Survival Food – Freeze Dried & MRE

Most people find it overwhelming to take action to have a long term food storage to be prepared for disasters and economic uncertainty.

They read lots of information online that tells them they have to radically change their lifestyle to support food storage. The people who write these food storage advice articles are often already in a lifestyle suited to what they preach.

There is nothing wrong with their advice, it simply doesn’t apply to the vast majority of us urban dwelling working parents with kids who have tons of activities and school projects to do every week.

How to Get Started With Your Food Storage is one of those interview articles where the person has a lot of home time to bake bread, use milk powder, and spend tons of time cooking from scratch. This is great if you are in a lifestyle that supports it but for most of us that is not the case.

Answering the question about how often the food storage is used the person replies;

Now it’s natural. But I would say every meal. I make my own bread so at lunch we have that, at breakfast if we have cereal or something then it has the powdered milk. And then dinner would have usually milk or onions or something. I use it all the time.

Further they are asked on advice to those getting started in food storage since it is “a hard step” ;

So what I would say is just pick one thing that you’re going to start with. And one of the things I think is easiest to start with is powdered milk

Okay, so I want to be prepared and I start with powered milk. How many months or years go by before we are ready? How long before most of us just give up?

On the other hand you can order a freeze dried food storage family unit and be ready in a week when it arrives.

You will have 3 months worth of ready to eat meals for your family that costs about the same as the average American family pays now for the same meals in groceries. The food will store for 25 years so if you don’t need it this year or next, it will still be there for you whenever you need it.

Those who are supporting their families with a traditional food storage lifestyle are inspirations to us all.

Those who want to be prepared next week and buy a freeze dried food storage have also done a great thing for their family and friends.

Something new in survival food.

Survival food pills.

What can a pill do for your survival? A lot according to Daryl Stevenett, founder of LifeCaps.

He is marketing a supervitamin pill called LifeCaps that is supposed to provide basic vitamins and minerals in a chewable pill that can replace meals in an emergency.

Stevenett claims he consumed only water and LifeCaps for 17 days under medical supervision, having his blood tested and everything was fine.

The website says that the pill does not contain the RDI calorie intake of over 2000 calories so you will still lose weight, but the pills effectively make you feel ‘satiated’ while suppling essential vitamins and nutrients.

If his claims can be substantiated LifeCaps would be a great addition to a survival kit, especially mobile short term kits you keep in your car.

I would like to know the shelf life and storage temperature sensitivity of LifeCaps for such an application.

Saw this comment in a Northwest Herald article

As economic woes persist and jobless rates hit a 16-year high, area food pantries are seeing more people who need help feeding their families.

Last year some were suggesting that a survival food store for disasters can also be insurance against economic hardship. At the time I thought that this would be a less likely use than people preparing for hurricanes or earthquakes.

However these days,  unfortunately, it seems that a food storage is being sought more and more by people worried about their economic future and effects on their families.

ReadyStore is having a sale till January 19th, 2009 on select items.

The Ultimate 3 month freeze dried food reserve is on sale for $748.75 until 01/19/2009.

Info they provide on this reserve;

• No cooking or preparation! Just add water.
• 36 #10 cans that come in 6 easy to store cases.
• 100% Freeze-Dried food for the highest quality and shelf life available.
• Up to a 30 Year Shelf-Life!
• Trusted gourmet quality from the Saratoga Farms and Mountain House brands!

A detailed list of contents of this package is shown on the product page at the ReadyStore;

ULTIMATE 3-Month Supply of Freeze Dried Food – #10 CANS

 Here are some items that emergency essentials has on sale till the end of January;

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Roadwise™ & Emergency Road Side Kit Combo $40.99 Value $81.83         Keeping an emergency kit in your automobile can help provide confidence when the unexpected occurs. It is always good to keep essential supplies in your car in case you get stranded for a few hours or even a few days. The items in this kit, including the water and food, were specifically selected for storage in your automobile without being affected by normal temperature ranges.

