Which Survival Foods Last The Longest?

Many people have come to rely on emergency services from the government to help them out in cases of natural disasters. However, one only needs to look back into history a short while to see that help is not always on the way when you hope it is. Plus there’s always a possibility that a larger catastrophe or emergency could happen and the government wouldn’t be able to handle all of the requests for help.

The other thing to consider is that most people have an obligation to help their friends, family, and neighbors to a certain extent because not everyone is able or capable of storing away extra food and other important items needed in an emergency. Let’s go over some important tips on choosing the best storage method for your emergency food supply.

While Food Is Important Water Is More Necessary

One of the first things to remember is that the human body will die of thirst long before it dies of hunger and that storing away plenty of water can be much more important than storing food for several different reasons. In many kinds of natural disasters, the water supply is cut because of flooding which causes sewer overflows and contaminates much of the water coming from the municipality.

During that same time, most of the food you still have in your house will be just fine to eat, but you won’t have any water to drink. The first thing that you need to do is find some inexpensive 5-gallon carboy’s of purified drinking water and store them away, making sure that their lids are tightly sealed, they’re out of harms way, and dated for reference.

There is no need to purchase large quantities of small water bottles as they are very expensive and not a good way to store water. You may want to purchase a six-pack of them in order to refill from your large 5-gallon jugs. Each person in the household should have available at least one gallon of water per day and a 10 day supply is not unreasonable.

You should also consider buying plenty of water decontamination tablets in case the water coming through your pipes returns but is possibly contaminated after a flood.

Freeze-Dried Foods Are Some Of The Survival Foods That Last The Longest

During the freeze-drying process up to 98% of all the water in a freshly cooked portion of food is removed, leaving the texture, flavor and smell of the food completely intact. During the process the freshly cooked food is flash frozen at -50°C and then placed into a vacuum chamber where all the air is removed. The temperature is then raised while the air and water are sucked out of the chamber creating a freeze-dried food.

For long-term survival freeze-dried is one of the best methods for storage and commercial preservation of the foods can last up to 15 years and still be edible. However, it’s important to constantly rotate your stored food, buying new freeze-dried meals, placing them in the back of the shelf and consuming the older food in front. Thus always maintaining a freshly purchased and long lasting supply of survival food.

Homemade Dehydrated Food Is Also Excellent Long-Lasting Survival Food

Many civilizations in the past have learned how to dehydrate their own food in order to go on long hunting expeditions or even fight wars in faraway lands while carrying their own food supply. Nowadays the average person can buy a food dehydrator and learn how to dehydrate their own food as well.

It is important to follow the instructions carefully to make sure that the food that you are going to rely on will be safe to eat after being stored for a long period of time. For this reason, you should research online and possibly purchase several books on safely doing the process at home.

A person should also consider buying a vacuum packing machine to store the dehydrated food in the absence of air. This will considerably extend the storage time of any food and guarantee that no bacteria have survived the dehydration process or entered the package later as well.

The Difference Between Freeze-Dried And Dehydrated Food

Freeze-dried food normally has no extra additives or preservatives so that when it is re-hydrated the food will taste very similar to its original form, texture, and flavor. It doesn’t need to be heavily salted either, so those that are on salt restricted diets would be able to eat it without a problem.

Dehydrated food typically shrinks during the process and is usually left quite a bit smaller than its original size. While some recipes call for dehydrating the food exactly as cooked, many will also have added ingredients to enhance the flavor and prolong the preservation of the food as well. You can adjust the recipes to suit your taste if need be.

While many dehydrated and freeze-dried foods can have a shelf life of 15+ years, it’s important to rotate them out of your storage area on a regular basis, making sure that you keep the newest additions on the back of the shelf, and the oldest in front at all times.

It’s important to keep a minimum of at least 10 days worth of stored food for everyone in the household, but you should also be aware that most likely there will be one or two extra people to feed and some disasters can last up to a month before help arrives.

There are plenty of articles to assist in your pursuit of food security that you can read online. This way you will be better able to protect your family and loved ones from catastrophes and emergencies.