Food For Life

The Need

In the North and in the South of Israel there are some several thousands shelters offering immediate protection to the civilians who live under the threat of missiles.

In every war the first 72 hrs are the most critical. While the army enters into action, the civilian population in the shelters must take care of themselves. Based on the past experience it is important to reduce stress, avoid hunger and thirst and create a comfortable environment as much as possible.

"Food 4 Life" project aims at stocking shelters in advance with vital food supplies. Children, mothers and elderly people will have at their disposal all the basic food and water supplies which will get them through the first three days of hostilities without fear and suffering.

Operational Concept

The operational concept will include several stages:

    • The shelters will have enough supplies for the first 72 hours of military operations
    • During this time – special teams (including volunteers from abroad) from the regional food center will get organized in order to stock regularly the shelters with supplies.
    • Construction of a regional food center which will organize and divide the food and will distribute it regularly and systematically to the shelters
    • In order to be able to constantly supply long lasting food, freezers and fridges (for meat, vegetables ,fruit and milk products) will be placed in the regional food center
    • The center will also hold emergency electricity generators, tables and chairs, cupboards and shelves.

 

The amount of supplies to be taken into consideration will have to be sufficient for a much larger number of people than those which theoretically live in the area. We do not know how many “extra” children will be in the shelter or elderly people or entire visiting families caught in the emergency.
From past war experience, in times of great psychological pressure and threat people closed in a small area without any possibility of moving out of it, are consuming bigger food quantities than people living in normal conditions. Drinking coffee and eating outside normal eating times is a common feature as it gives something to do and create a “beneficial” false sense of security. On the other side there is bigger energy consumption (nervous tension – fear – depression etc) per person that we must take into consideration.
Three sizes of public shelters were defined according to their size and number of people sitting in them:

Type of shelterSize of shelter in square metersNo. of people
Small 50 to 70 Up to 30 people
Medium 80 to 100 50 people
Big 120 80 people

 

The food will be purchased through specialized food suppliers in the center of Israel.
The food will be kept in specially prepared metal cupboards and will also include all the tools necessary for preparing the meals and eating them (paper plates and cups, cutlery, hot plata , kettle, garbage bags, liquid soup, paper towels).

Supplies:

The food supplies will include (each shelter according to its size):

  • Tinned food – Tomatoes, Tuna fish, Corn, Peas, Carrots, Chickpeas, Beans, Potatoes, Yellow beans and Fruit)
  • Basic food – Crackers, Water, Oil, Flour, Instant soups, Ketchup, Salt, Sugar, Sweeteners, Long lasting milk, Tea, Turkish Coffee and Instant Coffee)
  • Solid foods – Pasta, Couscous, Rice and Cornflakes
  • Sweets – Chocolate spread, Peanut butter, Jams, Sweets and Chewing gum
  • Baby food – Materna, Similac, Rice porridge, Gerber food, Nappies and one time wet wipes
  • Plastic glasses, throw away plates, soups bowls and cutlery

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American Friends of IEAF is a 501c3 charity in the USA and UK
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