What would be the best canned food if a disaster happened?

[FatMoGuy]

Say If an earthquake happened near here? What would be the most nutritious canned food to stock up?

[Panosmex]

How about Spam?

[CDRFloppingham]

I would say something that has a fair amount of low osmolality water in it like canned fruit in natural juice because it provides some clean water and some nutrition. The next best thing would be calorie dense foods.

[weinoo]

I like Spaghetti-Os.

[boudin noir]

Beans.

[olicollett]

Tuna in spring water?

[Shel_B]

We have a couple of barrels filled with emergency supplies. They are stored away from the house in a secure, protected area of the yard. Amongst the canned goods we have canned fish (tuna and salmon), canned soup, beef stew. We also have a few gallons of water. The barrels also contain other emergency supplies such as a battery powered radio, toilet paper, flashlights, medical supplies, and sleeping bags. I can't recall everyrthing that we have, but we're pretty self sufficient for about a week or so, maybe more.

We are also members of CERT, and have gone through emergency and rescue supplies disaster training with the fire department. As a result of that experience, we also have rescue supplies so we can help our neighbors and the community.

[Darienne]

We also have a few gallons of water.

Question: for how long is that water potable?

We buy large water containers every year and I mark their dates on them hugely in black and we will restrict ourselves to using only the current year for drinking purposes...except that we have yet to need to use any of them. Thus I have sealed water going back a few years in our cellar now dedicated to possible burns, fires, etc, only...and still unused. Ed has water up at the Drive Shed for burns, fires, etc, but it's from the well, unprotected so to speak, etc.

I really need some guidance about this. We are currently setting up to set up for emergencies and will probably do it properly within the next six months. To date, it's been a trifle haphazard although with the extra space which we have in the cellar we are set for quite a while with canned tomatoes, canned beans, Habitant pea soup, this and that and quite a lot of it, prompted more by sales and the fact that we are quite far from grocery stores than any organized thought.

Thanks.

[GlorifiedRice]

We have a couple of barrels filled with emergency supplies. They are stored away from the house in a secure, protected area of the yard. Amongst the canned goods we have canned fish (tuna and salmon), canned soup, beef stew. We also have a few gallons of water. The barrels also contain other emergency supplies such as a battery powered radio, toilet paper, flashlights, medical supplies, and sleeping bags. I can't recall everyrthing that we have, but we're pretty self sufficient for about a week or so, maybe more.

We are also members of CERT, and have gone through emergency and rescue supplies disaster training with the fire department. As a result of that experience, we also have rescue supplies so we can help our neighbors and the community.

I have 75 days of Military MREs, Canned meatballs in sauce, canned green beans, freeze dried eggs, peaches and chicken breasts.

I also have a Cassette Feu stove, 1 month of water, a generator and I bought several bottles of AMOXICILLIN from Aquarium supply stores

in case someone gets an infection during the rapture...

OH and 3 cans of Nestle Nido dry whole milk (my son would lose it without chocolate milk)

Edited June 6, 2012 by GlorifiedRice (log)

[HungryC]

Canned tuna is great in a survival kit, as it is a food acceptable to most people when served at room temperature. Try the pouches or poptop cans rather than the cans requiring an opener. My hurricane supplies include canned beans, applesauce/fruit cups, canned fruit juices (hey, you might need some mixers for the vodka or gin that is most certainly part of your survival kit), instant coffee, dried milk powder (mostly for the instant coffee), tea bags, instant noodles, and beef jerky. Experience has proven that a hot cup of coffee can make post-disaster cleanup mornings bearable.

As for cooking, I always have on hand propane and charcoal...I just fill up all the cylinders & buy a couple extra bags of lump during H-season...which started last Friday. As for water, I fill up foodsafe containers & stick 'em in the chest freezer...they serve the dual purpose of extending the freezer's unplugged-yet-still-frozen time window as well as providing drinking water when needed.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Say If an earthquake happened near here? What would be the most nutritious canned food to stock up?

If it's a catastrophic earthquake, your survival supplies are moot - they're buried under the rubble of your house. If you made it outside and aren't seriously injured, you'll expend more calories than you'd gain by digging those canned goods out to eat them.

For me, disaster preparedness has more to do with knowing what around me is edible, how to catch water and make it potable, and how to construct shelter out of limited materials. That and first aid. My earthquake kit consists of a bowie-type knife, a small shovel, a bottle of water, and a water catchment basin.

I should mention that I live in what's normally termed a 3rd world country, within spitting distance of an active volcano, on sandstone cliffs, in an area that is periodically reduced to rubble by quakes of 6.0 or higher; it's made me terribly pragmatic about survival. The upside is that the country has no winter to speak of, and I was raised near the arctic circle, which makes me extremely resistant to the elements here - as far as I'm concerned, it never gets really cold, which is the largest killer next to dehydration.

[GlorifiedRice]

Remember to store rice and grains in GLASS jars with Oxygen Absorbers and Silica Paks in them (check Amazon)

And Instant Noodles dont keep very long, the oil they are fried in can turn them rancid

[Kouign Aman]

How about Spam?

LOL. :laugh:

Tho it does meet a later poster's suggestion for calorie density.

[HungryC]

Remember to store rice and grains in GLASS jars with Oxygen Absorbers and Silica Paks in them (check Amazon)

And Instant Noodles dont keep very long, the oil they are fried in can turn them rancid

I wouldn't keep the emergency supplies on hand for more than 6-8 months--the idea is to use 'em up and buy fresh next H-season. (I'm not preparing for earthquakes or other year round disaster potential). Truly, my emergency preparedness involves drawing down the frozen food supplies in the appropriate season so that a lengthy power interruption doesn't lead to huge food losses, rather than stockpiling. After a tropical weather event, we often eat well as everything frozen begins to thaw.

