131120,18 #1 FOOD STORAGE #1 SURVIVALIST 101 Food Storage 101 – Survival Food Buying Guide by Samson Bearkiller on November 20, 2013 survivalist101/food-storage-101/ Mountain House Long-Term Food Storage Survival Food 101 So, you want to buy some long-term food storage, right? If you’re like me, the first questions that crossed your mind were “where do I start?” followed by “how much do I need?” and “how much is this going to cost?” We are going to discuss these two questions and a lot more, to help you to come up with a plan that will accurately protect your family in hard times and show you how to do it for the least amount of money. So, if you’re ready, let’s begin! Depending on how much food storage you buy, it can actually be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, which is more than my first car cost! Therefore, you are well advised to take a minute or two to understand how this whole process works. If you are considering a long-term food storage purchase in the future; I can promise you that you will save money if you read this entire tutorial. The average weekly grocery bill ranges from $146-$289 for the average family, or around $600 – $1200 per month. So, when you go to purchase Emergency Food Storage you are literally building a savings account in your pantry. 1.Survival Food Packaging 2.How Much Food Do I Need? 3.Create a Food Plan 4.MREs 101 5.Food Storage Strategies 6.Food Package Types 7.Dehydrated Foods vs. Freeze Dried 8.Playing Favorites 9.Shelf Life -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Survival Food Packaging Most of the long term food storage providers offer shorter shelf-life “cook in pouch” meals. However, all long-term food storage (20 years or more) is packed in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. Most providers use a nitrogen flushing system when packing their product to ensure all of the oxygen is gone before sealing. The biggest difference between Mylar bags and cook in pouch meals is obvious from the name. One package you pour water into the pouch, and the other you pull your food from the pouch and cook it in a separate container like a pot. There is no difference in how the food tastes. In fact, the only real difference is that you will usually see larger serving sizes in their cook in pouch meals, which I assume is due to their extensive use by campers and hikers. Cook in pouch containers are most commonly found in the 3 – 7 day emergency kits and typically have about half the shelf life (usually 7 -10 yrs.) as foods packaged in Mylar bags. When you move into the larger food packages, you will find that the food itself comes packaged in Mylar bags that contain oxygen absorbers. These meals need to be rehydrated with boiling water in a separate container or be boiled over a heat source for 5 – 10 minutes. Most food is packed in 5 – 10 serving size Mylar pouches. One disadvantage a Mylar bag has is that you may find yourself only needing to cook a portion of the food in each pouch. Therefore, you need to reseal the rest in a zip-lock bag or other airtight container. That is, unless you buy Survival Cave Food Storage. They are the only company that we know of that packages all of their long-term foods in re-sealable Mylar bags … pretty cool. I have to admit that I like the cook in pouch meals better based on their ease of use. However, they are also more expensive. So, if you are doing some long term food planning, you may want to consider adding an “emergency cook in pouch kit” to your preps to go along with the longer-term packages that come with the Mylar bags. This way, you have the ease and comfort of the “cook in pouch” bags for short term emergencies and the larger Mylar bags to use for extended emergency situations. Note: If you are preparing a bug-out strategy, I highly advise that you consider the “cook in pouch” solution for bugging out, unless your bug-out location has a fairly easy place to prepare meals. Buckets vs. Box vs. #10 Cans The biggest brouhaha in packaging revolves around #10 Cans vs. Buckets. Most of the food we sell comes packaged in Mylar bags inside of buckets or in #10 cans inside of boxes. One of the world’s largest survival food companies, Mountain House, packages all of their long-term food in #10 cans (coffee cans) with resealable plastic lids. Another one of the world’s largest survival food companies, Wise Company Foods, packages all of their products inside Mylar bags, which are then stored inside of buckets, which is the industry norm. The difference between the buckets and cans is obvious; however, in my honest opinion, the only real difference between the two lies within their container’s practicality and after-life usefulness. For instance, if you are in a bug-out situation you may want to lean towards the buckets due to the fact that they are easily carried