There are many who wonder if the investment into this long-term food source is the right one for them and have asked questions like: Can you really survive the apocalypse with freeze-dried food? How long is the shelf-life when the #10 can is opened? Are these foods nutritionally complete? What other options are there for long-term food storage?
The Pros
There are many pros to having #10 cans of this long-term food source in your prepper pantry. Freeze-dried food is flash frozen and then put in a vacuum container causing the water vaporize, and leaving the food item with 98% of its water removed.Nutritionally speaking, the food retains all the nutrients that it had in its original form after the freeze-drying process and contains little to no additives. This process keeps a majority of the nutrition in tact. Gary Stoner, Ph.D., and the American Institute for Cancer Research have found that the antioxidant phytochemicals found in fresh fruits is about the same as in their freeze-dried versions. However, some ascorbic acid levels and the amount of polyphenol, a cell-protecting chemical in berries, were measurably reduced by freeze drying. Source
As well, the cook times are drastically reduced which is helpful during emergencies when energy must to be conserved. Moreover, many find that when they are in the midst of an emergencies, stress loads increase because of drastic changes and having these “just add water” meals ready to go cuts down on the stress of food preparation. It is estimated that 98% of moisture from the food is eliminated, thus reducing the weight of the food by 80%. Those who plan on evacuating will appreciate the lighter weight during transport – especially with all the other supplies they will have in their pack. Last but not least, the 25 year storage life makes this ideal for preppers who are looking for long-lasting food options. On a personal note, my family purchased freeze-dried food in 2004 and it’s still just as fresh as when we opened up the first can. Keep in mind, once your freeze-dried food can is opened, the shelf life quickly diminishes and you will need to throw it out in six months, and if you live in a humid area, the shelf life could be cut in half.
The Cons
While, the pros are great, it comes with a hefty price tag. You are paying for all of the specialized equipment and energy it takes to preserve the food for a long shelf life. One case of freeze-dried meals can set you back over a hundred dollars with shipping included. As well, having this type of food source for your long-term food needs will require extra space to store the food. An entire years supply fits into a 2 ft x 3 ft area, stacked 5 ft high. As well, food cans could be strategically hidden in the home, underneath beds, above kitchen cabinets and in the closet.
If you are going back and forth about whether or not to invest in freeze-dried food or dehydrated food, here’s a good answer. Because 98% of the water is removed from freeze-dried foods, it will take more water to reconstitute it for meals as opposed to dehydrated foods needing a fraction of the water. An article on Modern Survival Blog gives a great explanation:
“It does take more water to reconstitute freeze-dried food than dehydrated food. I randomly pulled out a few freeze-dried food packets that I have on hand here, so that I could read the directions. The average amount of water required is a bit more than 1 cup of water per serving (which you would heat up first). On the other hand, some dehydrated food can be consumed without re-constituting with water (particularly fruits or meats). My experience with re-hydrating foods that I have previously dehydrated, are that I tend to use less than 1 cup of water per equivalent serving of vegetables than a freeze-dried food.”
Also, keep in mind that many of the freeze-dried meals are high in sodium. Many outdoor enthusiasts and hikers complain that you have to drink so much water to overcome the thirst the meals create. Make sure you have extra water on hand if you plan on using this as your main food source. As well, the high sodium can cause your bowels to become sluggish. To remedy this, purchase some over the counter meds for constipation or look for low-sodium freeze-dried options. One website states that the real key is balance.
“If you are concerned about sodium content in your food storage items, keep in mind that you can balance out the higher sodium foods you consume in a day with lower sodium foods. For example, many freeze-dried vegetables contain low or no sodium. There are also many breakfast items, like granola or oatmeal, that have very little sodium, if any.
Just like with a fresh food diet, the key is balance. If the only thing you ate every day was chicken, you’d quickly find that your diet is not providing what your body needs. But when you add lots of fruits and vegetables to that chicken and you will begin to achieve a more balanced diet.”
