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.

What is the better choice for survival food? How do MRE, Freeze Dried Food (FDF), or storing canned food and bulk grains from the super market compare?

Below I have scored the options for disaster survival food against these factors;

• storage life
• storage space
• preparation time
• taste
• cost (per meal).

The scoring goal is to have an objective calculation. However the ratings are my subjective opinions, and are based on the facts and information I have been reporting in this blog. I have also added a second level score with a weight for each factor. Again, this is my opinion about the factor’s relative importance to a survival food strategy.

The weighted score total for the survival food options is out of 10.

It is also important to note that the scoring was based on a required food supply that will last 6 weeks to 3 months.

MRE would rate better in a 72 hour survival kit comparison with mobility and easy to heat as factors.

Here are the scores;

You can see that based on the way I have scored and weighted Freeze Dried Food is the superior choice especially for longer term preparedness of 6 weeks to 3 months. Since you may have different opinions you can evaluate the score and weight outlined here. I will add a poll shortly to get everyone’s opinion on the ratings for each of the factors and the factor weights. Then we can look at the results.

In the meantime I have also posted a link to the original excel file so you can change the weights and scoring your self as you wish and see the results. Here is the file link;

Excel File with Survival Food Scoring Calculations

After events like 911, Hurricane Katrina, the H5N1 bird flu scare, you would think our governments would have finally taken action to be ready to assist us when a disaster or emergency situation occurs.

Read this Reuters article from from December 18th, 2007.

Do you think any improvement has occured since then? Will they ever be prepared?

U.S. still unprepared for disaster: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States remains unprepared for disasters ranging from biological attacks to a flu pandemic, and funding for preparedness is falling, according to a report released on….

Platinum Food Reserve

4 People for 3 Mo. or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is on sale now (at the time of this post) for $2789 (regular $3155).

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large resturant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

 Mountian House #10 Freeze Dried Food

Freeze Dried Meals

Per Nitro-Pak website;

Our “Easy Meal Security-Pak™”
Provides 45 Gourmet Meals… Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner for
One Person for 45 Days, A Family of 5 for 9 Days, or 15 People for 3 Days!

NEW Improved MRE’s for 2008:

The BEST just got better! The MRE business has been tough for some time with suppliers torn from one disaster to the next and with the war. Supplies have been short and selection has been terrible… until now. We have just contracted with a major MRE supplier to provide our customers with all FRESH component MRE’s and meals (not old scraped together surplus or 2 to 3 year old stock). Unlike some dealers who provide just 2 to 4 different entree choices, we provide SIX (6) DIFFERENT Premium meal entrees x 2! In Addition, everyone of our meals includes a MRE side dish! That’s an ADDED SAVINGS of up to $12 per case you would have to pay if you…….

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Information

Freeze dried meals have become popular in the last 25 years among hikers and campers as an easy to prepare food. You can carry freeze dried food in your backpack in pouches and can eat them hot or cold in minutes with no preparation, just add water.

These same properties also make freeze dried food ideal as a survival food reserve.

Freeze dried food in sealed nitrogen flushed #10 cans have these great survival food benefits;

• Freeze dried food can last up to 25 years if stored properly
• It can be stored in a much smaller space than other food reserves
• Can be eaten just by adding water to hydrate
• Retains the taste and texture of fresh food, not canned food
• In bulk can cost can be less than $3.00 per meal

A Large quantity, up to one year of freeze dried food can be stored in a pallet sized space. You can try a a box of freeze dried meal pouches first with your family to decide if the taste is right for you.

So Freeze Dried Food comes in pouches often used by hikers as well #10 cans from Mountain House brand foods.

Oregon Freeze Dry markets Mountain House food.

Here are some facts about Oregon Freeze Dry;

Oregon Freeze Dry (Mountain House Brand 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

It is important to note that pouches only last 6-7 years where the #10 cans can last up to 25 years if stored in a cool dry place. The cans last longer because they are better sealed and nitrogen packed. Nitrogen displaces the air and so there is no oxygen in the cans which gives them long life. This is better than vacuum packing.

You will need to have water available to re-hydrate the freeze dried food. Total water reserve for should be between 1 to 1.5 gallons per person per day.

The one advantage MRE has over Freeze dried food is that MRE is better suited to “on the go” situations since it does not require water and usually comes with “flameless ration heaters”. But MRE only stores 6-7 years and costs twice as much. I recommend survival food reserves to have both a long term freeze dried food reserve and also a short term 2-3 week supply of MREs.