and stacked. Buckets stack vertically as opposed to horizontally, so they take up more ceiling space than real estate. It’s also VERY nice to have 4 gallon buckets left for other valuables or for water or sanitary uses. However, if you are “bugging in” and you don’t plan to bug-out, you may want to consider the #10 cans sold by Mountain House. All of MH’s long-term food comes in stackable #10 cans with re-sealable plastic lids stacked into boxes. You lose the bucket, but you gain six #10 cans with lids to store items in. Bottom line, buckets or boxes make little difference outside of the space needed for storage and the ease of bugging out. Note: Some will argue that #10 cans offer a better sealed environment to store food, and they are right. My opinion? Stock Corvettes are faster than stock Mustangs … both are pretty dang fast … take your pick. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top How Much Food Do I Need? Survival FoodThis is usually the first hurdle you have to conquer, and it’s really a gut call. The short answer is: as long as your food supply has a long shelf life, and you are rotating and eating your rotated food, you can never have too much stored food. Well of course I’m going to say that, I’m in the business of selling long term food! Fair enough, however, we do not believe that long term food storage is the only answer when trying to come up with a post-disaster food storage plan. In fact, we recommend that you break your food preps up into three different categories: ◾Short Term Food Storage – Regular grocery store food. We suggest that you increase your food budget for the next couple of months in order to build your usual pantry items (primarily dry and canned goods) up so that they last for at least seven days. Try to store these extra preps in a separate pantry if possible, and then rotate your groceries between the two pantry areas. This way, in short term emergencies your family can continue to eat the same types of foods that they are accustomed to eating. ◾Medium Term Food Storage – Self Canned food, purchased canned food, and other long shelf life dried goods like pasta, rice, beans etc. We feel that you should have at least 6 months of these types of food preps stored. Medium term food storage should include the same types of foods that your short term food storage has. Each month you should rotate food from your Medium Term Food Storage pantry to your Short Term Food Storage and replenish those food items that you rotated to your Short Term Food Storage pantry. ◾Long-Term Food Storage – Freeze Dried and Dehydrated Foods. The amount of food that you purchase here is directly related to how well you have completed the first two categories. Meaning, if you haven’t put a short and medium term food plan into place yet, then the Long Term Food Storage will have to serve for all three until you can afford the time and money to set your pantries up. If this is the case, we suggest that you buy as much as your budget allows of long term food storage for each member of your family. This is because you will most likely be depleting your food supply during short term emergencies. If you do have short and medium term food provisions, we believe that you should have 1 – 3 months of Long Term Food Storage available for long term disasters and bug-out situations. (A bug out situation is when you need to move yourself or your family to a different place due to security or environmental reasons.) If you and your family are “bugging out,” having the ability to carry a 6 month food supply with you is priceless! We realize that most people who are considering buying Long Term Food Storage are doing so on a budget. This being said, we feel that you should begin by purchasing a small amount of long-term food storage (20 yr. shelf life or more) for each member of your family. This will give you some breathing room until you can build up your short and medium term food supplies. This should cost around $69 – $125 per person and will give your family the protection it needs from the most common emergencies that last 3 – 7 days. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top Why Buy Calories vs. Servings CaloriesHow often do you eat the recommended servings on the food that you prepare right now? If you’re like me, not very often. So, it goes to reason, if you buy your emergency food storage by the serving, should you ever need it, someone is going on a diet, or you are going to burn through your food preps much quicker than you had anticipated. Think about this, when you go grocery shopping, do you buy food based on how many servings each product has, or do you buy the amount of food that your family actually eats? How many calories do you eat each day? The FDA bases all of their nutrition recommendations on a 2000 calorie per day diet. So why do