When talking about preparing for disasters, most people will mention food and water at first breath. But figuring out what kind of food will hold up for at least two weeks without power or water is one particular question that seems to be part of an emerging debate. In one corner, you’ll find some who think that storing canned food is the best scenario when food supplies are gone and there’s no electricity. In another corner, you have those who tout freeze-dried foods as the real answer and where you can have a healthy meal without scrounging.
With freeze-dried meal kits being sold in grocery stores recently, is it really your best bet for food after a natural or man-made disaster? When you see the realities of what’s involved, you might think it’s just a fad, even if any issues could be worked out in advance.
Why the Freeze-Dried Food Concept Looks Appealing
It’s easy to see why a family would want to buy a freeze-dried food kit. Considering freeze-dried food mostly has a seven-year shelf life and provides full meals from breakfast to dinner, it seems like the perfect option. Some other foods can even last up to 25 years and include desserts like ice cream. Through the flash freezing process, water in the food product goes into gas form so the food can maintain its basic shape.
All you need to do is add water and you have a full meal without needing to find your manual can opener. That’s assuming you have water available to make your meals. It’s one aspect to freeze-dried foods you don’t see: A reality warning label.
The Marketing Behind Freeze-Dried Foods
It’s no secret freeze-dried food kits are quite expensive. That’s because the whole process is expensive, and it might actually be why so many people are buying these meal kits. When you pay more, a consumer is going to have the feeling that they invested in something worthwhile. There’s also the enticement knowing you can eat a full gourmet meal while disaster plays out locally or nationally.
You also have the water problem. What happens when there’s no water available for two weeks? Regardless, those who knock down the idea that freeze-dried foods might be a fad don’t realize how easy it is to stock up on considerable amounts of water without paying a fortune.
Preparing Bottled Water for Your Freeze-Dried Meals
If you’re investing in a freeze-dried meal kit, then you’re going to have to invest in bottled water to safely make those meals when tap water isn’t available. The best way to do this is to sign up with a bottled water company that delivers gallon jugs to you regularly. Various companies offering bottled spring water can do this with monthly fees that aren’t very expensive.
Storing these gallons of water in your garage can be very convenient when the water supply is cut off for weeks. Despite having to use part of that water for bathing and drinking, storing up numerous gallons will give you more than enough for your freeze-dried meals.
What Will the People Ultimately Choose?
Someday, most people will likely choose a combination of foods for disaster preparation rather than go with one plan. Mixing it up with canned foods, freeze-dried meals and retaining other food that doesn’t need refrigeration will assuredly keep you alive for weeks.
And with so many more natural disasters striking local areas, polls should be conducted to see what those people used to survive. After all the documented failures of FEMA in the past, the attention on storing proper food for disasters should become a front and center headline in mainstream media.
