Long Term Food Companies

[Jasonanddeonna]

What companies do you recommend for quality, portion, taste, and price? I have tried Mountain House, decent, but spendy. I have also been scoping out Legacy (Legacy Food Storage) as they seem to have large portions and decent quality for the price, but have not tried them. Patriot Supply always seems like they have massive sales and reviews are generally good. Auguson, Wise Food, MREs, or others? Thoughts and experiences?

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[cigars]

Check out the LDS (Mormon) canneries. There's one in portland and one out near St. Paul. Good prices, mostly basic staples but same quality as the big name brands without the mark up.

Home Storage Centers

 

[oremike]

I get mine from TheEpicenter.com Emergency Preparedness Food & Survival Supplies over in Eugene. This is the place that the red cross and other disaster relief people get their non military MRE's.

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

Thank you both. I am familiar with Epicenter. I guess I am more curious as to peoples' thoughts on particular brands for quality and value.

 

[KKG]

The whole reason Mountain House is spendy is because they are also Very Good. You buy cheap and that's what you get. Poor quality and lousy taste.

 

[Tony617]

I have ordered white buckets of food rations from Costco a few years ago and the ones that I got were packaged in Utah.

 

[LuckySG]

What companies do you recommend for quality, portion, taste, and price? I have tried Mountain House, decent, but spendy. I have also been scoping out Legacy (Legacy Food Storage) as they seem to have large portions and decent quality for the price, but have not tried them. Patriot Supply always seems like they have massive sales and reviews are generally good. Auguson, Wise Food, MREs, or others? Thoughts and experiences?

I have tried them all and could recommend a few as well as showing someone the ins and outs of buying and running a home size freeze dryer so you have tasty food in reasonable portions. What are your goals?

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

My goal is to build some emergency supplies for food (3-6 months) or so for a family of 4. In addition, some that is portable, if need be, for 7-10 days. Space and storage (maintain steady, appropriate temp and dark) is somewhat limited. So, to stack and store would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Don't really know but chickens lay fresh eggs..













lol

 

[Cavedweller]

Best deal I've found on MREs: Armygear.net -- Case of 12 MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat)
Recommend having some MREs in your portable stash. Even tho they are relatively heavy and bulky, you don't have to worry about finding water for rehydration.

 

[LuckySG]

My goal is to build some emergency supplies for food (3-6 months) or so for a family of 4. In addition, some that is portable, if need be, for 7-10 days. Space and storage (maintain steady, appropriate temp and dark) is somewhat limited. So, to stack and store would be helpful. Thanks!

Cool. I should have asked how important meat is in your diet, because that is where your money does not go very far. In four months you could have planted a garden and be eating nutritious greens, so don't forget seeds in your plan!

My two cents along with assumptions that may need to be corrected-

Not all products are equal, mostly because there is no standard for portions and that is where you need to spend your time to see what you dollars per meal really comes out to be. Patriot Pantry is good as far as taste and quality go, their bins will not survive long stacked high (I had them start breaking when six or more were stacked) and they are in my opinion 50% of what you might consider a portion not to complain about. That is all you need to take into account and love them without starving yourself.

Augason is a great way to make a fast start and everything I have bought from them comes in high quality buckets that stack really well. Pair a few of their 30 day buckets with a good water supply and supplement with real food you rotate in your pantry and it might not feel so bad.

Some people may find Thrive to be akin to shopping at Whole Foods, but it has advantages. First, you don't have any waste as compared to fresh unprepared foods. Cook what you need and put the lid back on the rest so costs can be equal. Second, shelf life is good and clearly indicated. Third, They are the highest quality I found and understand lots of people like meat so they sell excellent meats.

I was not all that impressed with mountain house, primarily because too many additives for my liking at their price point, and I was starting to freeze dry my own foods after getting 18 months stocked away of several brands listed above. That said companies are eliminating many of those trans fats, MSG, and other cheap fillers realizing when you are eating these items you need to be at your physical best, because there will be lots of stress coming from several fronts.

Good clean water, vitamins, and first aid should all be high priorities as well as planning some comforts. Some sweets or savories will never taste better when you need the real world equivalent of a snickers bar. What you are looking to gather should fit in a traditional hall closet, minus the water for four people with four months of prepared foods. Resist the urge to store in a garage that is not insulated, shelf life drops drastically.

I recently bought out one of my distributors for the line of OMeals that are a tasty entree that heats like an MRE, yet can be transported by air. Amazon also carries them for a $1 more than my prices, well worth a try as they are much closer to a true portion and hot food can be really delicious! Beef and lentils is my favorite, but literally they are all good. My last suggestion is to find your local county extension to get great (free) information on canning and preserving. Home Food Preservation Now is the time with a fantastic growing season underway. If there is anything else I can do to help just let me know! I love this stuff and use to do monthly classes on preparedness.

Jeremy

 

[LuckySG]

Best deal I've found on MREs: Armygear.net -- Case of 12 MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat)
Recommend having some MREs in your portable stash. Even tho they are relatively heavy and bulky, you don't have to worry about finding water for rehydration.

If the dates are good that is a great price. Thanks for the share!

 

[SkeetAt40Below]

If the dates are good that is a great price. Thanks for the share!

Buy mine !
WTS OR - MRE: Meal Kit Supply- Case of 12- $100

 

[LuckySG]

Buy mine !
WTS OR - MRE: Meal Kit Supply- Case of 12- $100

Let's chat tomorrow if no one else gets there first.

