What Storable Foods Should I Buy?

What Survival Foods Should I Buy? There are a few simple rules to follow when determing what you may want to order storable food. Since many people don't know where to start, here are a few basic rules that should help:

This first one is very simple, but also one of the most important rules: Buy what you prefer to eat; just take a look at your existing diet to get some good ideas.

We receive this question all of the time and our answer has always been the same: buy what you prefer to eat! Many of our food items are the same as what you can buy in a grocery store. The difference is our food is packaged in airtight containers with oxygen absorbers and it has been properly dried and packaged in larger quantities specifically for long-term storage.

We also carry freeze-dried food, which cannot be found at your local supermarket. Both freeze dried food and dehydrated foods offer a huge advantage over wet-pack canned foods, namely: a very long shelf life (upwards of 30 years), no waste (use only what you require and reseal the rest), no refrigeration required (it's all dried ingredients).

We don't recommend supermarket foods for long term storage because this type of food simply will not last due to the very short shelf life. Please review our shelf life page and especially the section on supermarket food for more details on this. Supermarket food has a very short shelf life with packaging that does not preserve food properly.

When buying storable food, we suggest the "buy what you prefer to eat" with long term storable food. Don't fall for the advertising and empty claims - if it doesn't suit you and your diet, you won't eat it (wasting your money). You alone know your preferred diet and tastes as well as any important dietary restrictions or food allergens. We suggest start with a list of all the basics you like to consume, we probably carry it. With our huge selections, there is something here for everyone. We also offer some pre-packed kits (which offer substitutions if there is something in there you don't want). But overall - buy what you normally eat.

Which is better? Freeze dried or dehydrated food?

Freeze Dried vs. Dehydrated FoodBottom line, everyone works within a budget; out of all the brands we carry, the Rainy Day line of dehydrated foods is the most cost-effective choice, bar none. Freeze dried food offers the best taste and texture and is substantially lighter (a consideration if you plan on moving your food frequently), but it comes at the cost of a higher price.

Dehydrated foods typically require more cooking and preparation. They are also mainly single-source ingredients, such as wheat, rice, pasta noodles, fruits and vegetables, etc. This means you will need to spend a little time mixing ingredients and cooking them as you would with any traditional meal.

Freeze dried foods, on the other hand, are often complete entrees and merely require a little hot water and minimal prep time to enjoy eating. For ultimate convenience, instant meals, on-the-go travelers, camping and hiking needs, freeze dried foods are the best choice. We highly recommend that you read our  dehydrated vs. freeze dried page for the key differences between these two food types and how they are prepared.

We have eaten much of this food ourselves (for over 21 years now!) and you can read about some of this with our 30 day taste test.

We personally store and eat both dehdyrated and freeze dried food for best value and variety.

Great! But how do I know how much food I need?

Food CalculatorWe recommend that you check out our Food Storage Calculator to get a good idea on how much food you might realistically need. This calculator only shows basic ingredients, but can be a helpful place to start.

Bottom line, you should set out a food storage "goal" - or in other words: "I need enough food to last me X amount of time." Your average adult will require anywhere from 2400 - 3900+ calories per day depending on physical activity, stress, temperatures, and other factors. We typically recommend basing your food storage plans around acquiring at least 2500 daily calories per adult individual. All of our food products have nutrition facts listed so it's easy to summarize how many total calories you have on hand.

In truth - there is no such thing as too much - but we see "too little" all the time. The world is facing some very serious food production issues and since food is something you will always need, you simply cannot have too much on hand. With many different foods offering a very long shelf life up to 30 years, whatever food storage you have can always be consumed sometime in the next three decades, making it an excellent investment at today's prices. Food will always be going up in price and has often proven to be a better investment than gold or precious metals.


Okay, what type of packaging is best for me?

Packaging Details of Freeze Dried and Dehydrated Food There is a wise saying: "Mission dictates the gear." This is also true with food storage. Determine what your needs are - do you need portability? Long shelf life? Just enough food to last 72 hours? Or enough to last a year or more? These choices may affect which size of container (and even food types) you prefer.

Pouches are lightweight, compact, and easily portable, making them an excellent choice for hikers, camping, or easy-preparation emergency meals.

