Emergency food supply

[barnetmill]

Manedwolf

Thanks for the very detailed advice on the storage of rice and beans. It makes good sense.

I think the plastic pails as you suggest are a better choice then a new 55 gallon drum. A drum is really too big to move if full. The welds should not leach anything under dry conditions since the food would be in a plastic bag.

But I can see the overall advantage of the plastic pail and I like the bit with the dry ice.

I would like eventually to have enough food to last for a couple years. That is a lot more important than 1000's of rounds of ammunition.

I have an indoor shooting range under the house that could double as a shelter. Since it can be closed off from the outside. The walls are extremely thick and the the two floors above each have 3/4" masonery product on them plus a metal roof on top, all of which should be good for stopping gamma rays from a distant bomb blast.

 

[Cosmoline]

squareheads?

Ya sure, you betcha.

Here's my basic one-week kit:

As you can see, the emphasis is on the WATER, which lots of folks overlook. I have 12 gallons there plus sanitizing tabs for more if needed, plus a Swiss surplus wash basin with a stainless tub that will double for cooking.

The food is sealed in a clean 40mm ammo can from the nearby AFB, the ones that hold 48 rounds. Inside there are:

One bottle canola oil
One can crisco
One bottle electrolyte solution
Salt & Pepper
One box pilot brea
One box tea
Some parachute cord
Extra TP
Three boxes of instant oatmeal
Four tins sardines
Four cans, prepared beans
Two tins, spam
Six packages, top ramen
One large can, powdered goat milk
Spare can-opener
Spare fork

 

[wingnutx]

So a squarehead is something like a youper?

 

[Cosmoline]

Norwego-Swedes and the like. The bringers of hotdish.

 

[michaelbane]

I have an indoor shooting range under the house that could double as a shelter.

I'm jealous. I wish I had that.

But seriously, on a related note, I read somewhere that you should also stock bottles of liquor for trading with other people in the event of an emergency.

 

[dragongoddess]

THose little bottles they serve on airplanes are perfect. The store up the street sales them. I keep a few on hand for cooking purposes. That ans some vacuum packed coffee should be great trades goods as will spices and sugar.

 

[Glockfan.45]

But seriously, on a related note, I read somewhere that you should also stock bottles of liquor for trading with other people in the event of an emergency.

Yes but that would only apply in a long term SHTF situation. For me I think a big box full of cigarettes would be a good trade item. Smokers will give up their first born if they have gone a few days without a cigarette.

 

[wingnutx]

2 days into a Katrina-type mess, you'll find people really needing a drink.

 

[Thin Black Line]

A sealed plastic 20lb sack of rice is always good, too. Rice and dried beans are plenty of protein and carbs. Many people in the world live just fine on that, with the occasional meat and vegetables added in.

Rice and Beans (or Lentils) is pretty much what a billion or more people
will eat today --not meat or veggies even-- and they'll do just fine.

Most Americans really eat way too much meat in any given day which
without being disgusting is....passed through....without too much additional
benefit to your body beyond about the first 4 ounces.

One warning about Ensure (from painful personal experience). Get the one with fiber!!!

Yeah, the ppl here whose plan it to have Ramen and Ensure need to make
sure they have a case of toilet paper handy. During SHTF, it will put new
meaning to "running and gunning."

You're better off with a big bag of rice than ramen. Rice has protein and carbs, ramen has just carbs...and about as much nutritional value as a jellybean.

Roger that. It fascinates me how people will not go cheap when it comes
to their $2000 SHTF rifle with all the goodies tacked on and refuse to shoot
Wolf ammo through it, but will fuel their body with whatever is cheap.

I have not seen granola in the #10 cans mentioned here. It has decent
calories for the weight and can be eaten dry.

 

[ilbob]

dried beans take a long time to prepare and lots of water. i used to eat a fair amount of beans just because i liked them. i usually soaked them in water for a day or so first, then boiled them for 1/2 an hour or so, then into the slow cooker for most of a day.

rice is a lot faster and easier to prepare. just boil the water and toss the rice in, bring to a boil again. than cover and turn off the heat, and let it set for 30 minutes.

the big problem with rice of any kind is that it is mostly starch. some claim that brown ice is somehow "better", but really it just has more oil in it, and can be prone to turning rancid on you. minute rice has been partially pre-cooked so it does not take as long to cook, and nutritionally is no different than regular white rice.

IMO, your best bet is to store a little bit more of what you eat anyway. for those of us who eat mostly foods that need refrigeration, that is not going to work as an emergency food source, so some freeze dried or canned stuff may be in order. adults tend to adapt pretty well. children may have issues with unfamiliar foods in a crisis.

 

[wingnutx]

children may have issues with unfamiliar foods in a crisis.

I'll distract them with my emergency clown suit.

 

[Polishrifleman]

Wing, that is great. At least you will explain what you are wearing as a "clown suit" because they won't have seen a post apocolyptic tactical get up.

I really am a big fan of the Pilot Boy hard tack listed above and smoked oysters. I have to agree that water is by far the most important, don't forget the hand sanitizer to help save on the water.

 

[barnetmill]

water and food groups

ilbob
As I under stand it you always eat at least two different vegetable types . That is rice and beans or corn and beans to assure a full complement of essential amino acids. Probably need some vitamine pills too to prevent certain nutritional diseases.
Water:
For short term emergency I would use the water in the hot water heater, assuming that the public water is out.

For long-term emergencies I am not sure. I suppose that one can buy plastic 1 gallon containers and prefill them with water and keep them out of the light. Put a drop or so bleach in them an hour or two prior to drinking to kill any bugs.
You can also dig a well assuming that the surficial ground water is safe to drink.