Jeremy

 

[tourproto]

I've tried Mountain House, Alpine Aire and Backpackers Pantry. For the price and quality it is MH hands down. And while I haven't saved their stuff for 20 years, all of the tests I have seen are that they are the best in terms of quality packaging over time.

MREs may be cheaper, but I would try some out before buying a bunch of it.

 

[AMProducts]

This is kinda've a complex question and really depends on a lot of factors, when it comes to "storage food" and "food that is almost ready to eat" these are very different angles. If you're looking at storage food, beans, rice, spam, oils, etc are going to be your go to, you're going to have to cycle this food every few years, however it's cheap, it's fairly nutritious, and it is easy to augment with other things, like freeze dried onions, or fresh vegetables, or some bonus meat from hunting.

I tend to depend on Mountain House for camping food, it's fast and easy to prepare and provides a good number of calories. (figure you're going to be eating a double "serving") If you're looking for something easy like this, I totally like MH, however it's use is very much limited to Heat and Eat application. Wise is another company that advertises extensively, however I would not recommend them, they like to play little games like having very small "servings" usually 200-300 calories, wise foods also tend to be nothing more than soup mixes, which both require a lot of water to prepare, are more difficult to handle, and require more cooking infrastructure. Half a canteen cup of hot water makes a full sack of MH. The MH meals are also usually about 300-400 calories per serving, and usually 2 servings per bag.

 

[SUPER X]

Check out the LDS (Mormon) canneries. There's one in portland and one out near St. Paul. Good prices, mostly basic staples but same quality as the big name brands without the mark up.

Home Storage Centers

True the mormons have been storing food for ever and are master's at it and don't cut corners in nutrition or quality. I to need to re up . Been living on my preps the last few months .

 

[cigars]

I've tried Mountain House, Alpine Aire and Backpackers Pantry. For the price and quality it is MH hands down. And while I haven't saved their stuff for 20 years, all of the tests I have seen are that they are the best in terms of quality packaging over time.

MREs may be cheaper, but I would try some out before buying a bunch of it.

I hate the MH scrambled eggs. They taste more like freeze dried pancake syrup. Why can't they just freeze dry plain old scrambled eggs? If I want to add cr@p to it I will just add cr@p to it myself.

 

[LuckySG]

I hate the MH scrambled eggs. They taste more like freeze dried pancake syrup. Why can't they just freeze dry plain old scrambled eggs? If I want to add cr@p to it I will just add cr@p to it myself.

Freeze Drying scrambled egg is easy! Do I need to get you a batch done once we are past the fruit season?

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

Cool. I should have asked how important meat is in your diet, because that is where your money does not go very far. In four months you could have planted a garden and be eating nutritious greens, so don't forget seeds in your plan!

My two cents along with assumptions that may need to be corrected-

Not all products are equal, mostly because there is no standard for portions and that is where you need to spend your time to see what you dollars per meal really comes out to be. Patriot Pantry is good as far as taste and quality go, their bins will not survive long stacked high (I had them start breaking when six or more were stacked) and they are in my opinion 50% of what you might consider a portion not to complain about. That is all you need to take into account and love them without starving yourself.

Augason is a great way to make a fast start and everything I have bought from them comes in high quality buckets that stack really well. Pair a few of their 30 day buckets with a good water supply and supplement with real food you rotate in your pantry and it might not feel so bad.

Some people may find Thrive to be akin to shopping at Whole Foods, but it has advantages. First, you don't have any waste as compared to fresh unprepared foods. Cook what you need and put the lid back on the rest so costs can be equal. Second, shelf life is good and clearly indicated. Third, They are the highest quality I found and understand lots of people like meat so they sell excellent meats.

I was not all that impressed with mountain house, primarily because too many additives for my liking at their price point, and I was starting to freeze dry my own foods after getting 18 months stocked away of several brands listed above. That said companies are eliminating many of those trans fats, MSG, and other cheap fillers realizing when you are eating these items you need to be at your physical best, because there will be lots of stress coming from several fronts.

Good clean water, vitamins, and first aid should all be high priorities as well as planning some comforts. Some sweets or savories will never taste better when you need the real world equivalent of a snickers bar. What you are looking to gather should fit in a traditional hall closet, minus the water for four people with four months of prepared foods. Resist the urge to store in a garage that is not insulated, shelf life drops drastically.

I recently bought out one of my distributors for the line of OMeals that are a tasty entree that heats like an MRE, yet can be transported by air. Amazon also carries them for a $1 more than my prices, well worth a try as they are much closer to a true portion and hot food can be really delicious! Beef and lentils is my favorite, but literally they are all good. My last suggestion is to find your local county extension to get great (free) information on canning and preserving. Home Food Preservation Now is the time with a fantastic growing season underway. If there is anything else I can do to help just let me know! I love this stuff and use to do monthly classes on preparedness.

Jeremy

Jeremy, thank you so much for this great information. Many of the points you discuss including treats, water, first aid, and storage area are exactly the factors I am keeping in mind. Most of it is set up okay (I continue to add and check), but food storage and power are the weak links.

Your point about serving size as compared to price and caloric intake is also what I am checking out. This is why I am leaning towards using Legacy food storage as their portions tend to be very large at a decent price. Mix this with a few MREs, maybe some Patriot Supply, some number 10 cans for fruits, veggies, and meat. I think this could be a decent setup for a few months. May need to check out Augason as well. Yes, we have lots of seeds and water.

I will read through some of your other suggestions as well. Thanks again!