Food shortage- solutions !

You will recall testy Art Bell advertising food that lasts 25 years
Sans ( without ) electricity , what kinds of foods might I want to be investing in should or WHEN the shite hits the fan here in urban San Diego ?

My problem is from medical perspective. I need 90 ounces of water per day
But that aside - food that Art Bell hawked ?!?!

Don't know about Art Bell but Walmart sells dehydrated foods in survival packs for trying lengths of time. I have seen those on the shelf now and again but do not regularly look to see if it is in stock.

If you're setting up an emergency supply, it might be better to think of foods that last a moderately long time (like canned goods) that you can rotate out periodically, rather than stuff you can stash and forget.

Or there's always Hostess Twinkies

Depends on your situation.
Minimum of 1 gallon of water per day per person, more if very hot or sun exposure.
Canned foods if you have a place to store and can handle the weight.
Dried foods are plentiful:
Freeze dried meats, veggies, and meals are very light, pack well, and are expensive.

I store a combination of all the above. The amount you can store determines the mix and how long you can live off of your supply.

https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/10-facts-about-canned-foods/
I can tell you that the "Wise" freeze dried food line tastes like "POOGA" (Remember Mork and Mindy?). Anyway, if you're going to buy freeze dried, I recommend Mountain House foods. Tastes MUCH better. You can get the brand in the sporting goods dept at Wally World. Just make sure you "Stock what you eat". If you don't like it now, you sure as heck won't like it in the depth of TEOTWAWKI! Make sure you rotate your stock as well to keep it fresher.

Cheers!

Ok I’m supposed to know but what is TEOTWAWKI!!!!!

The End Of The World As We Know It = TEOTWAWKI

I was just starting to copy it so I could ask Uncle Google, when REM started singing ...

JDub said:

I recommend Mountain House foods.

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Yeah, me too. Mountain House foods are good for 25 years; they're high quality and taste great. This is backpacking/camping freeze-dried food. They are still the same price they were a year ago, for now. I have an ample supply. My suggestion would be to order 1 of each flavor, try them all out and stock up on the ones you like.

Cajunwolf said:

.....Mountain House foods .....taste great.....

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I will disagree about 'tastes great'. We called it freeze dried swill.
And expensive; the price is about what one would pay for a meal in a moderately priced restaurant.
It also has a lot of sodium.
The #10 cans of meat are high quality.

Spaceman Spiff said:

I will disagree about 'tastes great'. We called it freeze dried swill.
And expensive; the price is about what one would pay for a meal in a moderately priced restaurant.
It also has a lot of sodium.
The #10 cans of meat are high quality.

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I noticed it in the camping section of Walmart a week ago and it cost $10 per meal. That is high.

I do want to try a #10 can of beef. And some freeze dried fruits.

Number 10 sized cans of most meats need refrigeration after opening. right???

peteg59 said:

Number 10 sized cans of most meats need refrigeration after opening. right???

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Oh yeah. You also want to limit the humidity to them. Only open one if you are going to use them within a relatively short period of time - think BIG batches of stew etc... Same with dried eggs such as OvaEasy...

Cheers!

Carla618 said:

I noticed it in the camping section of Walmart a week ago and it cost $10 per meal. That is high.

I do want to try a #10 can of beef. And some freeze dried fruits.

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Carla,

if you (or anyone) have a contact or relative who either has a .Mil ID card or served in the military honorably (they have to register), they can use the Military Exchange System and get these meals at a discount but they'll still be in the 8 - 9 dollar range.

https://www.shopmyexchange.com/s?Dy=1&Nty=1&Ntt=mountain+house+
Cheers!