the Survival Food Producers and our competitors offer their pre-packaged food packages based on an average of 1300 calories a day? Simple, it makes the food packages seem less expensive and helps them sell more food packages. How Does this Work? If Dad eats 2000 calories a day, Mom eats 1800 and little Susie eats 1400, your family has a daily caloric intake of 5200 calories. If you were to buy a package that is advertised to last “one month”, based on serving counts, your family may actually only be protected for ten to fifteen days, unless they eat the “recommended serving sizes” determined by the food producer. So, if you want to make sure that you and your family is solidly protected for one month, and is eating the same amount of food that they are accustomed to each day, all you need to do is to calculate the family’s daily caloric intake. Serving sizes are subjective and differ greatly from company to company. Food producers have been playing hard & fast with portions and servings since they figured out how to package and market food products. Sadly, long-term food producers are no different. All USDA studies and statistics are based on a 2000 calorie per day diet. And by a vast majority, we all eat around 2000 calories a day. All food manufacturers LIE when it comes to putting honest servings out for the public. Not just survival food providers … they all lie. Making honest portion sizes would cut into their bottom line too much, or make their product seem too sugary or too fatty. This is why the Coke a Cola that you just drank was two servings instead of one. So why in the world should you follow their serving recommendations? How often do you follow the “recommended” serving size when you are eating? I don’t know about you, but I usually blow past their recommendation after a few large bites. So, it goes to figure, if you’re buying your survival food supply by the serving, or by time i.e. (12 month supply that is based on servings) you may find yourself making some huge adjustments in your daily caloric intake. Servings lie, and calories don’t. Spoiler Alert > If you have to use your emergency food supply, there is a 99% chance that you will use it during the course of a natural disaster as opposed to an end of the world “doomsday” type scenario. So, let’s begin there; these types of power outages generally last from 3 days to three weeks. Imagine your entire family eating ONLY two cups of food a day for an entire week, or less. Allow me to paint the picture … You’re in a dark house, kids are out of school, no air, no heat, no electricity, no running water … getting the picture? If you prepared well, eating is probably the highlight of your entire day. So ask yourself; is now really the best time for everyone to go on a 1000 calorie a day diet? Or, you could just burn through your supplies at a quicker pace and hope FEMA gets everything right this time. Wouldn’t it be easier and wiser for YOU to get it right? And that you will, if you follow the advice below. We are going to show you how to buy the right amount of food to protect your family, for less money and while comparing all of the top survival food companies side by side. Note: Survivalist 101 is the only survival food wholesaler that displays their time-based food packages with total calorie counts based on a 2000 calorie diet. When you buy your long term food storage by calories as opposed to servings you will ensure that you and your family are well fed and satisfied. All you need to do is to come up with a good estimate of how many calories you and your family eat each day and then multiply that number by the amount of days you would like to have. Example: ◾Dad 2000 Calories per day ◾Mom 2000 Calories per day ◾Son 1600 Calories per day ◾Daughter 1500 Calories per day 7,100 Calories Daily: x 30 Days = 213,000 Calories Needed We have a total of 7100 calories per day. Now all we have to do is to determine how many days we want to be protected, say 30 days. 30 X 7100 = 213,000 calories. Now, simply search our Long Term Food Storage section for food packages that are 213,000 calories and larger. Using this formula gives you the ability to focus on what’s in the food package, i.e. entrees, breakfasts, etc. as opposed to the food package stated servings, serving sizes and time estimates. If you know you have the right amount of calories for the time, all you need to do is choose your menu! You can also look into combining your own meal packages by buying individual items like freeze dried fruits, veggies, meats and staples instead of all in one packages. You can use our Calorie Calculator and shop all of our calorie based packages here. Just remember, calories are the ONLY constant among food producers. Next, Why You Should Ignore Servings When Buying Food Storage. Why You Should Ignore Servings When Buying