Survival Food – Freeze Dried & MRE

Food preparedness is the logical choice when confronted with real tangible risks.

Why would anyone spend all their resources to prepare for high impact low probability events, while neglecting local significant probability and high impact preparedness?

Live in an seismically active area – be prepared for earthquakes  (Freeze dried food & water)

Live in a coastal area that has hurricane disasters every 50 years – be prepared (Freeze Dried Food & Water)

Live in a coastal area that has hurricane disasters every 20 years – be prepared (MRE)

Worried about flu pandemics every 80 years – be prepared (Freeze dried food  & water)

Live in a flood plain that floods every 20 years – keep several 72 hour kits in your home and automobile (think about moving to higher ground too)

Worried about global economic collapse on a scale that has never happened before – be prepared (Freeze dried food  & water)

Shelf life estimates

Freeze Dried Food – 25 years

MRE – 5 – 7 years

MRE and food bars in a 72 hour emergency kit, in the trunk of a car in a temperate region (Atlanta) – 1 year or less

Buy and store bulk staples, let them rot due to poor oversight and then throw them out a year or two later = unprepared.

Good article on hurricane preparedness for upcoming season on the Florida Times_Union website jacksonville.com;

Hurricane Preparedness and Updates on Your Mobile

A free public service website designed for mobile phone viewing, http://evacuations.mobi delivers up-to-date hurricane conditions from NOAA as well as maps and directions for evacuation routes, links to coastal states emergency sites and more

Preparedness is not just for threats of mega-disasters that are far less likely to occur or impact you. It is the once in 10 year or 30 years or 50 year disasters that you are more likely to experience.

Wildfires, floods, earthquakes, pandemics, and hurricanes are things that, depending where you live, you are likely to experience in your lifetime at least once.

To prepare for these disasters you need to think long term. Life time preparedness needs resources that last a long time.

Here is a great comment on being prepared from Tricia. We all learn from experience, and those who have experienced the worst are wisely the best prepared. Thanks for sharing, Tricia.

Hi, my husband and I have been building up a supply of food for about 8 years. After Hurricane Ivan hit and left us with nothing we had to start over. Red Cross didn’t get to us for over a week, when the military came in they passed out mre’s and water. We ate the mre’s and going on the second week I was having trouble getting them down. I found it very hard to continue eating them. When we finally found a home (8 mths later) we had been lucky enough to have a whole lot of space (we had to start over). We purchased freezed dried #10 canned ( Honeyville) of veggies (onion, carrot, celery, peas, corn, potato flakes) fruit (strawberries, apples, peaches, raspberries, blue berries, bananas), eggs (egg whites, egg yolks, whole egg). I filled the pantry with alot of things like Olives, large can chicken, tuna, #10 canned tomatoes, chili, all kinds of canned fruit, baked beans, our thing was we need enough for family, our animals and neighbors. We buy rice in 50lb bags and we vacuum seal gallon size amounts along with oxygen removers (this is very important), we do this for noodles, sugar, flour, grits, dry milk, etc… Next is the beans, every kind, beans go along way we put them in a quart size zippie bag and again we vacuum seal with oxygen removers. We stocked up on everything we use from bathroom supplies, toliet paper, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, etc… to cases of canned bread (special order) & cases of canned butter (special order) I think you get the point. We vacuum seal everything but the cans. I have everything we need to enjoy our meals. I bought Bulk Foods (sams club & other stores that sell the #10 cans). We have the convenience of not needing to go shopping for 7-10 years. Since we lost everything we started over with furniture, we did not buy any end tables, etc.. instead we bought those nice big blue buckets with lids. I have stacked (2 high) 8 full containers behind my sofa (the fit was perfect just under the full length of the sofa) my husband cut a pcs of plywood to fit the top next I put a nice cover (sheet) over it and put some nick nacks on top so you don’t even know its there, did the same thing with the love seat and my end tables are containers. When our pantry was loaded and my laundry room cabinets where full I had to put the food some place. I also use a dehydrator for jerky and fruit (short term). For the question about how would we move this if we had to move no problem, because of Hurricane Ivan we had to purchase an RV (30′) it would be easy to move these items into the RV. Anything major hits us either by Mother nature or by Man we have our list, Animal & Things (every day items), Medication, Cleaning Supplies, Emerg 1st Aid, Emerg 1st Aid for snake bites, bathroom items, Lots of Bleach, Food, Water Purifiers (2), Rechargeable Batteries, Extra Gas, Elec & Duct Tape, Flash Lights & Lanterns, Propane, Propane Heater, RV and/or Tent & Supplies, Tools, Solar Panel, Camouflage Clothes & Nets, Generator, Oil/Gas, Candles, Matches, Batteries AA, AAA, D’s, C’s,
Extra Water Filters for Purifier, Entertainment (brd games, dice, cards etc…), Protection (ect….). We do expect the worse to happen and I have an evacuation plan list that we sent out to our close friends and family that is more detailed (a place to meet up, road maps that are marked and several ways to get where we need to go. Some people may think this is really bad but thats okay because there are a whole lot of people like us doing the same thing (food for thought).

