thirty year food 1 of 2

THIRTY YEAR FOOD

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Having worked for ten years in food banks as a donation driver, which really was far more satisfying than most other jobs I’ve had besides being an author ( of course, ruined at the half way mark by being placed under the supervision of the worlds biggest Special Ed boss ), I’ve picked up quite a few #10 cans of freeze dried foods.  And that is the only way I’d ever have had a grand total of more than zero, if they were free.  I simply cannot think of a worse way to spend your prepper supply budget than buying freeze dried foods.  I’m not saying they don’t have a purpose, on a limited basis.  They certainly work quite well for bugging out ( if you simply must bug out ). 

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The issue I have when placing freeze dried foods in your preps is when you rely on them for a long period of time.  Then, you are so much better off doing almost anything else.  The two areas your freeze dried foods shine long term, meat and butter, you are still better off, if buying in ANY quantity besides bug out or two month die-off culling waiting periods, is to wet can your own supplies at insane levels of money savings.  Right now, this week ( every week differs ), I can wet pack pork for $2.50 a pound, total price including container.  Last week, hamburger for $3.25.  The last time I checked freeze dried beef was north of $12 a pound in a #10 can, and you didn’t get a free Mason jar after you ate it. 

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Again, freeze dried has a LOT going for it, on a short term basis.  As I’ve said before, everyone should have six months frozen meat of hand.  This costs you nothing extra and in fact saves you money as you only buy on the sale.  You should have six months of regular grocery items on hand.  Again, so you ONLY buy ANYTHING on sale.  Plus as a bonus you are well stocked in variety.  But for the apocalypse, you will need a short term food supply that is very filling and has variety and takes minimal preparation.

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Freeze dried CAN provide this easily, if you have the desire and budget.  You don’t need it, however, as there exists other choices.  But, regardless of budget level, you do need “easy peasy fat and protein queasy” foods for two months.  First, you must wean yourself off of your typical Yuppies Scum American Middle Class diet.  You can’t go from one night meat and potatoes to the next night all white flour or rice.  This will be a time of great stress.  The unprepared will stress and make poor life decisions, whereas the prepared will just stress.  A lot.  You need your comfort foods at this time. 

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Secondly, you need to keep up your calorie levels for potential combat, or at least heavy domestic chores.  The whole point of the Underground Weasel strategy is to go to ground at the onset of the collapse and to hide out from everyone and wait for the 99% to die-off, saving your ammunition and your life.  But one never knows and this is the most dangerous time and you must be ready for it just in case.  Your body needs calories to fight effectively and the typical soldier uses three to four thousand calories a day to perform at par ( heavy physical labor, burning extra fat staying warm outside, etc. ). 

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Third, this is a time where, yes, you should be well hidden but easier said than done and it makes sense to keep noise and smells at a minimum.  It is better to pour boiling water on freeze dried or stick a already cooked piece of meat from a Mason jar on the stove for a minute to heat than it is to be cooking up Roger the Rooster or cooking raw meat from the freezer ( right!  Like how many off gridders have an actual 12v freezer?  The six months of meat is for immediate budget savings and half a year of unemployment-not really applicable for after the collapse ).  Even if your spot is off the beaten path, no need to tempt someone passing by to alter course and check out your supply situation.

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But once past that two month period, budgetary realities if nothing else are going to make it more likely that you revert back to peasant food.  For the first two months, quality AND quantity is important.  After that, quantity alone is the issue.  Because no matter how much you want variety and nutrients, that crap costs mucho money.  At least on any meaningful time frame.  I’d rather have five years of wheat than six months of freeze dried.  I know for a Gott Damn Guar-an-humping-tee that the coming Dark Ages are going to last WAYYYYY past six months.  Five years is the minimum food storage ( I’d have more but we are getting close to my natural shelf date as it is with just that ).

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And the only way for the average person, for most people, is to stock wheat if you are looking at a year or more of food storage.  After wheat, then I try to introduce a small amount of variety to supplement that wheat.  Also peasant food.  White rice, white flour, pasta, spices and sugar.  Sugar is a relatively recent peasant food, but if purchased now is quite affordable.  Far more costly than wheat, but barely, and “far” being a bit of hyperbolic ( 38 cents a pound verses 22 ).  You aren’t going to eat a pound of sugar to a pound of wheat, so a little goes a long way ( just like with dry beans, you only need a fifth of beans to your grain of choice ). 

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There is also shortening.  It isn’t as cheap as it was.  For a year or three the countries largest grocery store, Kroger, had dirt cheap vegetable shortening at under $3 a can.  You ignored me, even when I told you to run down and buy as they were “clearancing” it, but you could have easily had three to five years of fat for a mere $30-$50.  Shortening is of course quite bad for you, but as you should be aware, NO fat is even worse for you.  I’m still dumbfounded when I hear “experts” tell you to stockpile olive oil in the freezer for your storage food.  These are the people whose frozen corpse can soon be shoved aside as you raid their home.  You need  fat to survive through winter, and a “healthy alternative” oil that starts being perishable as soon as the grid goes down is NOT going to cut it.  You need longevity and only hydrogenated oils have that, regardless of their unhealthy well deserved reputation.

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What do all these foods have in common, the post-two month items?  They are thirty year foods.  You don’t need freeze dried.  Grocery store foods last a good long while.  Continued tomorrow.

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