Posted on 03/23/2012 4:00:55 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Could you really survive the apocalypse by eating freeze-dried food?
Is it really a good idea to store freeze dried food for a long-term survival situation? It may be an attractive proposition for the survivalist in you, but you probably didn't bargain on what exactly the process of freeze drying involves — and its price.
HOW TO CARRY A TON OF FOOD ON YOUR BACK
The process of freeze drying plays with the properties of water within food. When freeze drying, a cooked portion of food is flash frozen under a vacuum. At low pressure, all but 2-5% of the water in the food sublimes, moving quickly from a solid to gas form. The evaporation of water in this process allows the food to maintain its shape and decrease the weight by up to 90% -a big plus for those who need to "bug out" in a hurry due to a disaster.
You can even freeze dry ice cream.
SHELF LIFE OF FREEZE DRIED FOOD
Freeze dried foods last a little bit longer than dehydrated ones. Most freeze dried foods that you buy are sealed under nitrogen in resilient packaging, allowing for anywhere from a two to twenty-five year shelf life. Freeze dried fruits are on the lower end of the shelf life spectrum, lasting a little over two years.
Once the seal on a package of freeze dried food is broken, the shelf life clock is ticking, with most palatable for six months. There's a rapid falloff in shelf life if it's stored in a humid area.
POST-APOCALYPTIC EATING IS EXPENSIVE
Freeze dried foods are rather expensive - $1 to $2 per serving of a side dish like macaroni and cheese and $3 for a serving of ground beef. These are bulk prices - individually packed entrees cost $6 to $8 a piece.
One is easily looking at $10 to $15 dollars a day per person to sustain a diet of freeze dried food. Remember, this is food you might end up eating for hundreds of meals if a breakdown of society never comes.
Dehydrating food yourself is a slightly cheaper alternative, but requires a large amount of work and is far more susceptible to contamination.
THE WATER PROBLEM
In addition to price, another problem rears its head with freeze-dried foods. Freeze dried food must be reconstituted in order to be eaten, necessitating a large (and clean) water supply in order to dine — and that's on top of the clean water you need for drinking.
Clean water will likely be in short supply in a post-apocalyptic survival scenario. Water can be boiled or stored in advance, while bleach and iodine are useful in killing pathogens like Giardia lamblia in fresh water. But that's a lot of work to decontaminate your water, and you might want to use that water for drinking rather than reconstituting up your freeze-dried ice cream.
Making matters worse is the fact that eating freeze dried food without reconstitution could hypothetically cause you to dehydrate.
THE VERDICT: THE POST-APOCALYPSE WILL NOT BE FREEZE-DRIED
Surviving a long-term disruption in the food supply with freeze dried food would take enormous planning, a considerable amount of money, and one variable - a good, steady water supply. So it's probably not a good long-term solution after civilization falls.
If, however, you are concerned about preparing yourself for a small disruption in the food supply due to a hurricane or other natural distaster, storing some freeze dried food in the house might be a good idea. 72-hour food kits are sold on Amazon and in some big box stores.
In the meantime, don't forget about the canned food lying in your pantry. Canned goods are hefty, but they are safe for several years and, in the case of vegetables like corn and green beans, also contain a water supply. It might not taste good, but in a pinch, asparagus water could keep you alive.
Build ya an air well Slim......;o)
http://www.rexresearch.com/airwells/courneya.gif
Mine is like the pic I linked to. On humid days I can fill the cistern up, it’s 200 gallons. make other water traps like dew tarps etc and then make your rain gutters work for ya with some water barrels under em. A 12 x 12 tarp with 1/2 inch of rain will produce 30 gallons.
http://www.rexresearch.com/airwells/airwells.htm
link here is the main page of some good ideas for water on the homestead.
Stay safe !
Very simple to make. The vacuum pump is the expensive part though. Over all the
whole system would cost about $700 on the DYI cheap.
Have you heard about a zeer for storing produce? It is still being used in Africa today. It is probly several thousand years old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfKgOpJc7Ps&feature=related
I wonder if meat and chese could also be used.
