Jul 27 2010
Mountain House, the largest makers of freeze dried food in the world have launched a “Connect with Mountain House Online!” campaign.
If you join their Twitter feed or Facebook group you get information updates and discount offers.
They also have a YouTube Channel.
Jul 21 2010
There are several items that need to be considered when one is preparing survival food rations. A basic survival kit needs to include many items. Here we will discuss just the food portion of a survival kit that should be kept on hand in the home in case of an emergency of some sort.
A good way to store survival materials is to keep them in a cellar or basement area. Many homes do not have these areas so a designated meeting place somewhere near the center of the house will work just as well. Items can be placed into a large plastic, or water proof, containers and only opened to replace old items or in a state of emergency.
Protein is a staple that must be included in the kit. There are plenty of options from which to choose. It is best to have several small containers rather than one large one. Individual units of things like peanut butter, canned chicken or tuna, and beans are all good choices for proteins. These need to be canned items and not in plastic or paper containers. This will ensure the contents are safe from contamination. Individually packaged nuts are also a good protein choice to be included in the kit.
Small packages of crackers can be placed into metal containers and stored in the kit as well. These will need to be changed out every three months to keep them fresh though.
There are many types of dried fruits that can be stored in a survival kit. Several different types of fruits can be purchased so that there is a variety. Individual packages are good but mostly just try not to buy the very large bags. The smaller the bag the better as this will yield less waste.
These are a few staple items that should always be included in a survival kit. There are other types of packaging to choose from. The storage space must be considered and items purchased which will allow for the maximum amounts of key items to be stored in case there is an emergency situation.
MREs or meals ready to eat, are the perfect emergency survival food. First designed by the military, they are now available to civilians as well. To find MRE meals for sale and military grade MREs, visit the links.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Timothy_Dalton
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Prepare-a-Survival-Food-Kit&id=4690748
May 12 2010
By Lance Esondi
In a modern world to most having something like a survival food storage seems a bit silly. The idea of having access to food and goods at all times seems normal because most of our lives that’s exactly how it has been. There are situations that having a survival food storage is a good option to have.
There are some situations where access to goods or ability to buy goods could be limited. Having a good 30 or 60 day supply on hand isn’t a bad idea.
Job loss - For most people at any time their jobs can be lost. This normally isn’t thought of as a survival situation but in a modern world it is. Having extra food and supplies will just make the period of job loss a bit easier.
Natural disaster - Some natural disasters you will have to evacuate the city like a major hurricane. But for some you might be stuck at home because it’s too difficult to leave the city. Having this food supply gives you something to rely on.
Pandemics - Pandemics can happen. Luckily there is some security out there where things are done to control them, but a sickness or virus could get out of control. The strategy in an area if one of these sicknesses is too far out of control is to quarantine everyone. While you are quarantined having some supplies will make this time much easier.
When you make your survival food storage, store food that you currently eat. Stock up on items that you already enjoy and just rotate your supply. Put the new one you just purchased into your storage bin and take the oldest one out to use next. This way you don’t have to worry as much about the food spoiling. Also you aren’t going to be left with old freeze dried meals that you may never actually eat if they go bad.
Do you have a plan for natural disasters or pandemics?
Click and learn Urban Survival Skills to properly prepare and be ready for these situations.
Discover Food Storage Secrets that let you have a good supply of food without constant worry about expiration dates.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Esondi
http://EzineArticles.com/?Whats-the-Point-of-Survival-Food-Storage-in-a-Modern-World?&id=3638439
Jan 30 2010
By Lance Esondi
In a modern world to most having something like a survival food storage seems a bit silly. The idea of having access to food and goods at all times seems normal because most of our lives that’s exactly how it has been. There are situations that having a survival food storage is a good option to have.
There are some situations where access to goods or ability to buy goods could be limited. Having a good 30 or 60 day supply on hand isn’t a bad idea.
Job loss - For most people at any time their jobs can be lost. This normally isn’t thought of as a survival situation but in a modern world it is. Having extra food and supplies will just make the period of job loss a bit easier.
