I scrounged 10 cases of MRE's a few years ago. The local schools double as shelters during hurricane season; we were inundated with refugees for Katrina/Rita/Ike and the state shipped in loads of commodities for the cafeteria & MRE's for individual meals. Most of the refugees wouldn't eat the MRE's...we called them "Meals Refused by Evacuees". At the end of the crises, we were told to take them to the landfill but I brought them to a better place.
I have 50 lbs each of corn meal, flour, rice, dried beans, and sugar in snap-lid 5-gal buckets and an extra freezer. The grain was frozen in the freezer for about a week, thawed, and put in the buckets with dessicant. Beans are stored on top of a chunk of dry ice for inert atmosphere. I have 30 lbs of oat meal and 20 lbs of coffee (house brand, cheap). Have plans for 40-50 lbs of powdered milk in the next purchase, and assorted spices.
I have several #10 cans of dehydrated food from one of the Mormon stores, mostly cheese and meat, but some fruit. We keep about 400 cans of vegetables, soups, prepared meats, etc, on hand at any give time. We buy fresh meat in bulk and vacuumpack it for the freezer. We only can jelly, jam, and preserves from my orchard, at present, but are prepared to can "almost anything" in the event of SHTF. I have a 2000 sq ft garden spot cleared and ready for tilling if needed. We live on a medium-sized public lake, so fresh meat won't be a real problem.
There are only the two of us, and we figure we have enough for two meals each, per day, for 9 months. As a last resort, my wife and I have already stored 15-20 extra pounds around the waistline.
What am I missing?