 

[ilbob]

As I under stand it you always eat at least two different vegetable types . That is rice and beans or corn and beans to assure a full complement of essential amino acids. Probably need some vitamin pills too to prevent certain nutritional diseases.

That is a better choice, but really rice and corn are mostly carbs, not much in the way of amino acids at all. You can live off either for a long time though before you suffer any ill effects, especially if you supplement them with meat or fish.

Most non-meat diets are severely lacking in various vitamins and minerals, so supplementation is going to be a good idea, although in an emergency, for a few weeks it is probably not going to make any difference.

besides, most of us have sufficient reserves stored around our middles that we could survive quite a while without any food.

 

[Manedwolf]

minute rice has been partially pre-cooked so it does not take as long to cook, and nutritionally is no different than regular white rice.

Minute rice to natual rice is like Wonder Bread to wholegrain bread.

 

[hso]

Lentils may prove to be more useful than beans because they don't require presoaking and cook very quickly.

As to rice, I've found that if you bring 2 volumes of water to a boil for every volume of rice and transfer the rice and water to an insulated container you won't need any additional fuel. In 20 minutes you've got completly cooked rice.

 

[dragongoddess]

Who needs an emergency food supply when you carry 50 pounds of fat around with you.

 

[barnetmill]

can anyone provide a list of suppliers of emergency supplies for food and other items?

 

[tellner]

To get complete proteins out of legumes you need grains as well. Huge portions of North and South America got by on maize, squash and beans. Add something for vitamins A and C and you're doing pretty well. Consider amaranth. It has tiny seeds that are just about as good a source of vegetable protein as you're likely to find. The leaves are an excellent and delicious vegetable. And you can't hardly kill it with a stick. Eradicate it, leave your lawn alone for a year and it's back.

The real wunderplant for survival is hemp. High protein, decent vitamins, excellent quality oil, the best all-round fiber you could ask for, grows like, well, a weed. Pity it's illegal.

 

[Mr. Ouchie]

A small solar oven (basically just an insulated box with a glass top and reflectors) will cook beans and rice handily as long as the sun is shining. The cooking is slow but you don't have to worry about burning the food or using fuel.

Sprouts are easy and fast to grow from seeds (a couple of days, you just need water).

 

[hso]

barnetmill,

The various suppliers have been listed in previous threads on this topic. The easy thing to do is google "survival food" or look at frugalsquirel.

BTW, "Minuterice" has 0 grams of protein in a 86 gram serving and 300 calories (http://www.kraftfoods.com/MinuteRic...lay&Product=4300022080&U3=******4300022080***) while brown rice has 108 calories and 2.5 grams of protein in a 98 gram serving. Long grain white rice has 2.5 grams of protein and 103 calories in 80 gram serving (http://www.dietfacts.com/search.asp?searchKey=rice). A package of "ramen" is 85 grams and has 9 grams of protein and 371 calories. Given the choice between MinuteRice and Ramen, the Ramen looks like the better emergency food. Even stacked against the brown rice Ramen is better emergency food because of the higher protein and caloric content.

 

[Cosmoline]

What I find fascinating is how many people plan on becoming sprout-eating vegans when the SHTF. It's nonsense. You'll be wanting meat and hot, high-fat, easy-to-fix meals. Not sprouts or sun cooked rice

 

[tellner]

Not sprouts. They're basically water. But what you seem to forget is that there aren't going to be freezers, abundant wild game and twenty pound butt-steaks. Meat is great stuff, but in the long term you'll be back to real survival, not an extended vacation with an ample supply of packaged foods. That's where grains, legumes, vegetables and other wimpy effeminate foods come in. They have provided the overwhelming majority of calories for almost all people since the Agricultural Revolution. They are the real survival foods. Meat is a welcome luxury.

 

[Mr. Ouchie]

I'm already a sprout eating vegan.

SHTF, I'll eat meat if I have to. Though I doubt I'd have to.

 

[ilbob]

Lentils may prove to be more useful than beans because they don't require presoaking and cook very quickly.

On top of that, they taste pretty darn good too.

As to rice, I've found that if you bring 2 volumes of water to a boil for every volume of rice and transfer the rice and water to an insulated container you won't need any additional fuel. In 20 minutes you've got completly cooked rice.

Yep. About the only thing rice has going for it IMO.

The bottom line is this. For a few weeks or even months you could probably live on candy bars. An emergency food supply is just that. It is not necessarily nutritionally balanced. Most of us have plenty of reserves stored around our mid-section already, and a few missed meals (or a few days of misused meals) would not harm us any.

If you are talking a long term situation - months or years, then you need to look closer at nutrition.

Sprouting was mentioned by another poster. It has some definite advantages in a long term situation since it can help balance out your nutritional requirements.

Really, wheat is as close to a perfect food as you can get. It has the distinct disadvantage of not being especially easy to prepare, so it is a poor choice for emergencies. Mixing wheat with beans, peas, and lentils, some sprouting, a little corn and rice, is about as balanced as you can get without including meat or fish. You will still be short on some vitamins that just don't exist in plants, so some supplementation would be in order. Add some meat and fish and you are pretty well balanced.

The problem with this diet is that it is radically different from, and it requires a lot more work to prepare than what most of us are used to. An emergency food supply needs to be something you don't have to work at all that much, nor one that requires a lot of water or cooking. You may not have either the water or the capability to do a lot of cooking in an emergency.

That makes cans of beef stew and chili nearly ideal.