Food Storage Every company sells their own 720 serving main meal package. We have picked three random 720 serving packages from all three. Wise and Legacy consist of breakfasts and entrees, where Survival Cave has drinks, dairy and desserts included in their serving count. But Look at This: ◾Wise 720 Serving $1349 = 171,960 calories, ◾Legacy 720 Serving $1430 = 267,360 calories ◾Survival Cave 720 Serving $759 = 120,440 calories So, if you were comparing these packages by servings and price you would see three packages each having 720 servings and priced at: $1430; $1349 and $759. The best deal is obvious, the one for $759 since they all have 720 servings, right? Look again. ◾$1349 – Cost Per 1000 Calories – $7.85 or 86 days @ 2k cals daily ◾$1430 – Cost Per 1000 Calories – $5.35 or 133 days @2k cals daily ◾$759 – Cost Per 1000 Calories – $6.30 or 60 days @ 2k cals daily Did you see that? What looked to be the most expensive package, Legacy, actually turned out to be the best deal. It lasts the longest time, has larger servings and blows the others away in cost per serving. Do you now see why we detest displaying our packages by the serving? By the way, this is not a condemnation of the other brands; each brand will stack up differently for their various packages. Each company has their strengths and weaknesses; that’s why we wrote this tutorial :-) Why Didn’t You Compare Mountain House? Mountain House is a completely different animal, from their packaging to their food’s shelf life. Aside from their “Essential Buckets” that are for short-term food storage, Mountain House does not sell food packages. “What? I see Mountain House food packages everywhere.” True enough, however Mountain House produces everything as individual cans or individual pouches. The packages that you see on our site, and our competitors’ sites, are simply packages that we have bundled together to sell their products in bulk. Doing this helps us move Mountain House products, and gives our visitors the ability to easily compare comparable packages to Mountain House. More on MH below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top MRE’s 101 MRE vs. Freeze Dried Food MRE VS Freeze Dried FoodsThe first and most noticeable is the difference in how the food is eaten and prepared. MRE stands for “meals ready to eat.” MRE”s come in sealed packages of already prepared food that can be opened and immediately eaten. These packages usually contain “heaters” that set off a chemical reaction and warm your food within minutes. MRE”s are the “ultimate” on the go food and were designed for our military for that very reason. Freeze dried and dehydrated foods come in packages where the food can be “cooked” or “rehydrated” in the container that it comes in by adding boiling water, or in larger packages that you pull a specific portion size out of and “cook” in a separate bowl or pot with boiling water. Freeze dried and dehydrated foods offer larger portions, a better variety of meals, and usually require 1 – 2 cups of boiling water to prepare. However, the biggest difference is shelf life. Bulk freeze-dried and dehydrated food has a 20+ year shelf life. These foods do not require rotation and can be set on a shelf and literally forgotten for twenty years. MRE”s, if stored correctly, have a 3 – 5 year shelf life. The best analogy that I can think of is that MREs are like normal canned food that you buy at the grocery store. Most of these foods have the same type of shelf life. So, if you are considering using MRE”s in your food storage planning, you want to include them in the Short or Medium Term food storage category. You should rotate and consume these rations about every three years. When planning for “Long Term” food storage, it’s wiser and cheaper to use freeze dried and dehydrated foods Anatomy of an MRE MRE stands for “meal ready to eat” and is typically associated with the military, and as of late, hikers and campers. They are a self-contained meal that includes an entree, side dish, bread, candy or dessert, and drink. They are pre-cooked and sealed in a sturdy, compact pouch. The pouch is then sterilized using heat. How Long Do MREs Last? An MRE has a shelf life of 3-5 years, depending on the conditions of storage. MREs should be stored in a cool, dark place away from high temperatures and sunlight until ready to use. When storing them, always note the expiration date and be sure to add them to your food rotation to consume before the use by date. Do You Sell “Real” MRE’s? No. In fact, the Military has made it known to MRE producers that they are to draw a distinct line between civilian and military MRE’S. This is because people are saving their rations while in service, or stealing their military issued MRE’s to sell on Ebay or Amazon. The truth is, they can get in some real trouble from selling real military