In that same vein, I highly recommend you also investing in sprouting seeds to ensure you are getting some fresh vitamins into your daily diet.
How Much Freeze-Dried Food Do You Need?
In an emergency situation, your caloric intake will increase due to higher activity levels, thus you will be consuming more. Keep this in mind when determining what your caloric needs will be. Once you know that magic caloric number, you can begin to find out how many freeze-dried meals you need. The Ready Store has a good calculator to get an idea how the number of cans of freeze-dried food you would need to survive.
Can You Survive Solely on Freeze-Dried Food?
So, the question is can you survive an apocalypse with freeze-dried food? Yes, you can, but the real question is do you want to?
While there are pros and cons to investing in this long-term food source, above all, you are investing in food freedom and the livelihood of your family or group. My preference is to have a little bit of everything and believe in having a layered approach to emergency food sources. You can read more about it here. We plan on using our supply of freeze-dried food after we finish our perishable foods. During the time we are using up this portion of our emergency food, we plan on getting fresh food sources established.
Ultimately, when people set out on the path to preparedness they turn to freeze-dried foods for a fast approach. After all, it is the healthiest and longest lasting emergency food source. Based on the price alone, it is difficult for many of us to use this as a sole emergency food source. There are less costly food storage options such as using a dehydrator to dry out food and is completely customizable to your dietary needs. As well, the further a person journeys into preparedness, they want to attain total self-sufficiency and look for ways to growing their own food sources through gardening and livestock.
My advice to all of you is to keep your budgets in mind before you decide to purchase bulk emergency food. You don’t want to go broke getting a food pantry set up. Prep for emergencies with the layered approach mentioned above, keep your options open and keep researching better ways to get your family ready for life’s uncertainties.
Tess, outstanding article, sound and wise information. Balance in what you eat is very important. I pretty much live on LRRP rations for over five years in Nam and learned very quickly that you need a far more balance fare. We added fresh veggies form the locals when possible or can veggies through “midnight” appropriation and fruits from C-rations. All in all they pretty darn good and far better then the MRE’s there using today. Balance is the key, a good mix of both freeze-dried, dehydrated veggies and fruit is what do. ~ Thanks Tess
I fully agree with a balanced approach. I store freeze dried as well as canned,beans,rice,condiments,spices,pasta,oats,ect. You need balance to avoid food fatigue. having #10 cans of veggies and meat to add to your other ingredients is the way to go IMHO. As far as the ready made meals while I also stock some of them I prefer to us the dried as an additive .
I buy extras when bogo and rotate. Been there and done that with dehydrated foods before y2k, donated to food bank after eating several cans. Had dehydrator and sold it along with a grain mill. Many who prepped then (1999) tell me they are prepping only for bad weather now days, too busy having a life with g’kids, travel, etc.
I disagree that freeze dried food takes more water to reconstitute than dehydrated. (An aside: dehydrated foods take more fuel to heat than a little water for FD foods, which BTW can also be reconstituted with cold water.) Storing FD food requires just as much common sense as storing canned or dehydrated foods. For instance, combining canned foods (that contain liquid) with some FD or dehydrated foods does not use your precious water supply. Or, having 1/2 cup of oatmeal (add water to cook) and throw in some FD fruit does not use more of your water supply than just having plain oatmeal. Add a couple of cans of chicken broth to a pot, throw in some FD veggies and meat and you have a meal – no water used.
I also disagree that FD foods are more expensive. Qualifying that, yes, dehydrated foods in #10 cans are much cheaper and dehydrating your own are also less expensive. I did a cost comparison of FD foods to fresh foods and FD are less expensive per serving. Qualifying that again, I found that only foods packaged individually, such as fruits, vegetables and meats, are less expensive. The full meals are definitely not less expensive than if you were to cook those meals from scratch, which is why I limited my FD foods to fruits, veggies and meats, which can be combined with any other food storage method to make full meals. Another consideration for me is that full meals contain many additives and things I cannot pronounce. I don’t like to feed my family things I cannot pronounce. 🙂