Emergency Storage Food, who's got the best for the price?
 

Alright Gent's who do you think is selling the best dried food. I'm talking dried food/ storage food/ emergency food that lasts over a decade , tastes good and is well worth the price.

If want to do it yourself, than a local Mormon cannery. I haven't used one yet but know people who have, and they said it was a good deal.

We get stuff from our local LDS cannery all the time. Great prices but limited selection. Some will let you borrow a canner to take home to use. I'll scan and attach a price list tomorrow for example

The answer to your (deceptively simple) question is "it depends".

How many do you need to feed, for how long, under what conditions, how are you planning to store it, and how portable does it have to be?

The answer can be as simple as prepackaged, one year meal plans (e.g. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/augason...Id=prod1970426, or http://wisefoodstorage.com/, or http://www.nitro-pak.com/) or as complicated as rolling your own from places like http://www.rainydayfoods.com/ or the local LDS canneries (or whatever replaced them in your area). Personally, I've adopted a "defense in depth" approach with a two week supply of MREs and equivalents (highly portable, no prep required), a 3-month Wise kit (almost as portable, requires hot water, relatively inexpensive per calorie, easily stored, and going to be very difficult to get the wife to live off of it for an extended period [boring and bland]), and a "survive until the crops come in" rainydayfoods bulk purchase (heavy, not portable, very inexpensive per calorie unit, 30-year shelf life if properly stored, lots of work to make edible, and depending on starvation to make it palatable to people who can't handle boring survival food). I put a lifetime's experience and a lot of thought and research into what I've got now; it's adequate for my needs over a 12-18 month period but I'm still nervous about the outcomes. I doubt I've told you anything you haven't already considered so here's to Good Luck and the time and resources to develop and implement your plan.

I went with Patriot Pantry. They run a lot of sales and it comes in rubbermaid bins that store well. Shelf life is 25 yrs and pretty portable.

Emergency essentials is another option.

There is also the LDS store The bad thing about the LDS store is the label on the outside says what you're getting. It says HARD RED WHEAT on the side - made my delivery guy curious. Emergency essentials has "BE PREPARED" on their boxes. Patriot Supply is not obvious - just plain brown boxes.

I supplement with other goods rice, pasta, split peas, beans, lentils. Sams and Costco have good prices on these, so I throw 25 lb bag of rice or dry goods every time I go. Get Mylar bags and some oxygen absorbers. I still vacuum bag the rice (use the tube attachment) even with the O2 absorber. A flat iron for hair is a great tool to seal the bags.

Why worry, we're close enough to Cali, we'll just raid across the border and take what we need.

Check out Shar's posts in the "Be Prepared" thread about using the LDS resources: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...&postcount=415 That is just one of her posts on the subject.

BTW, put your Excalibur to work in the meantime. ;)

Pat

I will second Peregrino's mix.

Contents of a couple of large pantries to start with, MREs or Freeze Dried for short term / supplementation / portability, and RainyDay/Walton Feed for the bulk staples.

You will find if you go to the RainyDay website, that shipping is a killer. If you call the customer service number, they have regional coordinators (usually LDS people) who consolidate orders and the warehouse has a dedicated tractor trailer that delivers groups of orders. The delivered prices from the consolidator were less than the retail from the factory. You can get a dedicated delivery if you buy 2,000 pounds or so.

Bear in mind that super pails with mylar liners and oxygen absorbers or #10 cans are the best way to preserve the food for the long term, and that the coolest storage available will extend the shelf life of most foods. Even so, items with a lot of oils or fats will degrade very quickly. You let powdered milk, powdered eggs, or even MREs sit outdoors, in an unconditioned storage unit, or in an attic at 120 degrees, don't expect most items to be good for much more than a year.

Pay attention to the calories, the source of the calories (a 55 gallon drum of hard candy has enough calories to theoretically carry you for a long time, but not the nutritional values you need to sustain yourself), cost, shelf-life, portion sizes, palatability, and portability.

And buy what you eat, not a bunch of stuff that you don't like or have never tried.

The local LDS canneries have mostly closed and you have to go to the regional Bishop's storage or order the few remaining products from the website http://www.providentlivingcenter.com/ .

Hope that helps.

TR

Not worried but I like the way you think......;)

Myself and my dog for two years.

The dog will be the hard part. Dry food makes the most sense for cost per calorie and weight/portability; however, it has some drawbacks WRT long term storage. Dogs are almost as omnivore as humans (they've been domesticated so long we've affected how/what they eat) but don't really have the digestive systems to extract max nutrients from their non-animal sourced foods the way a human can. To address that, dry dog food usually has a higher fat and protein content (and supplements) which will oxidize and go rancid fairly quickly when compared to storage foods for humans. Not much you can do to extend storage life beyond cold temperatures and airtight/lightproof containers. Even then, don't expect more than 12-18 months storage life. FWIW - you can supplement a six-eight month dog food supply just as you would supplement your own diet to make it last, at least until spoilage becomes a concern. When your dog turns his nose up and loses appetite, it's time to see if it'll still attract wild animals that can be converted to food - then you both get supplemented!

Thanks, I figure the dog will eat what I'm eating when he's hungry enough. ;)

I was just looking for a company others have used and liked. I may have to purchase some samples and try them myself.

Why don't you use those chef skills and your buddy with the knowledge of preservatives and other food additives to create a product line for this stuff? I will be your first customer. :munchin

I can make dried jerky, apples, bananas, I can do jelly and pickle all sorts of things but some have already accrued the knowledge of stabilizing /packaging food for 25 years. I can make food taste good but I'm not in the business of long term storage past 1-2 years.

The only thing I can add that'll be of max benefit to the majority is to counsel keeping yourself abreast of the latest developments. Remember - financial collapses don't happen literally overnight and the signs of impending catastrophy are hard to hide. A 36-48 hour head start on the sheeple will allow you to hit the warehouse stores (while your CC is still functional) and purchase bulk perishables. Critical items are rice, beans, flour, cooking oil, powdered milk, soup and drink mixes, spices, salt, and any bulk comfort foods like dried fruits and hard candies. These staples should already be part of your food storage preps; however, getting them at the last minute ensures freshness (oil and powdered milk spoil quickly) and delays the point where you will have to get into your long-term storage. Pay particular attention to ethnic foods - they're relatively cheaper and most Americans either overlook them (either never been hungry enough to eat unfamiliar foods or have prejudices detrimental to long term survival) or flat don't know how to prepare them. This suggestion is ONLY to augment an existing food reserve. The person who bases his survival plans on beating the last minute panic of a terrified populace might not survive the shopping trip.

ETA - Food is only part of a plan. If you haven't given thought as to how to prepare your "stash" for consumption, you might find yourself with wheat kernels or similar that are relatively inedible for lack of a grain grinder, etc. You should also give some thought as to how you will replace what you consume (gardening requires some skill that won't be gained overnight) and how you will preserve what you acquire fresh (for canning see gardening note!).