MREs if they were obtained illegally. Other Websites Sell “Real” Military MRE’s, What’s Up With That? Real Military MRE’s do exist, but are not manufactured for the public. Meaning, if you get hold of a “real” MRE, it was probably sold as surplus to Army / Navy type stores or liberated from the Military. The biggest problem with buying “Real” military MRE’s is the shelf life. MRE’s have a limited shelf life that is adversely affected when they are stored in temperatures over 80 degrees. Most of the authentic MREs that you will find will be well into their production date, and if they were stored in places like Iraq, where the heat is brutal, you may be looking at a 6 month shelf life. The truth is; you’ll never know if the MRE is any good until you open it. We advise our readers to steer clear of the “authentic” MREs, unless you have first-hand knowledge from where they came. How Do You Prepare MREs? MREs can be eaten cold straight out of the package, but they taste best when warmed. Here are the various methods of preparation: Put the unopened pouch in a pan of warm, not hot water to heat for 5-10 minutes and remove. Remove the contents of the package and place in a pan or cooking dish and heat until warm. Lay the unopened pouch on a warm surface, such as a hot rock if you are camping. Allow it to absorb the heat before eating. Heat the unopened MRE using a Water Activated Flameless Heater. The FRH is composed of powdered food grade iron, magnesium, and salt, which react with water and cause an exothermic reaction. Typically, they come in a sealed polybag which you cut the top off of, place the MRE in next to the heater, add water to the fill line, and let it rest for 12 minutes. After the time is up, the food is hot and ready to eat. It’s very important to follow the directions on the flameless heaters, particularly when removing the MRE from the bag, as it will be hot. The spent flameless heater pad and bag are not reusable, dump out the water and dispose of them in the trash. Buying MREs There are numerous varieties of “meals ready to eat” on the market; they include full meals, sandwiches, and even desserts. You can purchase military MREs, civilian MREs, or private label MREs, depending on which one best suits your needs. However, since most of these MRE food producers are geared up for military MRE food production, they rarely offer exact choices when ordering. Meaning, they will usually list 6 -8 different entrees’ and will guarantee a mix of these entrees, but not a specific selection of entrees. What Should I Know Before Buying an MRE? MREs can be purchased online, at military surplus shops, and at gun shows. However, you should follow these guidelines when purchasing an MRE to avoid getting a bad product: Buy only from a reliable and reputable dealer. MRE packages offered on sights such as eBay may not have the freshest product, and the storage conditions of the case are usually unknown. This means that the product could have been sitting in a hot garage or damp basement for who knows how long. Don’t buy solely on price, cheaper doesn’t always mean it’s a better deal. Take into account the calories provided by each meal and be sure to check the complete list of contents; no one wants to be stuck with cases consisting only of “tuna surprise.” MREs are usually sold by the case, and the variety of meals differs among brands. Make sure that you purchase meals that you and your family will like. MREs are a great product for short term emergencies, outdoor activities, and as part of a well- stocked bug-out-bag. You can also include them in your food storage as a compliment to long term food packages and canned goods. Which MRE’s Does S101 Recommend? S101 has sampled most of the MRE’s that we sell (not all of the sandwiches). I have found, in my opinion, that the “MRE Star” meals are consistently better. This is not to say the others are not as good. We have just noticed a better consistency of the more popular entrees with MRE Star, and the production dates are always fresh. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top Food Storage Food Storage Strategies The cheapest way (some argue it’s the best) to build your food preps is by YOU PACKAGING your own staples like rice, beans and other dried items like veggies and fruit. You would need to purchase and use Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and 5 gallon food grade buckets. After that, you simply buy these items in bulk and seal them into the desired proportions. If you want to ensure their longevity, you should use nitrogen to flush the oxygen out of the Mylar bags before you seal them. Then to bolster your preps, you should do some home canning of your family’s favorite veggies, meats, meals, sauces or recipes. Or You can build your preps from Individual items (A La Carte) that YOU BUY in