Natural disaster - Some natural disasters you will have to evacuate the city like a major hurricane. But for some you might be stuck at home because it’s too difficult to leave the city. Having this food supply gives you something to rely on.
Pandemics - Pandemics can happen. Luckily there is some security out there where things are done to control them, but a sickness or virus could get out of control. The strategy in an area if one of these sicknesses is too far out of control is to quarantine everyone. While you are quarantined having some supplies will make this time much easier.
When you make your survival food storage, store food that you currently eat. Stock up on items that you already enjoy and just rotate your supply. Put the new one you just purchased into your storage bin and take the oldest one out to use next. This way you don’t have to worry as much about the food spoiling. Also you aren’t going to be left with old freeze dried meals that you may never actually eat if they go bad.
Do you have a plan for natural disasters or pandemics?
Click and learn Urban Survival Skills to properly prepare and be ready for these situations.
Discover Food Storage Secrets that let you have a good supply of food without constant worry about expiration dates.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Esondi
http://EzineArticles.com/?Whats-the-Point-of-Survival-Food-Storage-in-a-Modern-World?&id=3638439
Dec 27 2009
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.
May 16 2009
Survival food reserves with Mountain House freeze dried food are now back to normal lead times.
A recent spike in demand due to swine flu has subsided.
It had been taking 5-10 days to process orders at some suppliers due to high volumes.
The situation during the swine flu pandemic threat was much better than May 2008.
Then survivalists worried about ‘peak oil’ collapse caused lead times to go out to 7 to 8 weeks in some cases. Supplies of Mountain House freeze dried food were cut off to just a few online distributors at that time. Rumors circulated at that time suggested there would be as longs as a 20 week lead time on Mountain House freeze dried foods. These rumors turned out to be just rumors as the lead dropped to few days once the oil price dropped last summer.
The price of freeze dried food went up 10% to 15% at this time and has not come down since.
The lead time on freeze dried food increased again in October and November of 2008 as worries of a global economic collapse fueled rabid sales of freeze dried food. Demand remained strong till March but lead times returned to normal. I have observed during this time that when the daily stock market went up sales of freeze dried food go down and vice-versa. It is probably not a good idea to make long term decisions on preparedness based on day to day news.
With swine flu pandemic threat arising, sales skyrocketed again causing longer lead times but this only lasted a few weeks.
Freeze dried food, which in Mountain House #10 cans can last up to 25 years is a good long term insurance policy against disasters. Threats of disaster come and go but you want to be ready when you need to be. It is best not to wait till there is a threat and lead times get long and prices go up.
May 10 2009
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.
Mar 14 2009
Sorted through 50 blog and forum posts that refer to freeze dried food in the last week. Selected 3 below that have meaningful information on preparedness and freeze dried food references;
This is a terrific forum discussion with a lot of great opinions on pros and cons of freeze dried food versus other survival food storage approaches. Concerns with high sodium levels of prepared food are expressed. If you can adjust your lifestyle to eating rice and beans and storing these food regularly than there is an advantage in price and health. However the fact is that most people are not likely to adjust to the change and be left later in an unprepared state. The value of freeze dried food reserve is you “don’t have to eat it till you need it”. So people who buy freeze dried food have less risk of being caught unprepared. However if you can adjust “rice and beans” it will decrease the amount of freeze dried emergency food you need to store.
“Target Woman” talks about things you need to take into account in preparing your survival kit.
the key to survival in the wild is preparation. Where to start and what are the factors that influence purchase of survival products for outdoors or wilderness travel?
This blog post has a section at the bottom “5 MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WITH EMERGENCY SUPPLIES” that is worth reading.
Back in the ‘Y2k’ days, our family prepared and urged others to do the same, not because of fear but so that we could help ourselves and others if there was a need
If you have a good article, blog post, or forum discussion on freeze dried food you would like me to point out please let me know in a comment or in an email to servu@bulk-survival-food.com.
Mar 09 2009
Utah State University has a classic food storage advice document on it’s website.
The document titled “Food Storage in the Home” set the standard for food storage advice for years to come. Published by Charlotte P. Brennand, PhD, and Deloy G. Hendricks, PhD of the Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences, “Food Storage in the Home” focuses on “Reducing Waste and Maintaining the Quality of Stored Food”
They analyzed over 10,000 food storage systems in Utah in their research.
