Best Food Storage: Canned or Freeze Dried?
February 23, 2012, Submitted by: Lauren (Mrs. MSB) Tweet
Reader Question:
I’d like to hear opinions on canned vs freeze dried food in an area where clean water would not be abundant in a disaster, Southern California.
Answer:
The thought that immediately comes to mind is find a way to store more water! Not only would you need water to rehydrate your food, but you will also need water to drink. You will need water for sanitation too. The general rule of thumb is a gallon of water per person, per day, minimum.
“Unless you live on property with natural occurring water, you need to have excess water storage available for an emergency. Depending on your weight, physical activity, and environment, the human body needs nearly 1 gallon of water per day. Human beings are made up of about 60% water. We sweat out about 2 cups water per day. We lose 1 cup per day from exhaling and we eliminate about 6 cups of it. Your life depends on daily replenishment of water.”
Source: Modern Survival Blog
The next thing I thought is that I would store both types of food as I do right now. Canned foods will last for several years (or more – depending) and are essentially already cooked, so you can eat them right out of the can, without heating, if circumstances do not provide you with a means to heat your canned food.
Canned foods will last for a few years, but they are also heavier to carry if you have to bug out. Canned foods will also take up a fair amount of physical space. Freeze dried food is much lighter weight and has a shelf life of about 25 years, but you do need to add water.
Why should you store both types? Well, if you really want to be prepared, then you should be ready for almost any kind of situation that can occur. Some may be short term while others could be very long term. Both types of food could be used as you hunker down and stay inside your home. The emergency situation or disaster that you are preparing for will lead to whether you will ‘bug out’ or ‘bug in’ and will help you determine which food to store or to carry with you.
Freeze dried food is light weight and some of it could be put in ziploc bags or containers for example, for a survival pack or bug-out-bag. Canned foods won’t be practical here. On the other hand, canned foods are ready-to-eat and are simple for at home.
In summary, I would suggest for your situation to concentrate first on canned foods and then build up a supply of water storage and freeze dried food. I would also determine where you would ‘bug out’ if you had to leave for greener pastures.
“Whether you live in a region prone to natural disasters or if you are emergency survival preparedness minded, it is imperative that you store water for you and your family, BEFORE you think about storing food.”
Source: Survival Water Storage
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That water issue is huge, but people can collect water in simple ways. Much the same as those solar stills people can collect much water when it rains. You can take just a 15×20 foot plastic tarp and put this into your backyard, whereever, and towards the center you want to have an indentation so the water from the rain will collect in the center. Here’s the thing, much fresh water can be captured and here is how much.
For every 231 cubic inches there is one gallon of water. 15×20 foot plastic tarp is 180 inches by 240 inches is 43200 square inches this means for every inch of water that collects on a 15×20 foot plastic tarp there is about 187 gallons of water. This means even if a quarter inch of rain falls you will still have 46 gallons of fresh rain water. Bigger plastic tarps can also be used to collect even more rain water. This is a lot of water. Think about it, for a $4 plastic tarp and a LITTLE amount of work to made a slight curved dent towards the center you can collect enough rain water from a small rain event to have enough water for a family for at least several days.
You want to make sure that all the edges of the tarp are angled in a downward slope towards the center, and you want to secure the tarp to avoid it moving. Of course use a clean tarp. I thought of this as one day I forget to cover the tomato plants one September day that I was trying to extend the growing time. I left the tarp out fully unwarped and it rained during the night, did not freeze, and there was so much water collect on that tarp it was unbelievable. Just 1/3 of an inch fell that night. People don’t realize just how much water there is with just an 1/4 inch of water over larger areas. They only see the 1/4 inch depth.
Snow is also incredible how much water there is there. I calculated from the front and back yards when there is 3 inches of spring snow, or 1/4 inch of water, on the ground there is 375 gallons of water there on the ground. Spring snows usually are 12 inches of snow to one inch of water. Drier cold winter snows can be 30 inches to one inch of water. Dry snow like this is like flour and blows all over the place with any wind. 375 gallons of water will be enough water for 12 people for one month.
For people that live in dry areas without much rain, I was thinking of alternative means of storing water. I got to thinking about underground cisterns that many people have up on the mountain here. I was thinking that someone could take some of these large plastic drums and literally bury them in their backyard and fill them water. They would have a bottom drain plug in them so someone could drain them every 6 months or so and refill them with water. This is of course in areas that the ground does not freeze very deep.
I was thinking the advantage of buried plastic drums is that they are not exposed to sunlight in which above ground water drums get algae in them, and sunlight can make the water taste bad from the plastic. No one knows about them out of sight and mind. The water will last longer because the ground is usually cooler. As long as someone could left up the lid and get the water just like a well it would be not be a difficulty getting the water. The water is safe underground and not subject to be tipped over or getting shot out for some reason. Evaporation would not be a problem. The drain plug with a long chain or something attached to it would not be a problem to drain to maintain its freshness. Above ground water drums exposed to cold can freeze and crack but the ground there is insulation, as look as it doesn’t get too cold. There are big plastic drums that can hold 100 gallons or more of water. The work to this would be digging the hole as you would not fill up the drum until it was already in the hole dug.
Dehydrated foods are wonderful but require water, much water that you might not have unless you plan on storing enough water or coming up with ways of obtaining water. Also don’t forget about diverting water to where you are. irrigation ditches have been dug for thousands of years to irrigate crops and bring water to where it is needed. You might even think about getting one of those hand type pumps that the pioneers used to get water below you if the water is not too deep and usable. Even some water can be made usable with some good water filters. No way of getting water is too crazy as long as it works.
Please do realize that canned foods have high sodium levels tht work to raise blood pressure and can contribute to health issues in an already stressful situation, if you are to the point of living of your stores, and that they also, in most cases, have BPA in the linings of the cans that if eaten five times a week have shown to raise the BPA levels in blood to an unhealthy limit. What is one to do?
Water?
Call me the wet blanket if you must, but all water from the sky and above ground sources are continueously being poisoned by what falls from our atmosphere that is being carried around the globe on a daily basis.
Have your filters ready.
Halfkin, you’re painting with a pretty broad brush in saying that all canned foods have high sodium levels. DYODD in reading labels, but I’m pretty sure the multiple cases of canned fruit I have don’t have any sodium, and not all of my 700+ cans of tomatoes have added salt.
With regard to BPA, would you rather eat canned food and maybe (or maybe not) suffer health effects down the road from BPA, or would you rather have a well-stocked pantry when the Schumer hits the fan?
I would rather have my fruits and vegys canned in glass with the small amount of added salt or not in them.
Yes glass breaks and is heavy. Cans are heavy too. I do not plan on moving this store of goods, whether in glass or cans.
And you are also correct in that not all cans have too much added salt.
As far as BPA? It is a concern I feel people should consider if all, or most, of their stored food comes from a can. There are some brands that advertise that they do not line their cans with it. If one can believe them, I have heard that the Kroger brand from Fred Meyers do not use it.
I’m not taking a chance with glass. I’ve had enough mason jars break when they’ve fallen off of shelves. I’ll take BPA over broken glass.
I totally understand your hesitation with glass.
I pack my jars in strong plastic milk crates surrounded by paper and not stacked on shelves or in a manner that there is no where for them to fall.