Emergency Food

I dont like to keep all of my eggs in one basket so I have a little bit of freeze dried commercially bought, a little bit of dehydrated(i did myself)a little bit of home canning and a little bit of freezer. We eat what we store and store what we eat, except for emergency freeze dried food. I also keep powdered milk and shelf milk and they too have different uses. We also raise meat rabbits and chickens. I also keep store bought canned food stocked...again rotated and eat what we store.

I use Emergency Essentials and Honeyville of the products I have bought we have been satisfied.

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I built a root cellar last summer - photos and blog post here - http://cairncrestfarm.com/root-cellar/

It's worked well so far this year (first winter in operation). I have several months worth of garden veggies in there right now, plus a month's worth meals of squash sitting in my living room.

In Winter I have taken Small Animals like Rabbits, gut them, leave Skin on, hang them in the Shed where they froze. Skin when ready to use them and cook them up.

I would be careful with Grains and Flours. Weevil.

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Lots of good info on a topic we should think about periodically. We do prep and have food stocked. I keep a spreadsheet of what I need each fall to get us through until spring and try to fill that and have on hand - just keep everything rotated as has been said. Have never used the 25 year stuff - no one seems to like it now - what would it taste like in 25 years?!?!

We don't do emergency food. We store what we eat, every day. Who would want to eat over processed, over salted food when you are under stress. We can, smoke, dehydrate, and put away what we eat, everyday. We also extend the seasons, make use of a small greenhouse, smokehouse, hoops over raised beds, springhouse and cellar. We hunt, fish, raise a garden, small animals that we use as needed. We put up the excess. We know exactly what we like and how much we eat and how much to store. Basic ingredients for what we eat everyday, never gets old. We drink the juices from fruits and vegetables instead of water if/when needed. We have enough put away for at least 2 years. We don't/won't stress about having enough or the right things. Things will go on as usual for at least 2 years and longer if the good Lord sees fit. Do you know or can you get and store the meds that will be needed when you eat things your body is not used to. You will never store enough for 25 years, why store junk, something for way in the future, but will be eaten up in emergency, and then what? Can you go on doing what needs done on those rations? You are spending/wasting money for a "maybe" that could have been spent for a way of life, for the rest of your life, that becomes your life....James

Before buying into any of those prep meals I read the labels. More salt in one serving than we usually eat in a whole week. No thanks. As for dried beans, grains and rice, not good for long term storage here. I can't make good rice to save my life. Beans and grain get eaten by 6 legged critters. I do try to keep enough canned and dehydrated food to keep us fed until we could get a decent garden growing and harvested and extra for another year or so, rotating stocks as necessary. I am planning on getting away from freezer storage on a lot of items. Canned food is so much more convenient.

I have to make a note to plant a lot of kale this year. I used up all my dehydrated supply.

I have not tried the 25-yr meals; however, I have invested in dehydrated veggies, eggs, sausage, etc., as well as a "Meals in a Jar" book and a Wendy DeWitt (LDS) video. The plan is to use all dried food that was purchased in putting together these jarred meals. Then vacuum seal them to store in a shallow bin under a bed. The plan is to put these back for any serious shortage.

In the meantime, we live "out" away from the crowds, but have families that would be in the middle of it all. So, I also can everything I can get my hands on, as well as keep a freezer stocked. It's a very comforting feeling to know that our grown kids and grands would have a safe place to land if it would ever be needed.

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A lot depends on what sort of "emergency" you want to prepare for. An ice storm is easy. A national disaster and infrastructure collapse a bit harder. Utilizing a freezer or three is one way to hoard food, but running scarce fuel thru a generator to keep your food frozen isn't a long term solution.
Canning everything in three freezers is an option, if you have 40 cases of canning jars, plenty of extra propane and the natural gas pipeline continues to flow to your house. Even a woodstove is useless without a great supply of cut, split and dried wood.
Three 40 gallon fiber drums, one with 100 pounds of navy beans, one with 100 pounds rice and one with 150 pounds of salt. For fun, fill a barrel with popcorn.
Canning jars and tin cans require a place that never freezes.
Much thought has gone into emergency food supplies, but each person needs to prepare for the emergency they feel is most likely. In a long term disaster, ammunition becomes more important than freeze dried peanuts.

I started a few years ago dehydrating and canning veggies out of my garden. My mom and grandma did it all the time when I was at home. Now that we have a farm I love canning and dehydrating. Now I coupon cause $ is tight. After I started reading this thread I got to looking around and as others say, you have to rotate your stock. We live pretty remote so it's just the way it is. Never thought of prepping, just being stocked up for winter so no need to go to town 😃

Cranbrook or anyone else, what is a fiber drum? Salt, even though I am light handed with it is precious for so many reasons...

Where would you get it if commerce broke down?

How about these products?
All canned up and shelve life of 5 years?

http://www.keystonemeats.com/home/

All Natural and made in the USA

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It sounds everyone has some pretty good plans. We just keep what we eat, we grow a large garden and do some canning. Planted some fruit trees and blackberry bushes, both worked out well. I do have some MRE left over from the Y2K scare and well, if I had to I could eat them. maybe spice them up. I am sure it won't kill you, probably like my ex-wife's cooking, I got that down for years.

Anyway no-one lives forever so lets just enjoy each day we have. Today I am going to go chase my dog around the backyard maybe even drink a few beers. hmmmm....maybe I better learn how to home brew.

We can, freeze, raise meat rabbits and chickens, and have purchased some emergency prepared food. What we bought is mostly soups and ingredients- powdered stuff. We also have some comfort foods- like chocolate pudding, brownie mix, fruit drink mixes and the like. We used some of it after Hurricane Katrina, and it made things a little less stressful to have a bowl of pudding after a long day of clean up.

One thing I would like to add to the list is something we focus on- seeds. We save garden veggie seeds each year, and into the freezer they go. We have planted seven year old tomato seeds and had an excellent result. We found tiny Ziploc type bags in the craft section of a local store. We use those and throw in labels with the name of the veggie. Of course, you have to start with heirloom seeds or plants.

You may want to check out some of the "Recipes in a Jar" from this thread.

Recipes in a jar

Just to give you more ideas of things to have in the pantry.

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Where is the best place to store heirloom seeds - some say the refrigerator , some say the freezer - some say in a moderate dry place - that is the right place

$6.67 for a quart of chicken? $7.50 for beef? I can put up a quart of meat for a whole lot less than that.

Wow! I have thousands of dollars of meat canned at those prices!

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All of ours are kept in the freezer, in sealed baggies. Even after years, we have not had a problem with the majority of the seeds germinating.

I think the bottom line is...each person has to do what they think is best for their situation and their comfort zone. I don't think there is a right or wrong to any of it as long as you are able to take care of your own. And that is the whole idea of any long term storage, emergency food or just everyday living.

We have a fair amount of food stored. We focus on the basics but do have some of the freeze-dried entres. We tend to stock up on beans, rice, and grains. We have lots of canned Spam, tuna, soups, and coffee. There are lots of deer here so that would also be a good supply of meat. We need to stock more dog food.

Our water is gravity fed from a spring. We are off grid but rely on the generator more than we would like. The winters tend to be gray in northeast Washington.

One can never be too prepared.