Why do you need food that will hang around for 25 yrs? I know somewhere around 10 yrs into SHTF stuff you can probably find new food sources...
I had a neighbor that was sure the world as we know it was going to end--about 10 yrs ago. She got really serious about food storage. So every year she 'rotated' her stock and 'refreshed' it. New sugar, new beans, new freeze dried whatever, ETC.. So maybe you don't need your foods to last 25 yrs maybe you can just need it to be good for 1 yr. unless you never plan to go to the store again in 25 yrs.
We keep a good stock of tuna, canned chicken (YUK! that my mom likes) for casseroles' and such. Beans and rice and pasta. these are all good almost forever. Also veg oil, broth in small cans and boxes, I have some fake eggs for baking and some powdered milk, oatmeal, cornmeal etc... More spices than I will ever use, etc. I think we would eat just fine for maybe a year if we had to we could grow some of our food and if push came to shove, we could hunt some of these $#@* deer that keep eating my gardens.
Keep some bleach and learn to clean your own water. Again, same neighbor had a water filter system and such stored away.
I loved when she 'rotated her food as she gave it to neighbors so they would be stocked and not steal hers....
I made jam from her 'old' sugar and baked goodies to share with her from her flour.
What she reminded us to do was to make sure we had fuel to cook the stuff. So even though we did not have a regular wood stove we have tons of firewood for the outside firepit and solar fixes.

The idea of eating 25 year old food is very unappealing. Of course I would be in my late 90s 25 years from now.

I will stick to buying fresh food every week supplemented with some things like rice, pasta and a few canned goods.

So far in the "modern" USA, post great depression and dust bowl days, being a prepper has been basically a hobby activity. But the Latter Day Saints have that as their cultural tradition dating back to days of famine times from things like the plague of locust eating all their crops. They sell survival food packages.

Get over worrying about what happens in San Diego. You are planning on being nomadic. If the shit hits the fan in San Diego you just pack up and leave.

Your current big issue is that you feel stuck living there and obviously do not like it all that much as you are trying to prepare for horrific conditions. Work more on getting over that feeling because you are not truly stuck there. You are there by choice. There are far easier places to live that have a low key approach to life without all the stresses of a huge urban environment.

peteg59 said:

Number 10 sized cans of most meats need refrigeration after opening. right???

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I've been trying to find an answer. Nowhere does it say refrigeration is required. What is most important is keeping moisture out. So far I've read it will last a year, 6 months and 3 months (after opening & then properly sealing).

USDA: "... preventing this enzymatic action preserves the food from biological action. Therefore, jerky and other dried foods are safe without refrigeration."

From the USDA re dried meat:

https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/How-does-drying-meat-make-it-safe

Carla618 said:

I've been trying to find an answer. Nowhere does it say refrigeration is required. What is most important is keeping moisture out. So far I've read it will last a year, 6 months and 3 months (after opening & then properly sealing).

USDA: "... preventing this enzymatic action preserves the food from biological action. Therefore, jerky and other dried foods are safe without refrigeration."

From the USDA re dried meat:

https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/How-does-drying-meat-make-it-safe

Click to expand...

Once you open the can, it lets in a bunch of "bugs" and such, as well as moisture (which is absent unopened). You want to refrigerate it to control bacteria growth and preserve the quality. Unopened, room temp is fine. You don't want to store them in very high temps though. Between 50 and 70F and low moisture is best for canned goods. My freeze dried stuff is in my basement and I just opened a #10 of banana chips - 6 years in storage. Very tasty! Love bananas. I'm going to use them with my fresh figs to make Banana Fig Ice Cream.

Luscious!



Cheers!

Carla618 said:

I've been trying to find an answer. Nowhere does it say refrigeration is required. What is most important is keeping moisture out. So far I've read it will last a year, 6 months and 3 months (after opening & then properly sealing).

USDA: "... preventing this enzymatic action preserves the food from biological action. Therefore, jerky and other dried foods are safe without refrigeration."

From the USDA re dried meat:

https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/How-does-drying-meat-make-it-safe

Click to expand...

If you open the can, you need to use it in a reasonable amount of time, common sense, and I keep them in the fridge until I use it up. A #10 doesn't have that many servings.