After Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy hit, I've been thinking about building up a non-perishable food supply. My wife and I had to throw out most of our food and weren't left with much to eat while we waited for power to be restored. I've come up with three possible options and was hoping to get everyone's opinion on which one I should go with.

 

Option 1: Buy regular non-perishable food when doing our regular food shopping. I'm almost thinking about doing something similar to what you see when Doomsday Preppers show most people's food stash. I'd buy canned soup, canned vegetables, ramen noodles, pasta, etc.

 

Option 2: Buying emergency food supply (i.e. Wise Food) or dehydrated food supply (i.e. Mountain House). I'm thinking the food supply would take up less room than the food purchased in Option 1. I've never tasted the food from either of these so I don't know how well they taste.

 

Option 3: Buying MREs. When power went out in my town, they gave out MREs. I originally thought about using MREs as our emergency food supply. Unlike the emergency food supply from Option 2, the MREs have their own heater. My house has a gas range so I am able to heat up water but I do like the idea that we'd be able to make a hot meal if we had to evacuate or if the gas is shutoff. I've never eaten an MRE but one of my cousins tried one and said he was surprised at how good it tasted.

This may sound silly, but NutriSystem is a good option. Food is nutritious, pretty tasty, has a 2 year shelf life and is RTE without heating. If you sign up for their plan it works out to about $.75 per meal.

Go with option 1 as much as you can. Store what you eat, eat what you store. Option 2 tastes ok but is costly. You must be careful how you store MREs as heat can degrade them quickly. of my food stores 1% is MREs 25% is #10 cans dehydrated food, the rest is off the shelf food.

Not only do the modern MRE's have a heat element but they even come with a dessert!! I was partial to the turkey and roast beef MRE's. They were really good even cold.

Personally, after 13+ years in the military, I would stay away from MREs. Certain ones taste ok, certain ones are horrid. Plus, they only have a 5 year shelf life. If you are looking for long term storage, I would go with the Mountain House, Saratoga Farms route, the majority of both product lines being freeze dried, not dehydrated. These have a shelf life, unopened, of 25-30 years. Just add water and serve. They have pouch size options for most of their entrées so you can try them out before buying in bulk and most that I have tried are pretty tasty.

 

Other bulk items you can put away, are cheap and have a long shelf life are beans, rice, pasta, and wheat berries. Meat (chicken, turkey, pork, beef, etc) can be pressure canned and kept in the pantry. Has something like a 3-5 year shelf life and doesn't need refrigeration.

 

The best way, in my opinion, on stocking food it to buy what you eat and eat what you buy and keep things in rotation. I.E. - don't buy a ton of beans if you never eaten beans before, or don't like been, or don't know how to cook them. Copy canning in one good technique. Say you like soup and have two can at home. When you eat one can of soup, the next time you go shopping, buy two cans. Put these two can behind the one you still had. When you eat that one, buy two more and put them behind the two you bought last time. Repeat with all non-perishable goods. You will quickly build up you food supplies without shelling out a huge chunk of cash all at once.

 

Also remember that canned goods, as long as they are not bulging, stay good indefinitely (pose no health risk). They do start to lose some of their nutritional value over time but don't spoil.

I would go with a hybrid mix of #1 and #2..

 

#1: A XX-week supply of non-perishable food for situations where you need to shelter in your home. Canned goods..etc that are stored in shelves in the basement or similar.

#2: A YY-day/week supply of more portable food stored in ready-to grab bags for situations where you need to evacuate.

I keep lots of peanut butter... canned soups.. and water available...

I also have a propane stove and several cans of propane.. just in case..

 

 

also try this..

when a storm is looking bad.. I freeze as many gallon jugs of water as I can.. so they become giant blocks of ice...

when the electric goes out I cycle them into the fridge to keep it cold... I also have a thermometer in there... it will actually hold temp for some time.. since the fridge is insulated really well..

What voyager9 said. I keep several camping meals/MREs for camping as well as disaster prep. Mostly we make do with a large overstock of canned goods and otherwise long term foods we use anyway. Just rotate the stock.

