Types of Food to Stock Up On
I sometimes have people in my survival courses who confide that their
emergency food storage consists of 6 months of MREs or a 30-day supply
of Ramen Noodles.
There’s nothing wrong with having the above chow on hand in limited
quantity. I carry a few MREs in my truck for a roadside emergency but I
sure don’t want to live off such synthetic stuff for a couple of months.
I also know that the color will drain out of my kids’ faces if they are
ever confronted with an MRE again. Save this "food" for the Bug-out Bag
and invest in items that you normally eat at home until you have at
least a 7-30 day supply. You want to strive for around 2000 calories a day per person.
There are 3 areas to plan for:
Dried Goods- rice, oats, lentils, millet, beans, green peas,
brown sugar, coffee, tea, pasta, flour, dried soup mixes, wheat and
barley to name some of what we have in storage. Personally, I have lived
on rice and lentils for dinner and oats for breakfast for up to 21 days
straight on long-term wilderness treks and my body did extremely well.
Rice and lentils provides a complete protein and plenty of carbs.
Tabasco was a good friend with such an unchanging menu.
Canned Goods- Stock up on your favorites by purchasing 3 cans more
of what you normally eat on each trip to the grocery store. In our
household, we have the following on hand: corn, pinto and black beans,
green beans, pumpkin (great for mixing into pancakes and muffins),
pineapple, tuna, diced tomatos, ham, chicken, tuna, pears, and squash.
Dehydrated and Freeze-Dried Food- My advice is to go to an
outdoor gear shop and purchase a few of the different brands of
dehydrated meals first before investing in a few hundred bucks of SHTF
supplies that may have a considerable gag factor. These meals are also
intended for people who exert themselves (backpacking, canoeing, etc… )
and need to replace lost salts so some of the meals contain up to 56%
sodium.
Mountain House and AlpineAire can both be found at outdoor gear shops.
Walton Feed and Wise Foods also sell high-quality items such as
dehydrated veges and even canned butter. Most these brands have a
shelf-life of 5-20 years and require a cup or two of boiling water to
rehydrate. Again, sample things and see what tastes good, especially if
you're planning on living on these for a few months.
Strive for a
minimum supply of food for 7 days and then work up to more if your
budget and storage abilities allow for it.
