A lot of people ask us, “what is the best survival food?”.
It’s a fair question, but it’s not necessarily the right question to be asking.
This is because there is no one food, or type of food, that is going to be the best for all people at all times.
Even if there were a perfect one size fits all survival food, most people want to have some other options for variety.
A better question might be “what qualities make something a good survival food?”
While there are several qualities that could arguably be mentioned here, we are going to narrow it down to the top four.
It’s important to note here that having any one of the following qualities alone doesn’t automatically qualify something as a good survival food.
Ideally you want foods that meet most, if not all, of these criteria to make up the bulk of your emergency food supply.
What is the Best Survival Food: 4 Things to Look for…
1. Long Shelf Life
This kind of goes without saying, but if you’re going to be storing this food away for a future emergency then most of it needs to have a relatively long shelf life.
Generally speaking, this means having an expiration date that is at least two years out which isn’t uncommon for many canned products.
Many dried, dehydrated, and freeze-dried foods can actually last MUCH longer than this if properly stored.
2. Calorie Dense
Everyone knows that you have to consume a minimum amount of calories in order to stay alive and healthy.
But when you’re in a survival situation it’s even more imperative that you have access to plenty of calorie-dense foods.
You’re inevitably going to end up burning more calories when you’re in an extreme emergency or survival situation.
When your normal way of life gets disrupted you expend more energy because you are physically having to do a lot more just to meet your basic needs.
If you don’t get enough calories then you can become depleted of energy, and that can be dangerous.
Without enough energy your reaction time will slow down, and you will have trouble thinking straight.
Your emergency food supply needs to consist of foods that contain plenty of protein, fat, and carbohydrates to provide you with adequate calories and nutrition for your survival needs.
Stock up on a wide variety of items such as:
– Canned meats, beans and legumes, and powdered milk for protein
– Dried foods that are starchy and high in calories like rice, pasta, and dried potato products, and sweet things like canned and dried fruits for carbohydrates
– Nuts and nut butters, animal fats like tallow, lard and ghee, and cooking oils for your fats
PRO TIP: Canned fish products that are packed in olive oil give you a lot of nutritional bang for your buck!
3. Portable
You also need to stock up on plenty of food that you can just “grab and go” in case you’re forced to bug out from one location to another.
Obviously it would be a huge burden trying to take a bunch of heavy cans and jars with you if you end up having to flee, so you also need to have plenty of food in lightweight packaging that only requires minimal preparation.
You can keep these items packed into your family bug out bags, so all you have to do is grab them and go during an emergency.
Freeze dried meal pouches like Mountain House are perfect for this purpose because they are calorie dense, lightweight, and easy to prepare.
In most cases, you only need to add hot water directly to the pouch, wait a few minutes for the food to re-hydrate. Then you have a hot, tasty, nutritious meal.
4. Easy to Prepare
Stocking up on items that can be eaten without needing to be cooked or heated up is also very important in case you’re unable to cook for whatever reason.
MRE’s, or meals ready to eat, can be eaten straight out of the package with minimal preparation.
Nuts, dried fruits, nut butters, crackers, and energy bars are all high in calories, relatively lightweight and portable, have a long shelf life, and can be eaten right out of the package.
Powdered drink mixes, especially in single-serve packets, are great too because they can be mixed into a bottle of water to provide extra calories and flavor while you re-hydrate.
So, what is the best survival food? Hopefully by now you see that’s not best way to look at it…
Instead, focus on a variety of foods that have most, or all, of these four qualities:
- Long shelf life
- Calorie dense
- Portable
- Easy to prepare
Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of thinking that there are “no right or wrong foods”, or that “anything is better than nothing” during an emergency.
The types of food that you decide to store for an emergency is very important.
Whether you’re at home when disaster strikes, or on the go, follow these tips to make sure you have enough calories and nutrition to power through it.
