Food storage strategies

Mr. Creekmore,
What do you think of Freeze-Dried Foods like Mountain House or the MRE’s that are being marketed as survival food? A lot of preparedness books and web sites suggest these foods for the long term emergency food stockpile, do you think they are a viable solution? John T.

John, it’s easy to imagine ourselves waiting out the collapse of civilization surrounded by boxes of freeze dried foods or MRE’s, M1-A rifle leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, custom 1911 pistol strapped to our side and the 6500 watt diesel generator with electric start humming in the background.

These things are great, I would love to have all this and more, but cannot afford it and never will be able to. Sometimes the truth hurts, but facing it is part of growing up and once we except it we can move on with our preps and the task of doing the best we can with what we have.

Advantages of freeze dried foods

* Light weight – great for bug out bags.
* Take up little storage space
* The boxes stack well
* Long shelf life
* Easy to prepare

Advantages of MRE’s

* Easy to prepare – just open and eat
* Easy to heat
* Long shelf life
* Take up little storage space

Disadvantages of Commercial Survival Foods

* Cost
* Freeze dried foods need water added before eating
* Taste
* Some products sold maybe of lower quality
* Avoid the cheaper products advertised on ebay, the product maybe old or have been stored under less than optimal conditions.

I don’t have a lot of commercially prepared survival foods, most of my stock is made up of basic grains and beans , like wheat, rice, pinto beans, whole corn and slit peas. I do have a few #10 cans of freeze dried cheese, fruit, butter milk powder, butter and margarine powder.

These foods are difficult to keep in their normal configuration and I needed (wanted) them for cooking and to prevent boredom.

The conclusion from here is; if you have the money, live in an apartment, plan to bug out or simply do not want to learn to prepare foods from the basic beans and grains then prepackaged survival foods maybe an option. As with all things you will need to look at your own situation and plan accordingly. M.D.C.

What do you think grains and beans or prepackaged survival foods? Let us know in the comments below…

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