SALE! Iodized Salt $7.99 Value $9.95   Each food plan is not complete without Iodized Salt. This versitle mineral is combined with a minute amount of iodide (or iodate) to prevent iodine deficency. Each can has 2,300 1/4-tsp servings.

SALE! White Flour $5.99 Value $7.95   Make your favorite breads, pastries, desserts, and more! Each can has 64 3-tbsp servings.

Gamma Seal Lids $6.99 Value $7.95   These lids transform 12-inch diameter pails into sealed storage containers. Great for making items in pails easily accessible. A great way to color code your food and other items in pails.

SALE! Refried Beans (pinto flakes & salt) $7.95 Value $9.90   Make many of your favorite Mexican dishes with ease using these Dehydrated Refried Beans in a #10 size can.

ABC II Starter Emergency Kit $17.99 Value $28.43   The ABC-II kit offers the food, water, communication, and warmth basics, along with lighting and emergency tools for your emergency needs.

During an emergency, especially during colder months, these warmers are essential when you need them most. This kit includes more than 172 hours (more than seven days) of total warmth for your 72-hour kits, auto emergency kits, and outdoor adventure gear. Warmth Emergency Kit $8.99 Value $14.92

Heat Cell Fuel $3.99   Heat Cell Fuel will provide a consistent warming temperature for up to ten hours or a cooking temperature for approximately 5 hours.

Katadyn Hiker Pro Water Filter $69.99 MSRP $79.95   For pumping and filtering a supply of water during emergencies and on the trail, the Hiker Pro is efficient, lightweight, and reliable.

Here are some facts about Oregon Freeze Dry the company that markets the Mountain House freeze dried food brand;

Oregon Freeze Dry (Mountain House Freeze Dried Foods)

• Incorporated in 1963
• Located on a 35 acre site in Albany, Oregon
• Employs over 250 people
• Three manufacturing plants
• 32,000 square feet of freeze-drying capacity
• over 60% of the freeze-drying capacity of the US
• Facilities have continuous USDA and FDA inspections
• Kosher and Halal certifications
• Worked with US military to provide rations that taste better, weighed less, and easier to prepare than canned rations
• Private label lines include such products as lunch and dinner entrees for the Nutri/System weight-loss program
• has produced over 400 different foods and beverages
• Supplier of Mountain House® brand

2009 has started off with a few articles on the rising popularity of survialism, one from main stream Financial Times and another from the relatively popular Alternet (500k plus visitors per month).

The article “How to survive the world’s end” in the Financial Times talks about how survivalist websites have become much more popular in the last year. There is a quote from James Rawles of survivalblog.com saying that his visitor base has broadened considerably in the last year to include a wider swath of society and traffic has tripled.

The Alternet article “Business Is Booming for Industry Catering to Survivalists” talks about the businesses that are benefiting from the increased popularity of survivalist lifestyle goods and services. From realtors selling survival retreats, to homesteading and self-sufficiency equipment, and of course survival food.

One quote that stuck out in the article was by Richard Mitchell Jr., professor emeritus at Oregon State University and author of “Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times.”

He stated;

‘The narrative is that “there are troubles ahead, but ‘just right’ troubles, the kind survivalists have the means to confront … imagined troubles always match the means at hand — or what is for sale to solve the problem.” ‘ (bold is mine)

So if there are disaster scenarios that are not the ‘just right troubles’ that the survivalists predict, then how can you get prepared for them?

The survivalist emphasis may be a popular theme at this time with people worried about an economic depression and even the possibility of a collapse.

I am concerned though that the emphasis on preparedness has been lost.

Preparedness for disasters and difficult times is something all should engage in. If disproportionate resources are spent on living a ‘survivalist lifestyle’ and preparing for a total collapse (one scenario) then you may not be prepared as well as you think for any other disaster scenarios, many of which are far more likely.