Long term emergency food

[ray h]

I know you said you wanted a kit, but honestly unless you're planning on using it as a grab-and-go, roll your own is way easier and cheaper.
Big bag of rice, bunch of cans of beans, various soups or broths, shells-n-cheese (the ones with foil packs for the cheese) if you want something tasty, powdered drink mix (kool-aid, et. al.), and a case or 2 of water. Try to focus on things you'd eat normally, so you can rotate through stock without feeling at odds with your food choices.

But how much of that stuff can be stored and left alone for 20 years? You mentioned "rotating stock", I don't want to rotate stock, I've got a pantry full of canned and sealed foods i do that with.
I used to have a few cases of MREs but even they only have a 10 year shelf life, even so, I kept them for probably 15 years then eventually passed them off to someone else who wasn't as concerned about their age.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Short answer ! Deer & Squirrels !

[ray h]

Short answer ! Deer & Squirrels !

You're talking in addition to stored foods right?

[JaySmith]

https://www.amazon.com/Augason-Farms.../dp/B00IW1NQDC

Augason Farms 30-Day 1-Person Emergency Food Supply

A while back after being hit with a hurricane and snow storm within a couple months we got these. They are supposed to last 25 years. I opened one and lived on it for 30 days. Wanted to know what my family of 4 would be in for should it come to it. Definitely not MRE style. Food was good, but the portions were enormous in the packets, you can't make an entire packet at once, there's 3 days of food in a packet. If you lack refrigeration from a power outage, you need to make 1/3rd of the package, and that's a bit annoying. Why not make it into 3 packages instead of 1 big one.

Also, food required tools to prepare. Pots/pans, source of clean water. Not a bad thing, but not what I expected. Everything has to be prepared, nothing you can just pop open other than the banana crisps. Which means you need a heat source as well. Wood stove? great! Electric stove? Not so much if the power goes out.

Cooker stove: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-T...5?athbdg=L1600

I have two of those with 30+ butane caninsters. Good fast heat, and each canister runs over an hour.

[gamer_jim]

The problem with Mountain House or others is the salt and preservatives they use. If you don't care about that then get that but I am on a salt restricted diet and not happy with a bunch of chemicals in my food.

I know this doesn't answer your question but consider learning how to dehydrate your own meals. it's not hard and the equipment is under $100 to get started. Then you can make food you like and you know exactly what is in there that matches with your dietary needs.

Ideally you want to buy stuff that you usually use and rotate your stock. So things like pasta, tuna fish, rice, lentils, broth, etc. Things you normally cook with just keep a few months stored and rotate. The wife and I do this and now we have about 2-3 months stored in a room in the basement, also on a dehumidifier. I keep a notepad on the shelf so whenever we take something off write it down and I get it next time I go grocery shopping. Check the expiration date on a lot of things in the grocery story, you'd be amazed. Things like whole-wheat wraps have a 1 year expire date. That's easy to store a few of those and then just rotate out.

I like the idea of spreading my stored food out across different types and cans, that way if one thing goes bad the whole lot doesn't spoil. They sell a 5 gallon bucket of emergency dehydrated food but if something happens to that your out hundreds of dollars.

[RenoV8]

We don't store or buy any of the prepared emergency foods or buckets being sold as preps. As others have mentioned the salt intake alone is nit going to bode well for you if this is your only source of food. If you do decide to keep these preps as your main source of nutrition, keep a lot of water and some fiber along side them. Water to cook with and drink after eating the dehydrated foods. Fiber is to keep you regular after eating that stuff for a few weeks.

As GamerJim pointed out, eating what you know, will psychologically give you an edge and also keep you properly fed. Regular food groups, properly stored will last years...far longer than you hopefully need them for. Canned goods go a long way to making several great meals with a few ingredients. Having bullion cubes or any type of stock making products will further your nutritional value and also flavor your food better. Eating what you know will also give you more choices of what you want to eat, rather than what you have to eat. Eating the same thing over and over, in a stressful environment, can lead to food exhaustion and nutritional deficiencies. Finding novel ways to cook the same food groups helps keep the mundane out of eating.

Rice and Beans...I can eat these at least once a day, forever. I used to when I lived abroad...it is a staple in both Mexican and Brasilian food. Beans are one heck of a nutritional food group...not to mention loaded with fiber. Rice...buy different types and figure out which ones you like best. Of all the rice types I have tried, Jasmine is still my favorite. Compare that to Basmati...very different, but both are good...depending on palate. Arborio rice is good for making risotto's. If you like regular long grain rice, like Uncle Bens...go for it. It is usually parboiled, which reduces cooking time.

Tomatoes...can be used in so many different ways. Make a stew, a sauce, Dehydrate and put in olive oil. I was in Spain earlier this year and they make Tomato bread...which is just raw tomato juices with bits of tomato spread across good bread. Easy to make and is different.

Flour...can't have enough of it. Make breads, bagels, cakes, pancakes and waffles...many uses. White, wheat, high gluten, cake flour...buy em all. You can store them in a mylar bag with a couple hand warmers to remove oxygen...

Don't wait until the last minute to prepare...cause it takes money and time to figure it all out and how much of what you want, you need.

Don't forget your toilet paper...worlds going to shit.

[dannyb]

My biggest prepping problem has been that my wife is allergic to nightshades: tomatoes, gourd-type peppers (green, red, chile, etc. but not berry peppers like black), egg plant, and some huckleberries. The bane of my shopping existence is that they add paprika to almost everything these days (mostly for color) and don't always specify what they mean by "spices." We have done some of our own canning and preservation. In terms of cooking, one thing that may be useful is a fresnel lens that can be used in a solar stove/oven. Also have various filters for water.

[Grizzlytrap]

Don't forget your toilet paper...worlds going to shit.

And it will be on your head...

Everyday gets worse..

[Delkal]

Rice and Beans...I can eat these at least once a day, forever. I used to when I lived abroad...it is a staple in both Mexican and Brasilian food. Beans are one heck of a nutritional food group...not to mention loaded with fiber. Rice...buy different types and figure out which ones you like best. Of all the rice types I have tried, Jasmine is still my favorite. Compare that to Basmati...very different, but both are good...depending on palate. Arborio rice is good for making risotto's. If you like regular long grain rice, like Uncle Bens...go for it. It is usually parboiled, which reduces cooking time.

This. Buying freeze dried prepared food has its place but the cheapest /easiest option is stockpiling rice and beans. It does take time to cook so you will have to figure out a fuel supply but these two foods can keep you from starving. there are numerous companies that have them packaged in number 10 cans and they are good for 25+ years. You can even look on a prepper site and they show how to pack your own in 5 gallon buckets with a mylar bag and an oxygen absorber. Might not be the most deluxe meal but a few hundred pounds of rice and beans in your basement can go a long way if things get bad.

[bogey1]

Frozen juice packs last a few years or more. I have some in my closet that a re two years old and still good.