The concise 20 page pdf file covers what food to store, the storage area, and storage life. A surprising observation I found in this document regarding how much food to store was;
If you were to sample most Utah family food storage programs in November, about 45 percent would have adequate stores of food for one year. If the same families were resampled in May only 20 percent would still have a years supply on hand. Families which did not have a years supply in May had used food from storage and had no garden or orchard to replenish the supply during the winter months.
They go on to recommend you have a long term food storage that has a peak 18 months supply if you are planning to always have a years supply. This makes sense if you are utilizing a garden approach to supplement your food supply.
What was even more shocking though was this finding on page six;
Families that were resampled and still had a years supply in May did so because they never used food from their storage system. We have analyzed over 10,000 food storage systems in Utah and found that many people are under the illusion that food lasts forever. Their food storage systems are designed so that a years supply is purchased and stored until needed. Consequently they have some stored food that is 10, 20, and 25 years old. In view of what is known about shelf-life, these systems are quite wasteful and inefficient.
Under this illusion what people thought they had, a years supply, disappeared when they went to use it. Not a comforting thought. They had solved the problem by not drawing on their reserve but in the end they had no reserve, the food was inedible.
This would not be the case with freeze dried food however. Having freeze dried food that is 10, 20, and 25 years old in a food storage area means the food is still good and delicious to eat.
How many people who start something are able to follow thru and stick to the plan for months or years to come?
Mar 08 2009
The US Department of Agriculture publishes a report monthly titled “Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels”.
This report shows the monthly food cost for individuals of various ages and for a family of four. The budgets are calculated based on the nutritional requirements for dietary intake reference guidelines. In the USDA’s reference document “The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, 2007″ the “food baskets” chosen are all representative of the requirements except;
To meet the recommendations for vitamin E, potassium, and sodium would have resulted in market baskets that are very different from typical consumption (in the case of vitamin E and potassium) or would require changes in food-manufacturing practices (in the case of sodium).
What they are saying is that what Americans typically eat and what is available from producers at the supermarket is too far off to select a basket that meets the Vitamin E, potassium, and sodium requirements. These exceptions, while interesting to note, tell us that all the other dietary requirements have been met in these food baskets.
The “thrifty” food plan on the other hand;
Having more vegetables, fruits, and milk products and less other foods
in the TFP market basket for the family of four, compared with their reported consumption,
is not surprising; because, the TFP represents a nutritious diet.
The monthly home food “moderate plan” budget for a family of four, with older children, in January 2009 was $973.80.
The “liberal plan” January home food monthly budget was $1182.50.
For 3 months the home food budget comes to $2921.40 and $3547.50 for moderate and liberal plans respectively.
Compare this to the 3 month Platinum reserve from Nitro-pak that cost $3375. The platinum reserve supports four adults at 2000 calories per day.
Some people erroneously think freeze dried food is very expensive. But when you look at the facts the cost of a freeze dried food reserve is no more expensive than the average food budget.
Even more important, most freeze dried food reserves offered are prepared meals so no effort to cook them is required. Adding hot water is all it takes to have a hot meal in minutes. Even if you don’t have hot water you can still eat the food cold.
I have previously shown the cost of bulk staples is deceptive once you factor in the cost of cooking and preparing meals. You need effort, equipment, more time, and more fuel. Any of these can be a precious commodity in a disaster. How valuable will your time be in a crisis? Freeing up time to work on other challenges could make a huge difference in your survival.
Finally a bulk staples only food plan always has the risk you will get caught with low inventory, your re-order point, just at the time a shortage of supply occurs. With freeze dried food the reserve is not touched, never depleted. Only when your normal food supply is disrupted do you draw on it.
Having a diverse food storage plan is wise. Bulk staples, MRE, freeze dried food all have their different benefits. But do not make a poor decision on the balance of these choices based on a wrong perception of cost. Value is more important than cost, looking at facts for the total cost of an option is vital to making the correct decision on your long term food storage plan.
