Survival Food - Freeze Dried & MRE

The Pros and Cons of Civilian and Military MREs

By Timothy Dalton

Meals ready to eat are getting to be a very popular option for people wanting to stock up their emergency disaster kits. And why not? If it is good enough for the U.S. military to feed the soldiers in the field, it should be good enough for civilians as well. However, the problem is that military MREs aren’t available for commercial resale to the public. However, that hasn’t stopped cases of military MREs from appearing for sale online or in army surplus stores. Obviously, if there is a demand for the stuff, people will supply it.

Seeing as how there is a demand for MREs for the general public, manufacturers are also producing a civilian version of these convenient meals. The question is, how do civilian MREs compare with military MREs? The answer is, there is not much of a difference. After all, it’s the same companies who supply the U.S. military with their MREs. They are just expanding their market to civilians.

While military MREs go through more stringent testing with their packaging requirements, you also have to realize that they are made to withstand parachute drops and extreme ranges of temperature. You have to ask yourself, do you really need to drop your food from at an altitude of thousands of feet? Or go through minus temperatures or extreme heat? If the answer is no, then you don’t need military MREs.

You might also be wondering about the caloric differences between the civilian version and the military version. While it is true that military meals average about 1200 calories each, the civilian versions are not far off at 1000 calories. This is for one individual package. If you have one for each of your three meals, you’ll be consuming 3000 calories for the day which is more than enough for even an active male individual.

Civilian MREs are a good choice for the public as there really is no need to go all out with a military version. In fact, when you buy civilian MREs, you will probably be getting a better quality product because you don’t know where the military MRE came from or how it was stored since it wasn’t purchased from a direct source.

Those are the pros and cons for military and civilian MREs. Whichever MRE version you choose, it is always a good idea to keep a case in the house for emergency situations.

Timothy Dalton is a freelance writer who is also an outdoor enthusiast. Visit the following links for military mre meals and civilian mre meals.

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The Shelf Life of Long Term Food Storage Items

By Frank Salvo

There are four main factors that determine the shelf life of your long term food storage items. If you are looking to start a food storage program for your family, or you already have one, you will want to be aware of these things in order to get the maximum shelf life possible.

The four factors are as follows. The temperature of the storage area, the moisture content of the food, the atmosphere in the storage container, and the storage container itself. Let’s look at each of those factors.

1) Temperature of the Storage Area

Temperature has more to do with how long storable food will last than anything else. If you are planning on storing your food in a warm environment, it will only last a fraction of the time it would last in a cool, dry place. Some feel that the optimum temperature is 40 degrees F or less. However, not everyone will be able to achieve that. Another factor is that you have a place where the temperature is relatively constant. Frequent temperature changes can also shorten the life of storable food.

Remember to choose a cool, dry, dark place, where the temperature remains relatively constant, for storing your food.

2) Moisture Content of the Food

Foods with excess moisture can spoil in their containers. Food chosen for long term storage should have a moisture content of 10% or less. This is hard to achieve because most people don’t have access to specialized equipment.

An alternative is to get freeze-dried food, which has been specially-prepared for this purpose. The moisture content of these foods has been taken care of in the preparation process.

3) Atmosphere in the Storage Container

Oxygen oxidizes many of the compounds in food, so foods packed in air in storage containers will not store as well as Nitrogen, which is a popular gas for storing food, and one that works very well.

Some people use oxygen absorber packets. You simply place one in the storage container and seal. When you use these, you must have a storage container that is able to withstand some vacuum pressure. This is because the absorber packet will create a slight vacuum as it absorbs the oxygen.

Most food units that are packaged and sold for long term food storage have been packed with nitrogen in the #10 cans.

4) The Storage Container

Storage containers should have a hermetic seal (air tight) in order to get the longest life out of your stored foods. #10 Cans and sealable food-grade storage buckets work very well for this.

You must make certain that the storage containers you use are food grade containers. #10 cans that are used for food storage often have an enamel lining for this purpose. You can also buy plastic food-grade 5 gallon buckets.

If you buy a commercially-prepared food unit with #10 cans, then the second, third, and fourth factors are already addressed for you. In order to satisfy the first factor, you will still want to store the food in a cool, dry, dark place.

If you decide to buy plastic buckets, add the food, and seal them yourself, you will need to rent a nitrogen cylinder to fill the airspace in the buckets. When you do this, the oxygen will be displaced leaving only the nitrogen. Again, make sure that you purchase food-grade quality buckets. This is very important.

Remember these things when purchasing or creating a supply of long term storable food for your family.

Frank Salvo has been involved in food storage and emergency preparedness for the past 20 years. To learn more about these topics, please visit: http://www.freezedriedsurvivalfood.com.

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Backup Plan For Emergency Supply of Water

By Joseph Parish

I recently found myself in a very significant discussion with a new survivalist who was greatly disturbed about not having an adequate supply of food and water. We sat and discussed an assortment of ways to accumulate survival foods and the diverse types of foods at his disposal for use in his emergency kits. Finally we began discussing his necessary water resources.

He acknowledged that the few bottles which he managed to purchase and store developed problems. It appears that he stores his emergency provisions in a metal backyard shed. During the winter of 2008 he had several store bought gallon containers of water freeze up on him. Naturally this caused the containers to split open creating quite a mess. In addition, I reminded him that in the summer time he also risks evaporation of his water in his storage shed.

Anyone who is familiar with me knows that I personally like to have backup plans in effect for any situation which I may be placed in. That also embraces my water storage as well. I don’t have 50 gallon barrels available to store my water in for an emergency. In that case I have to do the next best thing. In my emergency food room you will find some 5 gallon bottles of water, several cases of gallon jugs of sealed water and an abundance of individual bottled water containers.

I fully realize that this is not a sufficient supply by any stretch of the imagination but as I said I like backup plans, In addition to my ready water supply, I keep a large quantity of water purification tables readily available as well as several gallons of household unscented bleach.

Although this may look fine at first glance it really isn’t. I still do not have nearly enough water for emergencies. In view of this lack of water I decided to do the following. I keep a large supply of empty 2 liter plastic soda bottles in my garage. These stored two liter drink bottles work well for a number of survival uses, water being only one of them. Many people claim that water could be left in these bottles for as much as 10 years however, I will not take that chance with the safety of my family. I store these bottles empty. When storing plastic bottles check to make certain that they are not brittle or on the verge of deteriorating. Always save the caps that go on the bottles as well.

At the first notification of a possible emergency I quickly pull out the boxes of empty bottles and wash them well. Next I fill each of them up with fresh water. If the emergency does not materialize as predicted then it is no major problem. I merely use the bottled water that I made for my plants or for cooking. This is an excellent plan if you do not have space to store a lot of emergency water and I have found it excellent for supplementing my store bought supply.

Copyright @ 2009 Joseph Parish

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