Your body requires nutrition from many sources to be healthy in a long term survival situation. Of course you need water but you also need protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. You need to have a wide variety in your food storage. Don't just pick one food you like and stock only or mostly that item. You need 30 calories per kilogram of body weight per day or roughly 2400 calories for a 175 pound person. This can be really challenging for a family to supply. 

Get your garden going now! Start learning to garden while you don't have to rely upon it. There is a big learning curve for gardening and you don't want to be starting the process while your life hangs in the balance. There are all kinds of natural threats to your garden and you will need to know what you can do to eliminate the threats while protecting the beneficial bugs and plants.

Protein in a post collapse society will be hard to come by. People desperate for food will quickly deplete the available small game and deer population. Even the natives had to live a nomadic lifestyle so they did not over hunt one area. Some animals that have protein, like rabbits, are devoid of fat. Your body will develop fat hunger if you do not have a source of dietary fat and only eat these animals. 

You can get protein from plants but you have to know which ones and where they grow. Nuts, like almonds and walnuts are a great source of protein. One fourth of a cup of almonds provides about 8 grams of protein and you will want about 50 grams per day per adult. Nuts are also a great source of fat. Almonds are about 8% fat but they also provide other essential vitamins like vitamin E.

Beans are another great source of protein and one cup of beans usually have 10 grams or more. One cup of chick peas, for example, provide about 15 grams of protein. One half of a cup of pumpkin seeds provides about 20 grams of protein. Sunflower and flax seeds are another protein provider worth stocking.

Know the difference between legumes and nuts. Legumes are not as good as regular beans but still a viable source of protein. Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes but a good source of protein none the less. Another legume, lentils provide about 18 grams of protein per cup.

Sprouts are also a wonderful source of protein and many other valuable nutrients for your body, like: lecithin, zinc, and tons of vitamins. There are about 3 and a half grams of protein per cup of mung bean sprouts. Stock those seeds! Sprouts are easy to grow and require very little space to do so.

It is important to find your local sources of protein that can be foraged for, like stinging nettle for example. These foragables are also important for their medicinal value. Green pine needles can be made into tea and are an excellent source of vitamin C which wards off scurvy.

Some of the most important things to stock are dried beans. You will have to re-hydrate them but they don't weigh that much and are very nutritious. Also stock canned meats like canned salmon. Salmon is very rich in protein but also high in good fats (Omega 3). You can also stock other types of canned meat that will last a long time like bacon (and who wouldn't want bacon in a survival situation?). Bulk nuts are also important to stock as well as brown rice. Organic peanut butter is another great option. Peanut butter stores well and can be used as a carrier for other items like nuts and berries to make a good travel bar. 

Remember variety is important. You have to stock items your family will actually want to eat. People, especially children, will develop food fatigue from eating the same thing over and over. If you have kids, or not, you should also have a candy item on hand that you can use as a treat and reward. We stock licorice because it lasts a long time but Dr. Alton warned about older folks eating too much licorice because it causes high blood pressure.

The prepackaged dehydrated foods are very high in sodium and of course this is bad and leads to high blood pressure. But, you have to do what you have to do and do what you can with what you have. In the old days they had to eat high sodium preserved items to make it through the winter because sometimes keeping your belly full is more important than worrying about the long term effects of the food you are eating. It is a good idea to blend these long term food sources with the foods you grow and forage. Make sure you develop your dehydrating skills now so you can put them to use when the garden starts producing.