“,freeze dried is like eating sand from a dirty cat box “
You’re supposed to add hot water to them before eating.
I have muddy water about 2’ down here in florida. If I get ambitious I can go about 60’ and hit crystal clear aquifer water.
Why is this a lot of work? Seems pretty easy and cheap too. Why don’t more people store water this way, instead of buying it? Honest question...
Hey, if it's the apocalypse, really, what else are you going to be doing, anyway?
I have a deep well also. When we first moved into the house intense water usage would draw it down and we had to wait for it to recharge. I put in a buried 1400 gallon cistern which I fill from the well as a buffer. I then pump from the cistern to the house. In a SHTF situation I have a generator and sufficient gas to allow me to fill the cistern several more times. After that the roof will become our water source.
You might want to re-think that. The only reason wild game is still plentiful is because it is regulated via seasons and bag limits. Once the food supply is cut, wild game will quickly disappear.
We are planning on raising rabbits for protein because of their fast reproductive rate and they don't need a whole lot of space.
Another thing we're planning is using rat traps to catch squirrels.
I dismissed the hunting option long ago.
Back on subject, we're storing both freeze-dried foods and bulk rice, flour, yeast, etc., and canned foods. The canned foods will be eaten first, then the freeze-dried, then the bulk stuff.
Remember, your stores are just to buy you time until you can get your garden growing and livestock old enough to harvest.
Folks with security skills might team with local farmers to provide security in exchange for meat.
AD
If you can get some good tasting freeze dried food, and eat some of it now why not? Just think of how much food an average person wastes in their lives, so looking at it this way, incorporating freeze dried food can reduce food wastage now, thus saving money (of course this depends on the person’s rate of food wastage, and I know that some people never waste food) At the very least, the freeze dried food can act as an inflation hedge. Same thing with vodka, red wine etc.
Have you looked at treadle or pedal pumps? Some of them will work at deeper depths than most hand-powered ones.
Uh, I don't know how to break this to you, but... you're supposed to put water in it first.
Regarding availability of potable water, search for SODIS, it is a fantastic method of treating water completely free, no chemicals just solar UV
Our well is relatively shallow so lowering a small container down the pipe and pulling it up is no problem.
I can’t afford freeze dried so am sticking to canned goods. Besides, I won’t be hiking out to anywhere.
Fish and wildlife are plentiful. I want to study up on foraging edible plants. I’m trying to get the mustang grapes back on the property for jelly making (hubby keeps chopping them down). I used to make prickly pear jelly but sadly, much of the catus has been cleared out of surrounding pastures in recent years but I suspect there’s still some to be found. There are plenty of pecan trees and wild onion and garlic. We expanded the teeny vegetable garden this year and next year I’m hoping to put in an herb garden for teas and medicinal herbs.
You can't eat all those apples before they're out of season so print out plans now on how to make a dehydrator using just sun and air.
Wow, there's a red squirrel in the yard. Hadn't ever seen that color here. Pretty thing. Yeah, they're first on the fresh meat list.
Tip - Store flour, grains, rice, beans, etc. on the upper shelves of both dry storage and the freezer. Store water, canned goods, and anything with a water content on the lower areas. If a container were to leak, it won’t ruin your flour, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-in-pot_refrigerator - this says meat can be stored in it but I would imagine ymmv and I'd keep a thermometer in it just to be sure. Still, I wouldn't chance it for more than overnight or a couple days and then well heated through before eating. Hard cheeses would probably be fine.
I haven't found anywhere it says if it's better to keep it in the ground or above. Or in the sun or in the shade on the cooler side of the house. One would think the obvious place would be buried up to the rim and in the shade but don't know if that would mess up the evaporation process. Still if it's hot outside then it's going to evaporate no matter what. You'd want to use potable water for safety sake. All in all, it's a most interesting concept and something to keep in our files.
” You can’t eat all those apples before they’re out of season “
Apples can be stored for quite a while in a root cellar - they may get a bit soft and wrinkly, but still edible and sweet enough to be a ‘treat’ during off-season periods...
True.
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