How to Feed Yourself When You’re Displaced
When forced from your home due to disaster, the disruption to routine can get in the way of eating
A week into 2025, we watched in horror as the Eaton and Palisades fires spread in Los Angeles, leading to at least 29 deaths, transforming neighborhoods forever, and displacing countless people. As climate change intensifies, the unfortunate truth is that many of us could be one natural disaster away from being displaced ourselves.
One of the most brutal things about displacement is the loss of routine and familiarity that can feel further destabilizing after experiencing trauma. This is most felt in the eating that follows. When I survived a house fire myself a few years ago, I tunneled through a complex maze that only displacement due to natural disaster can dredge up: shock at not being able to inhabit my home, loss that must now be juggled and weighed, grief that crystallized through the passing of inevitable time. And yet I still needed to feed myself.
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, I relied on carryout. When that got too expensive and I missed preparing my own food, I had to accept that I had only a mini fridge and microwave to work with as tools for cooking and eating. This meant I relied on easier meals: sandwiches, salad kits, lots of fresh fruit, packets of microwaveable rice, canned soups, canned beans, rotisserie chickens, frozen protein that could be cooked in the microwave. I soon created a system for myself: I’d come back from the store and wash all my fruit, putting it in a Tupperware container. I’d make tuna or chicken salad for easy lunches to eat with canned soup. A rice bowl using those rice packets became an easy go-to.
These easy, low-lift meals appealed to the low amount of mental energy I could dedicate to meal planning while in the in-between. I needed something quick, filling, and as nutritionally beneficial as possible. All while spending within a tight budget because, aside from carryout getting old, spending $20 multiple times per day adds up. And trust me, you don’t want to add financial stress to the already full plate of mental stresses competing for your attention.
The guide that follows is a basic framework for feeding yourself in the liminal space of displacement. What and how you eat is an individual determination based on multiple factors: life demands, allergies, dietary restrictions, budget. But use the suggestions as inspiration, rooted in compassion and grace, for navigating the unthinkable.
Take a thorough assessment of your space — and gather the necessary tools
Making a plan for feeding yourself while displaced starts with noting what kitchen spaces and tools you have to work with. Depending on where you’ve landed — with family and friends, a furnished rental space, or a hotel — there will be specific considerations.
In shared temporary living situations, as with staying with family or friends, most likely you’ll have easy access to a full kitchen. Your assessment in this case will center around people management: How can you reliably get food into your body while navigating other people’s schedules? Can you communicate about having time alone in the kitchen so you won’t be overwhelmed?
Speak to those who you’re living with about their expectations during this time of sharing space, and share your needs as someone who is in need of calm, clarity, predictability, and routine following trauma. Don’t be afraid to assert yourself. Don’t make demands, but instead aim to collaboratively ensure this arrangement doesn’t lead to tension. Finding a dedicated spot for your foodstuffs could be a good delineation whether in the kitchen or in your own space where you sleep. Something as simple as a tote bag could work here.
For unshared temporary living situations, like a furnished rental, you should take stock of what kitchen tools and items you have already and what items you need to bridge the gap: think items like spatulas and cooking spoons, basic spices and seasonings. Remember, basics are important here so as to preserve money in case of other unexpected costs.
If instead the temporary living situation is a hotel, take note of the size of the mini fridge, whether there’s a microwave in your room (or in a shared space downstairs near the lobby) and the amount of counter space or other areas in your room where you could gather food and prepare simple meals. Be sure to also note if and when breakfast is offered as a hotel amenity and what items are typically served. You may not like everything available or even consider it edible, but there may be little items or snacks (e.g., cartons of milk, juice, cereal, muffins, hot chocolate packets) you can keep in your room that will lower costs.
Once you’ve assessed the kitchen items you need, find stores near you that have reasonable prices. For me, this was a Dollar Tree right next to the hotel I stayed in after my house fire. I set a budget of $20 to get the little things I needed: a small cutting board for chopping, plastic Tupperware containers for food storage, a few bowls for eating, a drinking glass, a mixing bowl, a knife, plastic kitchen utensils, a can opener, dish soap, and sponges. The kitchenware provided unexpected comfort — the key was finding new options that reminded me of my past ones. I chose a drinking glass that was similar to my favorite cups, and I’ve always eaten the majority of my meals from bowls. Think about how you eat and what are the essential items for enjoying what you eat. Lean heavily on that during your shopping as much as practicality.
Create systems of ease
No matter what your living situation is following displacement, focus on creating little pockets of convenience. Break down the meals that feel most approachable — the meals that aren’t complex and multistep which you most likely don’t have energy to think through or execute — and make those pieces of the meal on your higher energy days and store them for later. That way, on those inevitable hard days where everything feels like too much, you can grab any combination of items, dump them in a bowl, and reheat (or eat cold).
Margaret Eby, deputy food editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer and author of recently released You Gotta Eat, believes it’s crucial to be noncritical with yourself when eating feels hardest due to difficult life happenings. In her cookbook, a section titled “Open Something” includes recipes to make when you can only muster opening a can, container, box, or bag; things like bean salad using canned beans, lime and tajin, or a chip sandwich. Another section called “Microwave Something” includes recipes for a scrambled egg in a mug, “baked” microwaved potatoes and savory or sweet oatmeal. All these suggestions are low on the mental energy they involve and easily open to customization.
“The gentleness always comes in when it’s like you’re a person and you have to continue to be a person,” she says. “[Remind yourself] that what you need is to put some food in your body to get to the next step. It doesn’t have to be tweezer food. There is no morally incorrect way to feed yourself.”
Tap into local community resources
Now is the time to tap into your community and ask for help. Maybe that’s keeping a running log of places that are offering free meals, such as organizations like World Central Kitchen, which in the aftermath of the recent Los Angeles fires, has been distributing hot meals from more than a dozen locations throughout Southern California. Facebook is also a great place to put your ear to the ground. Look specifically for community organizations and faith-based ones as well.
Food costs can quickly become a burden during this time of transition — food pantries and food banks in your community exist for this very reason. With Feeding America’s searchable food bank finder, you can plug in your zip code to find a food bank near you. Dialing 2-1-1 or going to 211.org is also a good resource for finding these services. (A note that when you call 2-1-1 you’ll be rerouted or referred to a regional calling center and get intel for local food resources.)
Take a breath. No, literally take a deep breath.
Maybe reading this has been helpful but overwhelming. There’s a lot of details to keep in mind, especially now when you have less mental and emotional capacity. That’s okay but please, pause and take a breath. A deep one, preferably with an open mouth audible exhale after.
Tapping into breathwork, like box breaths, can be a vital lifeline. “Our response to trauma, especially natural disaster based trauma, does start in our body,” says LaToya Stevenson, LCSW and mental health director of Urban Alchemy. “Once you’re actually in a place that’s physically safe, that’s when your brain starts to register the event that took place, what you may have seen and you’re registering it but not even processing it at that moment.”
Being displaced due to natural disaster can be an incredibly difficult experience. Take it one step at a time. Go slow. Act with ease. And above all, be exceedingly kind to yourself. Eating with joy once again will come again soon. For now, do what you can to stay nourished and that’ll be enough.
Nneka M. Okona is a journalist who writes about food, travel, history, grief and loss. She is the author of Self-Care for Grief (2021), a guide for helping others process the losses in their lives while taking compassionate care of themselves.