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Packages

Platinum one year food reserve from Nitro-pak

Platinum Food Reserve
Food supports 4 People for 3 Months or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is (at the time of this post) for $3375 , with free shipping and a 120-day ‘no-risk’ guarantee.

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large restaurant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak”

True food preparedness means;

1. A food reserve with variety that tastes good so people can eat and be satisfied
2. Food that is simple and easy to prepare even in a disaster
3. Food that is easy to store and transport
4. A diversified reserve of several different survival food types

The new Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak” meets all of these conditions and at low price per meal. For those who have other food reserves and want to top them off with a super easy to prepare freeze dried food reserve, this is a good choice.

Priced at $1190 this package offers an affordable peace of mind for preparedness for your family that easy to use.

So you don’t need to be a dedicated trained survival enthusiast to be prepared. You just need to make the right prepardedness choice.

Freeze Dried Food Online Retailers;

• Nitro-pak
• The ReadyStore
• Amazon.com

KT

Mountain House #10 Cans Versus Pouches

The image on the left shows boxes of Mountain House #10 cans. The image on the right shows Mountain House pouches.

Pouches are popular with hikers, rock climbers and back-packers. Mountain house also sells them in cases as a food reserve.

They are a meal in pouch, just add water.

A Mountain House pouch can be used as a survival food reserve and are specifically packaged as such in the “just in case unit” 7 day food supply box pictured above.

This is comparable to MRE with the distinction they taste better, are easier to digest but require more preparation since you need to add water.

When you compare a pouch to a #10 can the main difference is that pouches are an individual meal.

Mountain house #10 cans are a bulk, 8-10 serving food reserve unit.

More important however, pouches will store for up to 7 years at 75° F (24° C), while #10 cans will last 25 years under the same conditions.

While it is more convenient to have the pouches and they are a good alternative to MRE if you can’t stand the taste or digest MREs, #10 cans are a much longer lasting and better investment for disaster preparedness.

The exception are those people who find the contents of the pouches comparable enough to fresh food, and will consume pouches periodically for regular meals and continuously re-stock them as a food reserve for disasters. Then the 7 year shelf life is not an issue.

Finally a food reserve of the same duration in #10 cans will store in a smaller space than the pouches due to the cans being a bulk (less packaging) food supply.

In summary;

Mountain House Pouch

• More convenient package as a meal
• taste better than MRE
• Store for up to 7 years

Mountain House #10 Can

• bulk, 8-10 one cup servings of one item
• store for up top 25 years
• store more efficiently than pouches

Mountain House Just In Case Unit

Mountain House #10 can Food Reserves

MRE Information

MRE or “Meals Ready to eat” are military style food rations.

There are two categories of MRE, military MRE and commecial MRE.

Military meals ready to eat are made for the US military and the armed forces of other countries.

They are sometimes sold on eBay but there is risk there as the military considers this illegal as they want to discourage theft of their property. There is also risk as the age and storage conditions the MRE experienced before you bought it will be unknown  perhaps even to the seller.  Military MRE cased of 12 sell for as little as $40 on eBay ($3.33 per meal) which is less than $72 ($6 per meal) average case price of commercial MRE. Besides risk you should also consider shipping costs which online retailers may charge less than $15 where eBay  sellers sometimes charge a lot more for shipping and “handling”.

The main difference between military and commercial MRE (that is good commercial MRE from main brands such as Sopakco, MRE Star, aPack) is calories and sodium levels.

This 2 minute video shows you the difference in contents between Military and  Commercial MRE;

They choose an inferior commercial MRE package I do not recognize but the information is useful. The best source online for MRE information is mreinfo.com. There is great forum where people who love to talk about MRE exchange information and stories about MRE.

Military MRE has high sodium content as they are intended for short term on the go use. Military MRE has 1250 to 1300 calories whereas until recently commercial MREs had less. Some commercial MREs have only 700 calories.  MRE Star’s commercial MREs now have average of 1,100-1,300 calories.

Some reasons why they are a popular choice for survival food;

• MRE’s paks are a complete meal with main course, side dish, crackers with spread, dessert, and a powdered drink mix.
• MRE packs last 4-10 years depending on storage temperature, longer than most canned food.
• They are pre-cooked and in a pouch “ready to eat”, nothing needs to be added
• Usually you buy MRE with flameless heaters so you can eat your meal hot (cold is ok too)

Where to buy MREs

Military MRE is often sold against government regulations on eBay. Also if you go to a local military surplus shop it is likely they will have some. However there is some risk as the seller likely does not know the history of how the MRE was stored. Even if the military MRE has a date code in last year you still don’t know if it spent a couple months in the desert which use up most of it’s shelf life. Commercial MRE can likely be found at your local camping and outdoors shop.