bulk or pre-portioned. The goal here is to build your food storage “menu” by buying individual items like dried beans, rice, and dairy. From there you can add freeze dried or dehydrated foods like veggies, fruits, and meats to complete your meal plan. The options are literally endless. To bolster this food plan, you can buy “entrée only” or “breakfast only” meals. By doing this, you can lower the possibility of having to break into your long-term preps for short term emergencies. Think about how far you could stretch your preps if you were to simply add a month’s worth of breakfast entrees. Or You can buy the majority of your food preps in pre-packaged and pre-portioned food plans. Since we are in the business of selling these food plans, as well as the individual items, of course we are going to recommend that you simply stroke a check and be done with the whole mess. Seriously though, if you think about it, building your food preps like this is basically just paying someone to package and preplan your food storage for you. This the perfect solution for the person who is too busy or just too lazy to build their own food plans. My editor told me to remove the “too lazy” reference above because it may offend someone or turn them off to buying our products. However, I stand by it, if for no other reason, because I fall into the too “lazy” category. I work long days and really do not want to spend my days off and evenings packing Mylar bags and canning tomatoes. And that my friends, is pure laziness. Justified laziness, but lazy all the same. So what’s wrong with protecting my family with the stroke of a check? Nothing, the crime is doing nothing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top Anatomy of Food Storage Packages Food Storage PackagesIf purchasing long-term food storage is part of your food prepping plan, you should understand how the packages break down. Commonality The most common thing you will notice is how they are sold, by the serving. Almost all food companies, except Mountain House, offer packages in the following serving sizes: 120, 240, 360, 720, 1440, 2880 and 4320 serving packages. Why do they all use these serving sizes? Besides the easy math, I can only speculate. My guess is that it has something to do with saving money on packaging and shipping. Meal Plans, Packages & Kits Wise, Survival Cave and Legacy are sold in the denominations stated above, as well as most of the other food storage companies out there. The 120 serving bucket is the base for all of the other packages. Meaning, all of the larger packages are merely duplicates of the 120 serving bucket, i.e. 120 x 2 = 240. These types of food packages are most often sold in denominations of time, or by the serving; for example, “12 month supply” or “720 serving meal package.” These buckets are almost always comprised of entrees and breakfasts. If you’ve read our “Buy Calories not Serving” section you know that we are no fan of selling emergency food storage packages by the serving. It’s confusing at best, and downright dishonest in some cases. If you didn’t read it, please go back and do so. Single Item Staples & A La Carte Items Each of our companies offer “sides” to compliment these packages, and they are usually sold in the same type of buckets that the meal packages are sold, 120, 240, 360, etc. They range from staple rice and bean buckets to extravagant freeze dried fruits and sauces. It’s important to note that freeze dried staples, meats, fruits and veggies are all sold by the serving. This is because these items are classified as “add-on packages” to the complete meal packages. When compiling an “A La Carte” food storage plan, you still want to be paying attention to the calorie counts so that you reach the desired count for your chosen time period. However, if you have already purchased your long-term food storage, you may want to use the serving counts as a quick reference on how to best enhance your current food preps. For example, if you are a family of four and you already have a month’s supply of food stored, you may want to add two servings of veggies a day for each family member, i.e. 2 servings x 4 people x 30 days = 240 servings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top Dehydrated Foods vs. Freeze Dried Foods CaloriesThere is very little difference between dehydrated and freeze dried foods; in preparation or food quality. Some may argue this point, and “technically” they may be right. This is because most fruits, meats and veggies are freeze dried instead of dehydrated due to the fact that they taste better using this method of preserving them. Freeze drying allows the flavor and texture of the food to remain, as well as make it lighter and more compact for packaging. Most emergency food “packages” will contain both freeze dried food and dehydrated