I’m looking at investing in emergency food products for long term storage for a family of four. Looking for suggestions based on quality and taste. This stuff is expensive so I don’t necessarily want to spend the money on something that tastes like cardboard. Lol
Heres the thing.
Its not going to cost you an arm/leg or 1st born to TRY SOME! Everyones taste is different.
Why not head out and buy a package each or what you can get your hands on locally and just TRY some. Maybe make a fun day and have a FAMILY TESTING DAY on food.
Something to keep in mind in what you decide to buy. If its FREEZE DRIED or not. Will the FREEZE DRIED require WATER? Water maybe SCARCE and so keep that in mind. MREs dont really require WATER. So you can use the WATER TO SURVIVE.
And do some research on what is required for SURVIVAL. Not living high on the hog, but SURVIVAL. that is to stay ALIVE! But this will depend on what your end of the world scenario/apocalypse is. Look at that family in CA that just bit the dust because they didnt have enough WATER on a day hike. Even their dog died. you can google for it if you want. Samething happened to a older French couple that wanted to see white sands...the grandson survives, but they didnt and it didnt take long.
A co worker is doing the freeze drying. He got the setup and is doing alot of testing on various foods. he also watches alot of boobtube vids on various "preppers" and so forth. the Mormans are also doing "prepping" too. So if you have any mormon friends, ask them or pick their brains on what and how they see the end of the world or any emergency.
Freeze drying is energy intensive so expect your bill to get bigger. but it will depend on if you want to go that route. The nice thing about freeze dried food is that its LIGHT. So if you are old/aged/cripple and can only carry so much, you probably wont have an issue carrying/lifting a 5gal pail of freeze dried food.
he also has is own animais... Chickens/Turkeys and others and he freeze dries ALOT of scrambled eggs. he will also be growing some fruits/vegis and so forth to try and freeze dry. Some maybe canned/jared or something like beans can just be left as is.
Fat/grese/butter doesnt freeze dry so good. But he did try to freeze dry some ham. I got some an it was ok. He gave me a package of freeze dried shredded cheese mix to try. i havent opened it up yet.
You can also google for freeze dried x,y and z and see if anyone offers it for sale. Again, i wont cost you an arm or leg to TRY. you can see what it tastes like and go from there. In some grocery stores are selling the freeze dried fruit and such. Most of not all of the fruits are like candy when freeze dried.
And last comment. depending on how you see things, in the end the TASTE may not be such a big deal if you are starving. So just something to consider while you are looking for food to buy. Will the need for taste overcome whats needed to survive?
also, you may want to consider rotating your stock. FIFO - First In, First out. research the shelf life of whatever you get. you dont have to, but if you want, after x many months/years break out something to try. See what you think of what you just bought. Again, you can have a family meal of it.
good luck