Commercial MRE is available in 12 meal cases online. There is also bulk MRE pricing for pallet loads of MRE.\

Here are some online site that sell MRE;

Nitro-pak

TheReadyStore

Amazon.com

USAGE

You can best use MRE for emergency situations where you “are on the go” . Also if you do not want to waste time cooking or do not want the hassle of bring cooking equipment with you. MRE’s are the most convenient survival food choice.

MRE cost is about $6 per meal plus shipping for a case of 12. You can get discounts if you buy larger quantities.

There are often periods where MREs become unavailable due to being bought up by relief agencies dealing with a disaster. The price increases for awhile then goes back to about $6 meal or $72 per case.

Shipping is not included with most supplier if you order one case, but some will offer free shipping if the order is more than $100.

For a food reserve for periods longer than a week however, a “freeze dried food” reserve is better in terms of space and cost per meal. You will need water for freeze dried food which, although hydrates quickly, is nevertheless is not as “ready to eat”.

Camping Survival.com Now Offers Over 20K Products Including MRE and Emergency Survival Kits

From wildfires to hurricanes or any number of other natural phenomena, disaster can strike no matter where you live. In some cases, you’ll be required to leave your home with only moments to spare. In other situations, you might have to take refuge inside your home and survive for days or weeks without essential services, such as water, gas and electricity. Because of this, emergency supplies are becoming mainstream commodities for disaster preparedness. In fact, the American Red Cross recommends assembling an emergency supplies kit containing water, MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) (http://www.campingsurvival.com/mreskits.html) , a first aid kit, clothing and bedding. They also suggest storing a tent, sleeping bags, mess kits, fire extinguisher, can opener, rain gear, and a map of the area for locating shelters.

“Nobody can forget the images of the people in New Orleans walking across the bridges to get away from the flooding,” said Tom Sciacca, President of Camping Survival.com. “More recently, we’ve seen the catastrophic effect of tornadoes. In a situation where you have to get out of your home quickly, an emergency supplies kit will be your best friend.”

The American Red Cross recommendations include a minimum three-day supply of food that requires no refrigeration or cooking. This can be ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, and vegetables. MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) - a staple of US military and rescue operations - is another popular way to provide food supplies. MRE is convenient for also, as it’s pre-cooked and ready to eat from the pouch.

“The modern MRE is light years beyond the old military rations,” Sciacca explained. “The MRE we carry at CampingSurvival.com are available in a variety of flavors, including Beef Ranchero Meat Loaf, Jamaican Pork Chop, Chicken with Cavatelli and Black Bean and Rice Burrito. The MRE are not just entrees, but full meals, including side dishes, dessert, crackers, spread and coffee. MRE will ensure you and your family are fed while others are stampeding supermarket shelves in the aftermath of a disaster.”

The Red Cross guidelines also call for a minimum of a three-day supply of water available for each person. The recommend you compile a first aid kit (http://www.campingsurvival.com/firstaidkits.html) with bandages, antiseptic wipes, small scissors and latex gloves. Keep the most crucial items you are likely to need during an evacuation in an easy-to carry container like a large, covered trash container, camping backpack, or duffle bag.

“In an emergency, you can never count on being able to find safe, drinkable water,” said Sciacca. “Bottled water is fine until you run out - will you be able to find more A water filter system (http://www.campingsurvival.com/watpur.html) is a long-term way to ensure safe water for your family.

With all the emergency supplies you could conceivably put into your emergency kit, you could spend an eternity shopping for the necessary items. Sciacca says that the easiest way is to purchase a high quality ”

Camping Survival.com Now Offers Over 20K Products Including MRE and Emergency Survival Kits

Which Survival Food is Best?

With the economic situation becoming worse and worse every week, many are looking at survival food options. Survival food reserves, traditionally for major disaster preparedness, also serve as great way to prepare for family hardships resulting from an economic depression.

Most everyone agrees that we shouldn’t depend on government emergency support. But only 7% of have taken action to be prepared, according to the American Red Cross.

What kind of food reserve is best for preparedness for most families?

I have sorted through the pros and cons of four survival food options below with these needs in mind.