[GlorifiedRice]

Also map out the closest place to you that sells Dry Ice.

In the Philly burbs that is the Genuardi's supermarket (but they are going out of business soon)

[andiesenji]

I think I have mention in an earlier topic that I have a supply of canned water that has a 30-year shelf life. It's somewhat expensive but I'm willing to pay for a secure drinking water supply.

I have a supply of canned stews - beef, chicken, turkey, also canned beans and canned bacon - Yoder's - has a 10-year shelf life. It used to be available locally (in a gun store - popular with hunters) but disappeared for a few years. As soon as I heard that it was available online, I stocked up.

Bacon can make even plain rice taste rich and more filling...

I've also got canned vegetables and canned fruits but they have a shorter shelf life - I also have some freeze dried fruits, vegetables and dairy products in cans that are for long-term storage. I don't remember the name of the company - I'll have to go out and pull one of the boxes out of the storage vault - It's in a reinforced concrete block section that is supposed to hold up even if the roof collapses in a quake and it stays cool, even in very hot weather.

I've purchased plenty of pastas, that I have vacuum packed (doubled) and from experience the ones packed five years ago are still good but I am slowly rotating them out for use and adding more fresh.

This is the online place that sells the freeze-dried canned stuff. I pulled out a box of the Freeze Dried Fruit Combo.

Edited June 6, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Jaymes]

Say If an earthquake happened near here? What would be the most nutritious canned food to stock up?

If it's a catastrophic earthquake, your survival supplies are moot - they're buried under the rubble of your house. If you made it outside and aren't seriously injured, you'll expend more calories than you'd gain by digging those canned goods out to eat them.

Obviously there are situations where nothing can help you, no matter what you do. But, I have lived in a great many earthquake zones, primarily around the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - Alaska, California, Panama, The Philippines, Hong Kong - and what we were told to do was to get together your "earthquake survival kit" and store it in the sturdiest centralized location in your home, the one to which you should probably make plans to run when the tremors begin. The advice from the so-called experts was that you probably won't have time to make it all the way to an exit, so you shouldn't try, but you might be able to get to that sturdy location in the interior of your house before the ceiling collapses on you. And that's where you should head. And that's where you should store your supplies. And hunker down right next to them.

Among other things, you should have the canned goods everyone is mentioning, and a non-electric can opener. A jar of peaut butter. A small amount of any critical medicine. Also the canned water. Bandages. A battery-operated radio. A loud noise-maker of some sort to alert recovery workers to your presence under the rubble. Paper towels and plastic bags for waste (including, um, "human"). Shoes, in case you've run in there barefoot. And a gizmo to turn off the gas outside, in case you aren't trapped. You should have enough of these things to last you at least a week, and hope that you'll be rescued by then.

So, we always stashed our stuff in an interior walk-in closet.

But who knows...

You do what you can, but never is there a guarantee that it will be enough.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

[Dignan]

A whole canned chicken would be good to have in case your disaster coincided with a holiday meal.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/04/whole-chicken-in-a-can-taste-test.html

[GlorifiedRice]

A whole canned chicken would be good to have in case your disaster coincided with a holiday meal.

http://www.seriousea...taste-test.html

Ive tried so hard to get these. Anyone have a source for them?

[FatMoGuy]

We have a couple of barrels filled with emergency supplies. They are stored away from the house in a secure, protected area of the yard. Amongst the canned goods we have canned fish (tuna and salmon), canned soup, beef stew. We also have a few gallons of water. The barrels also contain other emergency supplies such as a battery powered radio, toilet paper, flashlights, medical supplies, and sleeping bags. I can't recall everyrthing that we have, but we're pretty self sufficient for about a week or so, maybe more.

We are also members of CERT, and have gone through emergency and rescue supplies disaster training with the fire department. As a result of that experience, we also have rescue supplies so we can help our neighbors and the community.

It's really good to know that somehow people are getting ready in the event that emergency happens. Storing survival foods and potable water inside our houses is really the best way to face catastrophes. I suggest storing foods that are high in protein and calories. In times of emergencies, our bodies need more energy to keep us going.

[GlorifiedRice]

Okay Ive been putting more thought into the actually OP question...

I have 2

Emerils BAM MEALS

and

Del Monte Zucchini in tomato sauce

That should be nutritionally sustaining

[andiesenji]

Okay Ive been putting more thought into the actually OP question...

I have 2

Emerils BAM MEALS

and

Del Monte Zucchini in tomato sauce

That should be nutritionally sustaining

The latter is not for long-term storage. Nothing with high acid content, tomatoes, high-acid fruits, sauerkraut, etc., will not keep safely long-term. Even in glass jars, the lids can be degraded by the acid.

[Shelby]

A whole canned chicken would be good to have in case your disaster coincided with a holiday meal.

http://www.seriousea...taste-test.html

Ive tried so hard to get these. Anyone have a source for them?

I LOVE this canned chicken. I buy it by the case. It's awesome in chicken noodle soup.

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___Pantry___Canned_Meat___Canned_Chicken_Meat___291201#12291201291201

[christine007]

I would have to say, the protein of your choice.

[Goatjunky]

This is an excellent source of information.

http://familysurvivors.com/lds-food-storage.htm