Technolithic Recommends:
STAYING PUT
If you have the space and a near zero likelihood of evacuation, by all means go with the long-life #10 cans. For very reasonable costs per meal you can have a wide range of pre-selected bulk mixed-food combinations, typically ranging from a 45-day supply to a full year. The leading producer of this type of canned food, Mountain House, offers a one-year supply consisting of 126 #10 cans in 21 cases that will provide three meals (with vegetables and desserts) for one person for 365 days. Freeze-drying locks in taste, texture, nutrients and vitamins. All you need to do is add water. Unopened, the food inside the cans will store for 30 years! As I write this, one online distributor is offering this one-year supply for around $2,500, a price that works out to be about $7.00 a day, a price that beats cheap fast-food! Using the same formula for a 45-day supply (around $425), the cost per day is still under $10.00.
So if you've got the right situation, this is the best way to go. Other approaches using longer-term canning methods fall short in both shelf-life (thus requiring rotation and replacement) and preparation requirements (having to mix ingredients and cook).
For short term situations, you could capitalize on the cheap bulk food prices at discount chains like Costco, SFW, or Wal-Mart. To get any significant shelf-life you'll have to get canned foods (although they may also have limited selections of packaged freeze-dried products) This won't give you much in the way of extended shelf-life, or space and weight efficiences, but this can work if you look for higher calorie canned foods. Most canned foods don't have much more than 200 calories per can (most of the weight is water), so a case of 12 provides just about a day or two's worth of food energy. Canned foods like stews, beans and condensed milk have the most calories. Add in your favorite canned fruits and vegetables for a little variety. Still, over a longer time-frame, you'll probably be short on calories because you're missing perishable bread products which typically provide us with a majority of our calories. In any case, if you don't eat these canned foods within a year you should toss them out or give them away (food bank donations are always welcome).
PRELIMINARIES | WATER | FOOD | ENERGY
