The idea of not having enough food for emergency preparedness can keep many of us awake at night wondering about our procrastination in storing enough food for our families. Many of us live in developed countries, but natural disasters, power outages, even volcano eruptions, earthquakes and blizzards will easily deter people from reaching town and having access to food. The ability to have enough cash on hand or be able to use a debit or credit card may not be feasible during disaster times.
We can spend a lot of time organizing and planning long-term food supplies, storage and ensure we eat what is getting close to its expiry date. Some people have done this and are certainly to be praised for their advanced planning efforts. I cannot discourage them in that. There are many of us who simply cannot or do not have the time or even inclination to do that, and yet we have a nagging worry in the back of our mind of how pathetically ill-prepared we are for a food emergency.
What I’ve found is a lot of food available that is prepared for much longer storage life such as 5 to 10 years, even up to 25 years. Freeze dried food, MRE’s, these foods are what military personnel carry with them. For those of you unfamiliar with MRE’s, they are individual pouches of food ready to slip into an MRE heater. THe heater is also a slim disposable holder that requires only one tablespoon of water to heat the MRE meal that you slip into it. The MRE will provide nutritious meals that are most tasty hot than cold, which is why you want the MRE heater with you. At about .99 for the heater, you can see what I’m talking about. The heater is not a piece of bulky equipment and does not require fuel.
As many of us have never heard of MRE’s or the MRe heater, I am explaining this in detail. The meals keep best in 75 degrees farenheit or less and will last 5 years or so in hotter climates, longer in cooler storage. You can understand why the military finds these so valuable.
You can buy a box of MRE’s for a 30 day supply, which will provide one person 2000 calories per day of meals. That supply also includes 30 MRE heaters to go with it, depending on what company you order from. I’m so impressed with these, they take the guess work out of long-term food supplies, they eliminate the need for power or drinkable water to heat up the food, they are lightweight but full of excellent food, and they last for years. How fantastic is that. You can carry them with you on hiking or wilderness expeditions, if for no other reason than ensuring you are not without food if you are lost or stuck in bad weather. You can keep a box in your home for easy evacuation.
There are also containers of freeze dried meals that last from 20 to 30 years, so once you have bought these, you will have taken care of your food supply. You can start storing cans of meals bit by bit until you have the variety of different meals you would want with you. One can has nine servings and indicate that it is lactose free, shellfish free, pork free, etc., Prior to ordering them, you will be able to see the nutrition facts, the ingredients, and how many servings it will provide.
What is the difference between freeze dried food and dehydrated foods? Freeze dried foods keep the shape, texture and taste, vitamins, fibre, color of fresh frozen foods. Some examples of the meals you might purchase: vegetable stew with beef, chicken and rice, spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken a la king, beef stroganoff, vegetarian meals, beef or chicken teriyaki, lasagna with meat sauce, sea food chowder, incredible assortment of desserts, individuals cans of specific side dishes such as fluffy white rice, sweet corn, green beans, the list is extensive.
So you can see that you don’t have to be eating monotonous beans and canned soup every day, nor do you have to worry about the expiration date. One man wrote that the snack crackers he tried after 25 years of storage were delicious. There are also single and two-pack pouches of freeze dried food for travel, hiking, camping, etc. Best sellers are Beef Stroganoff, Lasagna/Meat Sauce, Beef Stew, Chicken Teriyaki, Eggs/Bacon. Happy Eating!