#10 and #2.5 cans are a convenient size to handle and store, and are excellent hard sided containers boasting maximum shelf life. Buckets can store the largest amount of food and are an excellent option for large quantities of bulk ingredients such as flour, sugar, wheat, etc. but can be considerably heavier (up to 50 lbs) and will take up more space. Boxes and bags are the lowest cost option, yet lack the same shelf life (they are not airtight) and packaging durability as cans and buckets. We also offer many pouch-in-bucket options as well. For more information on packaging options, please see our packaging details page.


What about pre-packaged food kits?

Food Plans and Food KitsFor the ultimate in convenience, we offer the largest selection of food kits and units in the industry. Many of these are custom built and exclusive to Food Assets - meaning you will not find them anywhere else. The advantage of choosing a food unit is that we've already picked out everything you might need to sustain yourself for the kits specified time. This can take a lot of the guess-work out of things, and many customers find this the easiest and most simple option to choose from.

Our kits are not "starvation packages", which means they do not skimp on size, calories or servings. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misrepresentation out there on food kits; most are far too small to sustain you for the time specified and will be eaten 4 - 5 times faster than what they are advertised as sustaining, largely due to the very low calories these kits contain.


What makes your products better than others?

Price ComparisonsWe have been in business since 1996 with the goal of specializing in food storage products. Since our beginning we have seen the unfortunate rise of vast numbers of scams and snake oil salesmen come onto the market. Many of these fly-by-night outfits are blatantly dishonest in their business practices and are purely in the business to simply separate you from your hard earned money. By far the biggest problems we see are the lack of nutritional calories in the 'kits' they sell, meaning these units will not last anywhere near their advertised time period. Moreover, you are often paying a highly inflated price for this disservice as well. We have covered these topics and many of these scams extensively on our price comparisons page.

We've also found repetitive and boring selections, false claims, small sizes and ridiculously high prices. All food storage food is not the same! You would be wise to read our research and learn as much as you can before making your investment.

Our founding principle is to provide our customers with the absolute best foods available from the most experienced canneries in America - this extends into our food kits which contain more calories and servings than anything else available in the industry. If it's not found here at Food Assets, there is a reason for it.


What brand would you buy?

Since we believe in long-term food storage for our own preparations, then Mountain House is our first choice for freeze-dried food. Mountain House food will last 30 years in unopened containers. That is three decades! This makes this our first choice for any preparedness need. Thirty years from now, the world will be a very, very different place and food prices will be astronomical compared to today.

We also choose Rainy Day for all our dehydrated foods and dry goods (basic staples, mixes, grains, vegetables and Van Drunen Farms fruit, cheese). This is exactly what is in our own food storage. We have decades of experience eating these foods ourselves and hands-down this is our recommendation. Many of these products will also last 30 years.

MANY people will come to SERIOUSLY regret their food storage choices years later (we unfortunately hear this story all the time). Either they bought cheap and inferior products or failed to realize that what was advertised was simply brand deception and misleading claims. Don't fall for the hype and propaganda, do some real research like we have.

There are countless online claims that are outright lies to the unwary and uneducated in food storage, and they often get taken in by the slick advertising, fabricated 'truths' (AKA fear-mongering) or celebrity endorsements. These are all selling techniques used to promote inferior and overpriced products. If you spot this type of advertising - you are not dealing with a reputuble company. Quality food sellers do not have to convince you with propaganda and dishonesty that their products will actually work as advertised.

This is why we refuse to carry many other brands. They are by and large newcomers to the storable food industry and simply refuse to do things right and have adopted dishonest policies to make a quick buck. Unfortunately a lot of people will belatedly discover that their food storage won't be fit to eat when it's actually needed and will be sorely disappointed - meaning it didn't do anything it was advertised to do. It's not just money being wasted - it's irreplaceable time and planning that can never be fixed. You could even find yourselves starving to death if it was a severe food emergency and your food storage fails to deliver when needed. At its core, food storage is a form of insurance that MUST work when required. Discovering you have to replace this five or ten years later at far higher prices is also economically devastating. The worst-case scenario is you can't eat it - and if in that worst case scenario you actually need it to survive, you'd starve instead.

Bottom line the age old rule still exists: you get what you pay for. This is an indisputable fact. Do it right, the first time and you will have no regrets, nor will you have wasted your money.