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina there was a severe MRE (meals ready to eat) shortage for months and prices went way up during that period.

Hopefully Hurricane Gustav will cause as little damage and loss of life as possible.

But if there is need again for MRE to support disaster relief please be considerate of those who most need it.

If you were planning to order MRE for general preparedness and see that it is in short supply, you may want to delay ordering and making the supply situation worse, at least until MRE that is needed immediately has been made available to those who need it.

I strongly recommend MRE for Hurricane preparedness because it is truly ready to eat and can be heated with a flameless ration heater or “FRH”.

Electricity can be unavailable for weeks in some areas after a hurricane so the ability to have a hot cooked meal with no equipment required is a huge benefit.

Commercial MRE comes in 12 meal cases usually the FRH is included. The meals are usually 1000 – 1300 calories (check this before you buy MRE) so 2 meals per day will be more than enough to get by.

Don’t wait till there is a Hurricane approaching to buy MRE though, as local stores will sell out of MRE quickly.

MRE has a 5-7 year shelf-life if stored in cool place below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so you should plan to stock up every 5 years or so and always have 1-3 weeks supply .

You can buy online at Amazon.com, however with shipping the total cost from Amazon is over $89 per case. This cost is higher than most other online outlets, but you are probably not as familiar with the other small ones, so you may trust ordering from Amazon more. However, when you buy MRE from Amazon, it is not directly from Amazon you are buying but rather their “Amazon Prime” partner, which is in fact a smaller outfit than the 3 retailers listed below.

I have had good experiences with these online MRE retailers to date and have seen only positive reviews on them from others;

Nitro-Pak
The ReadyStore
MREfoods.com

I recieved a phone call and email from a Texas radio station this morning. They talked about the chaos going on with Hurricane Dolly and how their listeners would be very interested in survival food products.

It was someone from the advertising department, not the newsroom.

After I told them my website is a blog and that I don’t actually sell products they quieted down a bit.

I told them anyone advertising now would just be selling on fear, but I guess that is what they were interested in.

I also said it is too late anyway for anyone who is not prepared with their own food supply. Hopefully there will be little or no damage and disruption from this hurricane.

If you live in an area that has risk of hurricanes, the best course of action is to decide on your preparedness plans now and not wait. You will make the best decisions when there is no rush and panic and not be at the mercy of people trying to profit on your fear.

As mentioned in a previous post the best survival food for hurricanes is MRE. It is ready to eat and does not require water to prepare. If you have to travel away from the coast before the hurricane hits the best food to carry with you is MRE.

Commercial MRE is available at camping stores, some department stores and online.

I would avoid military MRE on auction sites as it may be compromised by how it was stored previously, and there is a chance it was stolen or improperly obtained or is specified not for re-sale by the government.

Hurricane season is upon us once again. Hurricane food preparedness should start with MREs. Since MRE are truly “ready to eat”, that is you do not need to prepare or cook them, nor is water needed. MRE’s are the best choice for hurricane preparedness.

MRE’s are also easier for traveling since you do not need to carry that extra water or heating equipment to prepare them. The Flameless Ration Heaters that most MREs come with, can heat them in 10 minutes so you can feel some comfort in a stressful situation with a hot meal.

