Help Me Build Better Long-Term Food Storage (Need Real Feedback)

Hi everyone, my name is JOHNNIE. I’m building a business around long-term meal storage using freeze-drying and real meal concepts. I’m not here to promote myself or push my business in any way I’m genuinely here to learn, listen, and get feedback from people who care about preparedness and long-term food storage. I’d love to hear what needs you have, what’s missing in the market, and what matters most to you. Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

 

Welcome! I'm in Alabama and have been prepping for about 27-years, yeah, I was around for Y2K. I have stored food in zip-lock bags, Food Saver bags, canning jars, mylar bags, etc. I have some plastic buckets of Legacy 25-year food, and I purchased a Harvest Right freeze-dryer to make my own freeze-dried foods (mostly eggs, milk and meats) cause the cost is so high. I'm also planning to create a larger pantry and stock it with cases of canned goods that we use regularly. Hopefully, I'll get everything done this year, or next, then I will be ready for hell or high water, except for rotation/replacement.

 

I'm a very happy old man, thank you.

During hurricane Bertha (1996) we learned that five gallon food grade buckets with mylar liners were compromised after getting battered around by flood waters, while glass mason jars and #10 cans survived, even if they got washed out of the house and were recovered after the storm. If you pack in buckets weight seems critical to their ability to survive battering from any source.

Now that I'm older I'm learning that everything is getting heavier. During Hurricane Florence (2018) we lost a coastal home and found out how difficult everything that survived was to move. Smaller and lighter is definitely an advantage as you age or get injured.

 

The problem with most long term stored foods is they are largely a lot of flavored starch with a very high sodium content. Not much protein and greatly diminished calories. It's a bit more difficult to get the right proteins in there due to the fat going rancid. Mountain House has done a pretty good job of it in combination or "one pot" meals that are nutritious but you can eat them for a few weeks at a time before getting food fatigue.

In my opinion 99% of the other stuff on the market might work as an add in to a meal. But all of this "Cheesy Lasagna" or "Mamma whatever bean stew" isn't going to cut it.