foods. Bottom line, I have no worries about the differences between dehydrated and freeze-dried food, you shouldn’t either. To coin a phrase from my Papaw, “It’s just picking pepper out of fly s**t.” We carry Wise, Survival Cave, Mountain House, and Legacy, a 100% Vegetarian brand. All of these companies seal their products in Mylar pouches, or ‘heat and serve’ pouches, except Mountain House which uses #10 cans. They are then shipped in boxes or durable plastic buckets that are easy to store. All of our brands have excellent reputations for quality, taste, longevity, and value. We carry the best “high-end” brands and the most reputable less expensive brands. We stand by their products because we have eaten them, tested them, and tested their safety record through studying independent testing results. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top Playing Favorites Mountain HouseIf you have been studying-up on survival food companies you have probably found the consensus is that Mountain House is the reigning king. That’s because they are. I’ll explain. Which is the better small car, a Honda or a Ford? Most people will lean towards Honda because, for one, they are great cars. More importantly, Honda was the first company to “own” the small car market in the United States. Nowadays, Ford’s small cars are just as reliable and more competitively priced, but the perception that Honda is the best remains. So goes Mountain House. Mountain House Foods, like Honda, were the first on the “freeze-dried” scene and have always tested in the very top tiers for quality and shelf life, always. Why is Mountain House food more expensive than the rest? The simple answer is: because they can. This is actually a pun because Mountain House “cans” most of their food as opposed to using the less expensive Mylar bags. But also, because they can, they’re that good. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Top About Shelf Life There is a lot of confusion about what exactly “shelf life” means when it comes to long-term food storage. Basically, the shelf life of a product is the amount of time that it can be stored and safely consumed. Once the product is past its shelf life, it may be diminished in taste and quality. All long-term storage food is processed to remove the water in the food, and then sealed by removing the air and adding an oxygen absorber. Once sealed in a Mylar pouch, the food is considered to be free of bacteria, moisture, and safe from pests. The shelf life of each product varies, with ration bars and MREs having the shortest life of 3-5 years, followed by “cook in pouch” freeze dried meals which have a 7 – 10 year shelf life. Just about everything else has a 20 – 25 year shelf life. Of course, when in doubt, read the package. All products must be stored properly in a dry, cool area to minimize exposure to moisture and pests. Your long term food storage supplies should also be rotated so that the food that is nearing the end of its shelf life is eaten first. A quick fact: Only one company that we know of has been making dehydrated and freeze dried consumer products for over 25 years; long enough to have actual 25 year old food to back up their claims. Oregon Freeze got their start making meals for astronauts, but soon turned to making freeze dried foods for some of the biggest food producers in the world. Their personal brand is “Mountain House” and they are one this author’s favorite brands. Should I Buy All From One Company? There is no rule that states you must buy all of your food from one company; in fact, it is nice to have a variety of foods in your supply to prevent ‘food fatigue.’ Food fatigue is a real occurrence and can happen when you eat the same food every day, such as rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You should have a variety of foods in your food storage in order to create multiple recipes and food combinations that are nutritious yet pleasing to your palate. Fortunately, every brand we carry has a wide variety of entrees, breakfasts, and even desserts to prevent this from occurring. You could order staples such as rice and beans and add canned meat or veggies with sauce to them to change up the food combinations. Pair the fruit and snacks buckets with the breakfast cereals and granola to produce wholesome breakfasts and treats. If you are vegetarian, check out Legacy’s line of 100% vegetarian entrees and breakfasts. Most of our companies offer sample packages for you to try so that you can get a feel for what meal plans would best suit your taste buds and nutrient needs. You can buy veggies from one brand, fruit from another and complete meal plans from yet another brand. Mix and match brands and meal packages to get the most variety. MARYsCORNERS #1 FOOD STORAGE #1
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:52:59 +0000