Posted on 10/07/2010 7:32:13 AM PDT by FromLori
Either our nation's obesity problem is just as bad as they say, or Costco knows something we don't, because the aircraft carrier-scaled big box store is now offering enough (horrifying) food to last you a year for a cool $800.
The monstrous, 5,011 serving package, courtesy of food outfitter Shelf Reliance (hey, at least we'll have kept our senses of humor during doomsday!) claims their end days buffet contains "only top-of-the-line products," "developed with everyday menu planning in mind." Which makes sense, of course, because the only thing worse than knowing that the entire eastern seaboard has been leveled by nukes or a horde of flesh-feasting space titans is repetitive bunker fare—dehydrated fish skin AGAIN, mom?
Possibly more disconcerting than the notion of a year underground eating food from Costco is the fact that the package isn't just marketed for emergencies, but for "long-term food storage supply." Meaning that someone, somewhere, thinks it's a rational idea to buy an $800 cargo crate including containing 84 gallon-sized cans, to just, y'know, save yourself a trip to the grocery store. Now, I am totally down with Costco's cheese platters, and pasta multi-packs, but. My God.
Either our nation's obesity problem is just as bad as they say, or Costco knows something we don't, because the aircraft carrier-scaled big box store is now offering enough (horrifying) food to last you a year for a cool $800.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
All I can say is read the book: “One Second After”, then tell me how dumb this idea is...
http://www.onesecondafter.com/
No, I’m not a Mormon or survivalist...but I see the logic of it.
I’ve also eaten MRE’s - I’ll take the dehydrated stuff over the MRE’s.
Could be I got some old ones but they were pretty awful (the MRE’s). I bought them at a garage sale - the guy had some leftover from his military days and they were at least a couple years old. I can’t believe we feed our military that stuff.
Rather than get all this nasty stuff I’ve come to the conclusion the best rations for camping or self reliance are those packets of chicken flavored rice or noodles (you know they come in beef and fried rice, etc) and those new packages they now have of tuna or chicken in a pouch. They won’t last near as long but they are lightweight and much tastier. Also you can use them and replace to keep them fresh. Mix them together for a pretty decent meal.
Tried my first MRE less than a month ago - I thought that little wad of paper was a napkin and decided to use it to wash our dishes - we were camping. Didn't take long to figure out it was toilet paper when it started falling apart during the washing. :)
You might find the info in this Preparedness Manual to be of benefit. I'm not LDS but I do recognize they have good ideas on long term food and supply storage. Hope this helps.
Add a few pounds of rice, cooking oil, dried pasta and beans to that list and you can live for a looooong time. Nice thing about a total disaster is there won't be much daytime entertainment beyond eating and cooking... (and learning how to garden and survive)
“replace school lunches with MRE’s!! lol”
How ‘bout requiring them for food stamp users. Double LOL.
Thanks for the recommendation on RDF. I’ve looked at them before, but never had any first-hand recommendations.
In my camping and survival bags - I keep a couple decks of cards. Can you imagine how boring life will be without tv or computer, etc.
I have a small garden and dehydrate my veggies, throw in a bouillon cube and use my Food Saver to draw a vacuum on a bag and then you have soup for SHORT TERM Storage.
I also can veggies, fruits and meats using a pressure canner. You can also dry can items such as nuts, jerkies and the like. The things you can prepare at home don't cost nearly as much. There is a lot of information on the internet on how to do all of this. With the abundance of food we have it is easy to set aside a few dollars each week to buy and prepare food items for storage.
Be sure to label the items you prepare and put a date on them. Best of luck in making your preparations.
I bought a couple of the Mountain House freeze dried packs and put them in storage.
One morning I figured what the hey so I boiled some water and tried the breakfast, scrambled eggs with bacon.
It was delicious! Really, really good!
So I went back to the place I got them, and the store had taken them off the shelves and put them in the back because they consider them a “seasonal” item (camping, hiking, etc). I asked if they had any left, and they did, so I bought them out (about 25 large packs) and they gave me a huge discount on them too!
So I would recommend these to anybody because they have a very long shelf life and if you can boil water, you can make a meal.
Bookmarking the thread - you all are a wealth of information! :-)
lol.
“Hey where are my food stamps?”
“We replaced them with MRE’s! Let us see, 31 days, family of 4.... 3 meals a day... 372 MRE’s, so open the trunk!”
If you are going to cook your own breads and such, do it early after a disaster. After a couple of weeks, the smell of baking grains is going to bring the zombies to you. They will literally sniff you out.
Most of your time will be spend defending. During Florida's year of the hurricanes, I wondered out loud about all the good ole boys driving up and down the road in their jacked up 4x4's, saying "why aren't they stocking up and preparing?" As soon as I said it, it dawned on me that they were preparing: making note of who was doing the heavy lifting for them. Just remember, it will be survival of the fittest.
Mark
Water comes next. You can live without food for several days or more, but not without water. Identify fresh water sources and store and rotate out water.
Batteries, medicine, heat sources, durable goods and clothing. Nothing silly about it.
The biggest thing is networking. Connect with like-minded friends who also see dark times ahead. You'd be surprised how much folks have when they pool their resources (not just food).
Locate several friendly families that have places in the country with well water and wildlife on their land, or buy some of your own if you don't live there already.
Be prepared. When the SHTF, it's going to be bad.
If you can't get out of the city immediately (you'll only have a limited period of time before the roads get clogged and are unpassable), be prepared to live in your home for no less than 40 days without outside assistance. Most of the scum will kill each other off during that time fighting over meaningless crap. Rally your neighbors to defend your street, block, section, community.
Condense. It's easier to heat 1 home than several, easier to combine resources and cook for a group than just 1 or 2 people. Easier to defend one location with many weapons than several with just a few.
But above all remember - we are Americans. We can do ANYTHING.
“Don’t let these fools know, is all I’ve got to say. You’ll be demonized as a hoarder at best, if it ever comes down to actually needing it.”
To paraphrase a Lyle Lovett song “Keep It in Your Pantry” (a play on keep it in your panties) and don’t tell your neighbors about it because when the SHTF and they didn’t prepare, they will want some of yours. Sharing is one thing, preparing is another.
In these days and times, prudent people will obtain and maintain survival kits that will sustain them in the event that the “gubment” won’t. Those that are continuously on the government tit will be coming after yours. A variety of weapons and plenty of ammo are essential elements of those kits. Plenty of websites provide constituents of decent survival kits. Best Defense - Survival on the Outdoor Channel helps put it in a visual perspective.
The survival kit that is necessary in hurricane, snowstorm, tornado, flood, and earthquake alleys works for other unforseen circumstances.
Seems like smart marketing on Costco’s part. If you don’t like their food choices or cost, then get your own, but by all means, get something.
You must have fats and oils.
We here at Belly Acres, our palatial Alaska homestead, store a mix of dry, F/D, canned and fresh cheese (mmmmm, cheese). We have stuff like SPAM!, Dinty Moore stew, sailor boy pilot bread (required by AK State law IIRC) along with canned items.
The point is — no one style/brand/product will meet your needs. Mix and match and rotate.
The most expensive storage food is the food you throw away.....
LOL
We have a Zombie-proof fence.
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