MRE’s are a great food reserve for hurricanes for another reason; the packaging they come in are tested tough by the Military;

1. 100% survival rate from a military cargo parachute drop
2. A survival rated of at least 75% in the event of a air cargo parachute failure
3. Survive under the harshest of weather conditions
4. Withstand extreme soldier field abuse
5. Handle outdoor storage anywhere in the world
6. Pass 7,000 individual pouch drops from 20 inches
7. Be able to withstand a static load of 200 pounds for three minutes.

Hurricane Kits & MRE

MRE’s

Executive 72-hour Kit – As seen on CNN!

72-hour Survival Kits

Emergency Radios

Water Filters, Purifiers and Storage

Executive 72-hour Kit with Solar Upgrade

Below is an great article by Rayven Perkins where she talks about her first hand experience with MRE’s in the aftermath of 3 hurricanes starting with Hurricane Charley.

Two commercial MRE meals per day provide enough calories for an adult for one day at about 2400 calories. A box of 12 MREs costs about $75. So for $300 you can have an emergency food reserve that supports 4 adults for 6 days.

Recent news about food shortage and food price increases have created a huge increase in demand for freeze dried food as well as MRE, so if you need to prepare for this season you really need to act now.

MREs are available at local camping and some other outdoor stores. They are also available online but I would avoid eBay as you have no idea what you are getting, some or all of the MRE may be old and close the expiry date. Also if you see marked military MRE, please note that It is illegal to sell military MRE.

MRE (meals ready to eat) Food Reserves

72 hour survival kit

MREs for Hurricane Preparation

By Rayven Perkins

Its almost hurricane season again! And time to get our supplies ready in case we get hit again this year. I have personally been through four hurricanes, three of which hit during a two-month period during 2004. I have stayed in my home for all four hurricanes and have learned a thing or two about the best supplies to have on hand.

Bar none, the best food supplies to have on hand are MREs. MRE stands for Meal Ready to Eat. They are United States military rations that have become available on the civilian market. MREs are an all in one meal kit. Packaged in a waterproof bag, they contain items such as an entree, side dish, snack item, beverage base, and dessert.

They contain a food heater that is activated by a very small amount of water, and even have an accessory pack with condiments and utensils. Heck, they even have toilet paper in them!

MREs have a shelf life of up to 10 years when stored properly. They are a great item to have on hand for any sort of emergency. They certainly came in handy for us when we had them in 2004. The first hurricane, Hurricane Charley, caused our electricity to go out for 5 days. We did not suffer any structural damage, luckily, but we lost all the contents of our fridge and freezer.

We had actually forgotten all about our MREs at the time. We did not properly prepare for Hurricane Charley. We had that “it won’t happen to us” mentality.

After the hurricane, we spent two days eating cold spaghetti-o’s before we remembered the box of MREs we had purchased for camping. Out they came! The whole family ate much better those last three days without electricity than the first two! Between the hurricanes, we did have the sense to restock our Meals Ready to Eat and have always made it a point to keep them on hand since then.

The second hurricane that hit us that year did some structural damage, but we retained power. The third hurricane left us without power again, this time for over a week. With two small children at home, I can tell you that hurricane season that year was not fun. In Central Florida, you need air conditioning to survive. Going a few weeks without air conditioning was trying to say the least.

Couple that with being holed up in a dark apartment with no TV, little light, and nothing to do. The only thing to break the monotony of those days was the fun we had when we ate our MRE meals. The kids (and adults) had a blast opening up each bag, cooking the entrees over the flameless heater, and devouring the interesting snacks provided. It was the only source of amusement during this trying time.

In short, every hurricane preparedness pantry needs to have a case of Meals Ready to Eat available, not just for food, but to break up the boredom.

Rayven Perkins is a stay home mom who has put together a resource on MREs, including where to find the best prices for purchasing them. Visit her website at: Discount MREs

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rayven_Perkins
http://EzineArticles.com/?MREs-for-Hurricane-Preparation&id=1120493

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MRE (meals ready to eat) Food Reserves

72 hour survival kit