Help! Freeze-Dried Meal Brands

[JusLimin]

A friend of mine in Florida asked for some advice regarding stocking her hurricane supplies with at least some freeze dried meals. AMEN!!! Her cupboards are nearly always empty because she doesn't cook. Getting her to stock anything at all is a HUGE victory for me. I pointed her to the Campmor web site.

Trouble is I've never personally tried the freeze-dried stuff. My (northern girl) pantry and stocks mostly are based on things I eat and cook regularly. What brands are best? I've heard pretty good things about AlpineAire and Mountain House. What about Backpacker's Pantry and Richmoor? (Carried by Campmor) I've not heard of them before. Any particular brands or meals you've tried that were very good or not very good?

[Dionne]

When you find yourself in a fix where these meals become necessary.......darn near anything tastes good. At the top of the chart for me is a product called HeaterMeals.....the Lasagna. I also found the MRE clam chowder was okay.

The only item I never got used to was the canned water. There is just something alien about popping a top and water comes out. But I'm not complaining.

Good luck.....I hope your friend never has to use survival foods.

[Regit]

This is an old thread, but I thought some of you would find this information useful. There is a company named Crown Point which sells MREs from SoPakCo which are quite good (I've tried some). These are the same MREs that the military uses.

You can get ordering information by calling the office which is closest to you. For most on the board, it will be the first one.

Mullins, South Carolina - 1-800-276-9678

St. John, Indiana - 1-888-276-9678

[Alladin]

Nope, SoPakCo can not (by law) sell the same MRE's to the public that the military uses. Therefore, they are not the same MRE packs. Also, who wants MRE's except for survival geeks? You can go to the grocery store and buy much better nonperishable food items and store them for many years without worry. MRE's are generally thought of as, "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians".

Peanut butter is an excellent food to store. Sardines are great too. The list goes on and on. There are lots of healthy nonperishable food items (from all food groups) readily available at your local store. Why buy expensive MRE's? Heck, I'd rather eat Dinty Moore Beef Stew than any MRE!

[Regit]

They're not exactly the same, but are made by the same company in the same place in a similar manner.

And the post was about freeze dried food. MREs are along the same lines (easy to transport, easy to open, nutritious). I'm sure everyone's thought of canned food. Though admittedly, I should have made a separate topic.

But I certainly hope you don't think canned food lasts as long as MRE's. Canned food lasts for 3 years tops. MRE's last in excess of 11 years and you can store more meals in a smaller space than canned food.

Companies sell large numbers of these, so more people that just "survival geeks" must be buying them.

[HurriCat]

"Meals, Rejected by Ethiopians"? Yeah, I remember seeing such reports, where we ship thousands of tons of free food and water, and then they throw the MREs on the ground because they aren't "traditional foods". Okay - waa! It's called eat it or starve. If someone is that picky - OH WELL.

[Alladin]

"Meals, Rejected by Ethiopians"? Yeah, I remember seeing such reports, where we ship thousands of tons of free food and water, and then they throw the MREs on the ground because they aren't "traditional foods". Okay - waa! It's called eat it or starve. If someone is that picky - OH WELL.

A lot of times, MRE's are given out even when they are not needed and people throw them away. For example, four days after hurricane Ivan I needed some ice. The National Guard had just set up a distribution center about 1 mile from my house. I waited in a line of cars and when I got to the front, a Guardsman asked me, "How many people in your household?". I told him we had 4 people.

He told me to pop the trunk and they loaded in 2 cases of water, 2 cases of MRE's and 4 bags of ice. I told them I had plenty of food and water and that all I needed was ice. It fell on deaf ears. I got the "official" allocation for a household of 4 people.

I ended up redistributing the MRE's and the water to other people that needed those supplies. Other nicknames for MRE's include "Meals Rejected by Everyone", "Meals Rejected by the Enemy", "Materials Resembling Edibles" and "Meals Refusing to Exit". MRE's are novelty items to most people.

However, to answer the OP's question, Moutian House is the biggest and best producer of freeze dried food products. They're good for camping and backpacking trips. They are far superior to MRE's.