Survival Food – Freeze Dried & MRE

The Importance of Freeze Dried Food For Emergency Preparedness
By Timothy Darwin Lee

No one knows when the next earthquake, hurricane or other natural disaster will hit. Civil unrest can occur in a very short period of time and require that you have the means to stay indoors for at least 72-hours, or perhaps even longer.

But what if you had to remain inside for a week? How about a month? While every household should have some type of emergency preparedness supplies, how many households have enough supplies to last one or two months in the event of an emergency? Many households stock extra pantry items such as canned foods along with emergency lights, batteries, blankets, first aid kits, and other emergency supplies. However, the most important items in your survival stash needs to be food and water.

When creating a food storage strategy, consider some of these benefits of freeze dried food:

1. Long-term shelf life

Purchasing #10 cans of freeze dried food will keep for 25 years depending on the storage temperature. All the major freeze dried manufacturers make #10 cans which is a standard method of food storage. Cans in storage can be rotated for backpacking and camping trips, or just rotated as part of your normal meal preparation. Even smaller containers such as #2 ? cans from AlpineAire have a 15-year shelf life, and small 2 and 4-person serving freeze dried food pouches last 7 years.

2. No cooking required – just add water

Many preppers underestimate the benefits of having freeze dried food that can be prepared quickly and easily by just adding water. While hot water is desirable for the best taste, in case of an emergency, cold water will provide the same nutritional benefits. The last thing you want to do in a survival scenario is to worry about different meal combinations as you want to dedicate all of your energy to keeping yourself or your family safe.

3. Food has intrinsic value

Food is a universal currency during a survival scenario. You can trade it for other necessities such as medicines, protection, or transportation. Your food value also never goes to waste as you can rotate the food that you purchase in and out of your food storage. Finally, buying food now with a long shelf-life locks in the cost of food now so in the event of severe price inflation, your supply of freeze dried food has already been paid for.

4. Other considerations

• Food storage gives you peace of mind knowing that you are prepared in the event of a disaster.
• You can supplement your freeze dried food supplies with canned foods and foods you use regularly but have 1-2 year shelf life so that it can function as both food storage and an extended pantry.
• Do not forget to stock up on your most favorite items such as coffees, teas, hot chocolate, candies, and whatever else you view as a luxury or comfort food. In times of crisis, these food items will help lift your spirits.
• Consider whether you need to have smaller, more portable food storage units if the types of disaster you are preparing for may require you to move quickly. A six month supply of food storage is great to have in your basement, but if you cannot stay at home during an emergency, you need the ability to collect your food and move quickly.

In summary, serious thinking about how an emergency scenario may affect you should lead you to consider, amongst everything else, that food is a key element to your disaster planning.

Timothy writes is an avid backpacker and writes on a variety of topics including freeze dried food and the impact of the recent spike in demand for popular freeze dried food brands such as Mountain House.

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Tips For Buying Emergency Food Rations
By Timothy Dalton

If you’re looking to stock up on your food supplies for emergency situations, then congratulations are in order as you are taking responsibility for your well-being as well as those of your loved ones.

When purchasing emergency food rations, there are a few things one should consider: cost, shelf life, convenience and taste.

One particular type of emergency food that almost everyone has around the house is canned goods. The reason is because it’s cheap, good to eat, and readily available in grocery stores, and it is easy to prepare. But let me ask how one will eat such an item if there were no heat source available to warm the food? Would you be willing to eat it cold? Of course, if you’re hungry enough, it wouldn’t matter but it is always nice to have warm comfort food. Canned food items are usually meant to be eaten in two years. However, it does depend on the acidic level of the canned item. Lower acidic food like meats have a longer shelf life and higher acidic food like fruit and vegetables have a shorter shelf life. You can take a chance on eating expired canned goods but that is at your own discretion.

Another popular type of emergency food is the freeze dried food. The process takes all the water out of the food making it extremely lightweight to carry. This is why freeze dried food is particularly popular with hikers, campers and backpackers. Surprisingly, when the food is rehydrated with water, it keeps much of its original taste as well and can be quite delicious to eat. These packages are not cost prohibitive and can be found for as little as four to five dollars for an individual meal pouch. If you get a #10 can of freeze dried food, then the cost per person is even cheaper. The storage life on freeze dried food is great as well. It can last for as long as 25 years although some manufacturers say it is good for 40 years if stored in the right conditions which generally just means a dry and cool place. Freeze dried food really is a buy and forget type meal. However, just as with canned foods, you can eat it cold when hydrating it with cold water but warm water is always preferred to have a hot meal. The question is will you have hot water in an emergency?

The third type of emergency food ration is the MRE or meal ready to eat. Originally, the MRE meal was designed for the U.S. military but the demand proved strong enough that manufacturers sold civilian versions to the public as well. An MRE package is the most convenient of all the emergency foods discussed so far as it is a complete meal with a main entrée, side entree, dessert, beverage mix, crackers/bread and a spread mixture. To top it off, the package provides self warming flameless ration heater, something that is lacking from the other two options. Of course, all this convenience will cost more as a package will run around $6-$7 per bag. MREs also last on average 3 years before they expire. The taste of MRE is also quite good as well and some people eat this as they would a casual night indoors like they would a TV dinner.

All three options are good to have on hand in case of emergency situations. The type you decide to buy are up to your budget, preference and lifestyle.

