles and diapers, and the Polish and Dutch lists both include baby food. Then sanitation: Sweden's booklet explains the toilet fallback (a plastic bag inside the bowl), and the American list includes moist towelettes and garbage bags. Finally, the analogue fallbacks: spare house and car keys, a whistle to signal rescuers, and a paper map — all on the Dutch checklist.
None of this is hypothetical for disaster-prone regions. When Cyclone Arnab hit India's east coast this week, the first problems for households were exactly the ones these lists are built around — power gone, water disrupted, shops shut. Our timeline of Cyclone Arnab shows how quickly those first 72 hours arrive in a real emergency.
The country rules, side by side
European Union — at least 72 hours; the kit is anchored by food, water, medicines, documents in a waterproof pouch and a battery radio.
Finland — 3 days; at least 2 litres of drinking water per person per day, plus extra for cooking and hygiene.
Netherlands — 72 hours; 3 litres of water per person per day; cash of about €70 per adult and €30 per child.
Poland — at least 3 days; a full home kit plus a packed evacuation backpack.
Sweden — at least 1 week; 3 litres of water per person per day; key prescription medicines for about a month.
Germany — 10 days if possible; 2 litres of water and about 13.8 kg of food per person.
United States — several days; 1 gallon of water per person per day, covering drinking and sanitation.
The convergence is the real story: governments that agree on very little now agree that a household should be able to feed itself for three to ten days, starting with water. None of it requires a bunker or a fortune — the full ten-day German standard is about 20 litres of water and under 14 kilograms of food per person. The official advice everywhere follows the same sequence: build the 72-hour version first, then extend it when you can.