If you would’ve asked a prepper thirty years ago about what kinds of food we should all stock up on, you probably wouldn’t have received a thorough answer. For most people, emergency supplies included things like canned goods, or sacks of dried beans or rice. Maybe if the person you were talking to had done their research, they might tell you about military rations and freeze dried food. Back then there wasn’t as much awareness on this topic, and as a result, there weren’t many emergency food options.

But these days the situation has completely reversed. After an explosion of interest in prepping in recent years, there are so many different brands and stores that sell emergency foods that it can be challenging to make a choice. So if you’re new to prepping, and are just starting to build up a supply of emergency foods, allow me to break down some of your options.

Superstores

One of the first places you should look for survival food is in local big box stores. Walmart, Target, Costco, and even Home Depot sell freeze dried food at reasonable prices. There’s two very good reasons why you should check out these stores first, even if you don’t intend to buy from them. First, you can see and hold these products, get a sense of their size, and figure out how many of them you can actually fit in your living space. Second, these stores probably provide a better price on single servings, so that you can taste test them.

The first time we ever purchased food for our prepper pantry was at our local Wal-Mart. We bought ten pound bags of rice, beans, oats, kitchen staples, canned goods, and water – and the price was good too.

The Mormon Church

The Mormon Church has long promoted the idea that their followers should maintain a personal supply of survival foods. So it’s no surprise that the official website of this religion offers high quality survival foods. And these products aren’t just available to adherents of Mormonism. Regardless of your status with this religion, you can purchase their products at any of their “Home Storage Centers,” which can be found throughout the country.

The distribution centers at the Mormon Church have a variety of foods you can choose from. Best of all, they are in bulk! We’ve purchased large bags of dry milk, water filters, sugar and more. The only draw back is you will have to repackage the food when you buy them in these larger quantities. An alternative would be to purchase their pre-packed foods that are already stored in #10 cans. It’s a great way to alternate these items into your existing pantry.

Amazon

No search for any product would be complete without visiting Amazon.com at least once. In this case, it’s a great way to get a sense of all the different survival foods that are on the market. Amazon arguably has the widest selection of brands, and plenty of reviews to back them up. If there’s any particular brand that you’re interested in, see if you can find it here first, and read up on the reviews to see if its worth your money.

We buy a lot of items from Amazon, simply because it’s so easy. I especially like the bulk herbs, cases of freeze dried food, water storage, seeds and prepper gear. You can’t go wrong! After that, you should figure out if you can get a better deal on Amazon or on the brand’s own website.

The Ready Store

This is another fantastic online resource for survival foods. The Ready Store has hundreds of different options for you to choose from, all of which appear to be very affordable compared to most stores. Amazon may have a wider selection of brands, but it’s often the case that you can get the best deals from companies that are dedicated to a specific product.

Sorbent Systems

One of the few disadvantages that you’ll find with most survival foods, is that the meals are usually already put together in a limited number of configurations. That’s just fine if you’re not a picky eater. If you are however, or you have food allergies or any other specific dietary needs, then this can be a problem.

In that case you may have to put together your own dehydrated and freeze dried meals. The first place you should check out is sorbentsystems.com, where you can find a wide variety of bags, desiccants, and the necessary equipment for sealing and vacuuming food containers. And if you’re looking for bulk ingredients that haven’t been mixed together, Honeyville.com has plenty of freeze dried fruits, vegetable, meats and beans to choose from.