Timothy Dalton is a freelance writer who is also an outdoor enthusiast. Timothy just loves MRE meals ready to eat as nutritious and tasty camping MRE meals.

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Freeze Dried Food For Long Term Food Storage – Learn the Basics and Benefits

By Charles ONeill

More and more people are becoming aware of the need to prepare themselves and their families in case of emergencies. With everything from earthquakes to hurricanes to terrorist attacks to pandemics threatening us, it just makes sense to have a store of emergency preparedness supplies on hand.

One of the most important things you can do to prepare is to ensure you have a cache of survival foods on hand. But many people get confused as to what options they have.

You want something that is edible, tastes good, will keep for years (so you don’t have to keep replacing it) and has all the vitamins and nutrients you need from your food.

One very popular option with urban survivalists is freeze dried foods.

What are freeze dried foods?

Freeze drying is a process where food is cooked and then flash frozen. After it’s been flash frozen, it is brought to a lower temperature to help evaporate any ice and as much of the food’s moisture as possible.

The food is then placed in a sealed moisture and oxygen-proof package to help ensure freshness when it is opened.

Once water (hot or cold) is replaced in food that is freeze dried, the food regains it’s original flavor, aroma, texture and appearance.

This also has the benefit of tasting good – unlike many of the space-man type of prepackaged survival foods that have been sold for years. And if you have a family, getting them to eat food is going to be a challenge if the food doesn’t taste good.

Why Freeze Dried Food?

With foods that are freeze dried you keep the freshness, color and aroma, as well as maintaining both a long shelf-life and reduced weight (because of the removal of water).

Food that is freeze dried also gives you advantages over frozen food, dehydrated food or canned goods.

Foods that use the freeze dried method do not require lower temperatures for storage, don’t lose there freshness over time as easily as canned goods, and they maintain their flavor and texture over dehydrated foods.

Another benefit to freeze drying food is that it’s lighter than traditional canned goods or even MRE’s (meals ready to eat). This means you can easily transport it in a backpack or boogie bag if you need to evacuate your home in a hurry.

What Options Do You Have For Long Term Food Storage?

You can get Freeze Dried emergency food in a variety of packages. Many companies offer several weeks of food up to a year’s worth of food. You can get food for 1 person or even up to 10 people. Most packages are easily stackable and have at least a shelf life of 10+ years.

You also want to look for packages that are easily storable somewhere. The last thing you want to do is have all this food laying out in your basement for your visitors to see. (Guess who’s door they’ll be knocking on at the first sign of emergency).

Because of this, several emergency food companies offer their freeze dried meals in space saving containers you can place under your bed or off in an inconspicuous corner of your basement.

So those are some advantages of using freeze dried foods for long term emergency food storage. They taste good, preserve their freshness and last a long time. Plus they’re light if you need to carry several weeks worth of meals with you and many packages can be stored so they don’t attract attention from nosy neighbours.

Want more options? See Freeze Dried Food for more suggestions and tips on survival food.

Or visit Food Insurance for freeze dried foods with a 25 year shelf life.

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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.

Facebook Twitter

They also have a YouTube Channel.

http://www.youtube.com/MountainHouseMeals

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.

Nitro-pak has lowered pricing on the following food reserves;

• Ultimate Pak  (204 #10 cans) – Now $3998 (was $4275)

• Platinum Reserve (168 #10 cans) – Now $2998 (was $3375)

These are mixed survival food reserves mostly Mountain House freeze dried entrees and sides with some bulk oats and staples.

Freeze dried food prices increased in August 2008 when supplies were in shortage situation after heavy purchases as the price of oil went up to $140 per barrel. Freeze dried food supply eased temporarily then tightened again in October 2008 due to the global collapse of financial markets. Since then the supply has eased except for a few weeks in May 2009 due to H1N1 pandemic scare.

It seems now supply is good and prices are coming down as fear and concern over the economy has subsided.

Buying a survival food reserve bulk package can save cost if you make the right choice.

But most of that savings can be wasted if you do not get the right balance of food groups in the reserve and you have to buy more to balance it.

Nito-pak’s reserves have a good proportion of vegetables, grains, and meat, spread out over complete breakfast lunch and dinner choices. It is important that you maintain routines of your lifestyle in a disaster situation. Having regular meals can bring a lot of calm to tense situations.

Nitro-Pak has one of the best selections of survival food reserve packages for time ranges and purposes (home or office);

		***Ultimate Family Preparedness PakTM
		**Mtn. House Ultimate-Pak Food Reserve Year Supply
		**Platinum Food Reserve 4 People for 3 Mo.
		**Six Month “Gold Food Reserve”
		-Mountain House Year’s Supply – 18 Main Course Entrees
		-Mountain House Year’s Supply Entrees #2 NEW
		-Mountain House Year’s Supply Vegetable-Pak
		-Year’s Supply Food Unit, Platinum Reserve

		Group Emergency Food Reserve #1 (10 Person)
		Group Emergency Food Reserve #2 (20 Person)
		Group Emergency Food Reserve #3 (50 Person)

**”Easy Meal Security-Pak™” Food Reserve

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.

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;

Food Storage Dilemmas -Freeze dried Vs. Dehydrated-both flawed!

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.

Survival Kits

“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?

Emergency Preparedness – It’s for You (And Me)

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.