Two survival specific options, other than bulk canned foods and grains that you may not be as familiar with are MRE (meals ready to eat) and Freeze Dried Food. MRE is what the military uses for mobile activities, but it is available from the same manufacturers as civilian MRE. Freeze dried food is a more longer storing type of food reserve that is also used by the military and government agencies as well as campers and backpackers. Freeze dried food has 98% of water removed and in sealed cans it can store for 25 years.

Freeze dried food and MRE have long to very long storage life for emergency food reserves and most importantly require little or no preparation, water, and no cooking equipment.

Here are some commercial examples of MRE & freeze dried food;

See Examples of;

Freeze Dried Food Reserves

Family & One Year Food Reserves

MRE (meals ready to eat) Reserves

If you take just a few minutes to read below about the advantages and disadvantages of survival food options to make a wiser more well informed choice.

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Survival Food Options

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What are the options for food emergency preparedness?

The conventional wisdom offered by our governments and dedicated survivalists is to go to your local supermarket or big box store and buy canned food and dry grains and carefully store them. There are limitations to this survival food strategy that are highlighted below.

1) Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains

Buy the canned foods, dehydrated foods and grains, and bottled water as many government agencies recommend. Store in your house or apartment.

Advantages

• Can be done in a few hours or less for a 72-hour or one week reserve.

Disadvantages

• Most will forget and some will not store it properly so it will be useless when it is needed. Did you do this years ago? Go look at this food now and check the expiry dates on canned goods and check grains for mold infestations, rodent invasions, etc.
• Canned foods are bulky and heavy, space is often limited people will not be able to store much
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce in a disaster.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods destroy appetites and morale quickly. Even unexpected allergic type reactions can occur if the types of food in a diet are drastically changed.

2) Freeze Dried Food - Prepared Meals

See Examples of Various Freeze Dried Food Reserves

Advantages

• Easy to store and can last up to 30 years.
• Fast simple preparation just add water. But only water that is needed to hydrate the food, much less than cooking.
• Once hydrated, freeze dried food taste is very close to original food taste.
• Light weight easy to store large qty (Mountain house #10 cans) of food for reserves of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year. A 6 week food reserve can fit under a bed!
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.
• Good economical choice - cost can be less than $3.00 per meal the same as your average home cooked meal.

3) MRE’s (Meals ready to Eat)

See Examples of Various MRE (meals ready to eat) Reserves

Advantages

• Easy to store and lasts upto 5-7 years in a cool dry place.
• Easiest and fastest preparation time possible and can be heated fast with “MRE heaters”
• Can be ordered online in minutes, delivered to your house. You will only have to spend less than 30 minutes storing it.

Disadvantages

• Relatively expensive per meal ($6-$7) and for extended reserve of 6 weeks, 3 months, or a year a lot space required to store.
• Lasts only 5-7 years so you will need to buy a replacement reserve relatively soon. Hopefully you do not live in a place where there is a disaster that often.
• Tastes like canned food which will destroy appetites and morale quickly

4) Buy Canned Food and Dry Grains and use them regularly on an “inventory cycle” plan

Same strategy as the first option, except you actively manage storing and ‘cycle’ inventory of goods. As you buy new food you use up the old canned food so that the food store is less than the expiry date of the canned food.

Advantages

• Food will not be bad when you need it

Disadvantages

• Most people do not have the time, space, or inclination to do this
• Grains need a lot of water to cook to eat and water may be unavailable or scarce.
• You will need to spend a lot of time preparing food
• Canned foods will destroy appetites and morale quickly

As you can see there are a lot of benefits to Freeze Dried Food over the other options making it the superior choice as a bulk survival food.

Besides survival food it is also necessary to have a good water storage plan to be prepared. See more information on water storage and filter products.

KT

Bulk Emergency Food - Freeze Dried Food and MRE Options

Freeze Dried Food
Family One year Food Reserves

Group Food Reserve 50 people X 7 days or 10 people X 35 days

45 day - 6 weeks Freeze Dried Food

MRE
Bulk MRE (meals ready to eat)

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Survival Food Online - US Suppliers

Available at Nitro-Pak ;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• MRE (meals ready to eat)

Nitro-pak has Free Shipping to contiguous US on orders over $100 and a 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee

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Available at the ReadyStore;

• Freeze Dried Food

• MRE food reserves

• 72 Hour Kits

TheReadyStore has Free Shipping to contiguous US on orders over $100

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Available at Amazon.com

• 72 Hour Kits

• MRE

• Freeze Dried Food