Emergency Food

Welcome to the CM community!

I'm not sure if you're asking for specific food items or manufacturers/distributors.... We have taste tested a lot of the stuff Iisted below, just to be sure what to expect....

Mountain House, Provident Pantry, Alpine Aire and eFoods - all of these are quality, pre-packaged, just add water, products. eFoods has a small line of products, but the quality of food is probably much higher than the others.... I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting....

We also buy canned butter, cheese and clarified butter (cooking grease in shelf stable form) and Yoder's canned meats. I also have another brand, can't remember the name, from Pleasant Hill Grain.

I don't know how some people feel about it, but based on my research and calling up food companies, I've added many grocery store cans of foods - chili, tamales, favorite soups, fruits and veggies that don't grow in my area, smoked oysters and canned tuna - you name it....

I have an Excalibur dehydrator that I love :) Last year I stored dried tomatoes, peppers, apple rings, apricots and plums - nom, nom, nom!!

We have several 5 gallon buckets with wheat kernels, pasta, beans and rice - the latter 3 bought at a grocery store and packaged by us at home.

Hope this helps get you started - if there is something you really like to eat, don't be afraid to buy some of it and store it - and always remember, First In/First Out rotation!!

~ Rita

Mozy -

Pre-packaged is good to have but you should also have a stock of food stores for the 10-15 year long term.

Check here for info:

Food Storage Planning: 

http://www.peakprosperity.com/forum/emergency-preparation-and-food-storage-info-lowesville-seminar/18845

Food Storage Execution: 

http://www.peakprosperity.com/forum/successful-food-storage-day-9-familes-4-tons-5-hours-lessons-learned-recommendations/27519

Food Storage Project Lessons Learned: 

http://www.peakprosperity.com/forum/food-storage-lessons-learned-and-recomendations/19518

Other good preparation info here:

http://www.peakprosperity.com/forum/consolidated-list-links-existing-preparation-threads/27912

Mozy

I followed Adam's path and was very pleased.

http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/food-storage-dummies/55478

Travlin 

For reliable and expert advice and guidelines on preparedness planning I highly recommend my preparedness Blog.  I have 37 years experence in this industry!

http://learntoprepare.com

The 12 Crucial Questions of Preparedness Planning This is one of the most important articles available on preparedness for the serious planner

For products - especially food go to http://www.preparedirect.com

Recommended articles include:

Why I recommend AlpineAire Foods

Why Gourmet Reserves

Beginning and Improving Preparedness Planning  There are links in this article to other valuable articles

I Agree 40 year storage is a waste of time. If you can't grow your own food for 40 years I'm guessing the planet isnt going to be much fun to be on anyway. I just keep about 3 months extra basic food in stock and rotate it every week. 3 months is easily enough to get yourself sorted and find sustainable sources of food. Knowledge is more powerful than stocks of food.

Ah yes i actually realised that after I posted. I apologise for my gaff, whoops. But still, I would put foraging skills far ahead of food stocks (even if they last 40 years) . You have to remember that many people just can't afford the huge amounts of cash you need for that freeze dried goop (i looked into it). I can quite happily live out the year living off wild edibles and some stored potatoes and winter squash for the winter months. Learning bushcraft is far more empowering and useful in any kind of situation In my humble opinion. I heartily recommend it. 

......... foraging for food, or stockpiling food, or growing food in the ground or raising food (as ao says) 'with blood in it'?   How about All Of The Above? That oughtta do it.

Time to mention the other thread about Hiding Food, which also includes a discussion on why hunting may not be the best idea...

Hiding Food
http://www.peakprosperity.com/forum/hiding-food/53143

Poet

You would be amazed at 

a) the amount of wild edibles around. (i'm talking plants here, not animals. we can live without meat, leave the meat for the yahoos with their rifles)

b) How little people know about what is and what isn't edible. There are still enough ultra poisonous plants around to scare the sh*t out of people and stop them just randomly eating stuff.

Point taken, I do live in the countryside and I know exactly where all the local wild edibles spring up each year. But if you're still in the city then you're f*cked if your storing food or not. Gangs of teens would invade every house they could, they're even more likely to make you a target if you have defenses and stockpiles (as shown to the outside world by your lack of coming out of the house). This is all obviously a what if, worst case scenario as collapse is more likely to be a slow process (or so I'm constantly told)

More often than not, the government is not equipped to provide adequate food and water for every person, as we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This isn't limited to the US, either... Did you know that after the great Kobe earthquake in Japan, the Japanese mafia was out delivering food and blankets THREE DAYS BEFORE the government did anything at all? I built a stockpile of food (enough to keep my wife, two kids, and myself well fed for one year) It wasn't easy, but this article helped:

http://www.martiallawusa.com/wp/?p=37

Any wise person would start storing food NOW. You can do it for not much money; it's really not hard. In times like these, you can't afford NOT to!

Probably true in your area. Where I live you can't move without tripping over clean water. Thus highlighting the fact that i suppose there is really no correct answer. How i would prepare here has nothing to do with how someone would prepare in NYC.