I like canned soup the most.. because it lasts long, and tastes OK compared to some of the other options.. lol

The best way, in my opinion, on stocking food it to buy what you eat and eat what you buy and keep things in rotation. I.E. - don't buy a ton of beans if you never eaten beans before, or don't like been, or don't know how to cook them. Copy canning in one good technique. Say you like soup and have two can at home. When you eat one can of soup, the next time you go shopping, buy two cans. Put these two can behind the one you still had. When you eat that one, buy two more and put them behind the two you bought last time. Repeat with all non-perishable goods. You will quickly build up you food supplies without shelling out a huge chunk of cash all at once.

 

Thank you for the "eat one, buy two" idea. I never thought of it but it does make sense.

 

Also remember that canned goods, as long as they are not bulging, stay good indefinitely (pose no health risk). They do start to lose some of their nutritional value over time but don't spoil.

 

So then is the expiration date on canned goods more of a "best taste if eaten by" date?

Yes some of the ingredients will break down with an unfamiliar (unpleasant) taste and appearance but it's still good when you're hungry. Keep stirring as you eat

Option #1 is the best idea with a little of #2 and #3 if you like #3 and or have extra money for #2. We buy a lot on sale and/ or with coupons to help stretch the food budget. The date on cans are just a best by date most can goods will last much longer then listed on them. I also agree with each shopping trip buy at least 1 extra day of meals in can/dry goods. In a few months you will have a few weeks supply. Good luck.

MREs would be my last resort simply bc the ones ive had gave me diarrhea

Thank you for the "eat one, buy two" idea. I never thought of it but it does make sense.

 

 

 

So then is the expiration date on canned goods more of a "best taste if eaten by" date?

 

IT depends. Hormel has gotten to the point where they say they have no idea how long spam will last, but their 50 year old samples are safe to eat. They make no claims of knowing what the nutritional value of them are at that point, nor what they will taste like. Anything where the can has to have a lining will probably be toast within a year of the sell by date, especially acidic tomato stuff. Dry pasta if repackaged better will last a really long time.

MREs would be my last resort simply bc the ones ive had gave me diarrhea

Pepto before meals helps me...

 

I'm rural. I've got a lot of wild and farm animals around my location along with some experience in butchering. I also have a rotating stock of canned and dry goods as well as backpacker's food for the bug out situation. It might not be enough, but it will be a start.

The eat one buy two method is good. Canned goods rarely go "bad" without external signs of damage such as bulges or rust, they just lose nutritional value from day one, and they may not taste as you expect them, but very rarely if every do they actually go bad. Tomato based products will actually eat through the cans given enough time, which means the linings are also more aggressive more likely to contains things you don't want to eat.

 

Its never a bad idea to keep an eye on those overflow piles at the end of store isles, you might be surprised what you will on very good sales. If you see something you like anyway, there is rarely a reason to not buy case of it.

 

The longer terms storage becomes an issue of price vs nutrition vs volume and that point might as well start talking with the prepper communities, they do a lot of math on that. You can get pasta on sale for $0.85 a pound all the time, so 25lb of pasta sealed in a mylar bag with a oxygen absorber inside a bucket will you about $30 but now you have 25lb of food that will store for a damn long time, 10+ years. Dry beans and rice stored the same cost a bit more but last 30+ years. All those things are bulky and don't have a full nutritional spectrum. Dehydrated or freeze-dried foods, are lighter more compact, more nutritious but a hell of a lot more expensive if you don't uses them.

IT depends. Hormel has gotten to the point where they say they have no idea how long spam will last, but their 50 year old samples are safe to eat.

Sounds like a job for the new guy at Hormel.. "Hey Rookie! Eat this!"

 

They make no claims of knowing what the nutritional value of them are at that point, nor what they will taste like.

We're talking about SPAM right? The bar aint that high..

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/42689-wts-sopakco-emergency-ration-mre/page__p__564041#entry564041

 

this dude might have more

Good topic.

I'm not into the doomsday thing. But for storms and such I am starting a prep. 30 days I think max.