Long term

[The Grebe]

I seen something, somewhere, probably on the net, about survival foods, things a person should have on hand in case of an emergency....they didn't say what they should be, but it got me to thinking?

Today we went grocery shopping and I started looking at different foods to see how long they would last....well, at least what it said on the expiration date....I'm sure some would last quite abit longer then the expiration date? The longest I seen on all the items I checked, was 2015 and that was on a can of Spam.

I can see the producers doing that so people don't stock up on something when the price is low, but I wonder how long would be a reasonable time past the expiration date, to keep like a canned item?

How about like rice, beans, flour, macaroni and stuff like that, anybody know what the approximate shelf life is? How about water? I suppose that if you don't unseal the container and there are no visible kooty's swimming around in there, it would be alright just about indefinately...wouldn't it?

What would be some of the survival foods that you would try to have on hand in case of a local, or national emergency? Right now about the only extra things we would have to eat would be a couple of bars of soap!

[SkunkedAgain]

Canned foods last a long time and most things that are vacuum sealed. If you're intent on keeping survival food on-hand, I wouldn't concentrate on finding things that will last 5-10 years on the shelf. Instead, keep your survival foods in a cool, dark pantry but use and replace them once per year. You don't need MREs with a listed half-life. You just need to use and replace those foods on a semi-regular basis.

Water does not go stale. Keep a couple of jugs of it and if you want, use and replace that as well.

[nofishfisherman]

Also if you really want to keep survival food on hand keep in mind food prep. If you're in a survival situation and need to tap into it will you have a source of heat to cook the food? If a disaster just hit you probably won't have gas or elctricity to cook with. Either make sure to have a cook stove and plenty of fuel or make sure you have items that don't need cooking.

[Walleyehooker]

Lot of stuff on the web if you google doomsday etc. Rice and dried beans and canned food and water come to mind. Just remember if all heck brakes loose there will be a lot more have nots than haves so you will also need to protect your stuff.

[toughguy]

[Redlantern]

Guess it all depends on the emergency. If you're talking winter temps and no heat, forget the canned foods. As much as I hate to think of eating these again, I'd have to say MRE's are the way to go. Water is going to be the most important commodity. I'd keep some idodine tablets around and then you don't need to worry about storing tap water, especially if it's freezing temps.

[danwilliams]

Just fwiw.....

I can remember in 1967 eating quite a few C rations (canned food) that were dated 1948.

They weren't bad..especially if you were real hungry. I liked the ham & lima beans.... the pound cake was kinda solid.