As recommended by Glenn Beck - Food Insurance

[LynneSin]

http://www.foodinsurance.com/index.php?gclid=CP_fmM_0iqYCFUdN4AodR297oQ

I guess this is what happens when you can't find real sponsors for your show.

For $200 I can get this backpack with 2 weeks worth of food supply:


For $3400 this is enough food for a family of 4 for a year:
http://foodinsurance.com/store/long-term-solutions/1264-meals.html

I'm guessing the diced beef probably looks nothing like this photo on the website:


Don't worry, vegetarians are not forgotton - this is $250 for a one-month supply

[RandomThoughts]

1. You missed a though in that concept.

I guess this is what happens when you can't find real sponsors for your show.

It is not about not being able to get sponsors, it is some people will do anything to get a sponsor, and get those that will 'sponsor them' as long as they are not themselves, until they do not exist. Seen it many times.


I have many sponsors, but they know I know, and they know, that it is not about me.


However I might snap some day and ask for vengeance on those that have not corrected what is due, but that is not what I think is best. Since it is obvious that would be just, but is not the type of person I want to be. So figure that will work itself out.

[sendero]

2. Canned foods will keep...

.. for 5 years plus. The freeze-dried thing is a joke, one that is not particularly palatable (so I've read, never ate the crap) at that.

What you do is simple. You buy several years supply of canned foods and label them with a month/year. Eat the oldest first. None need ever get more than a couple years old. You are just buying ahead of time actually.

And yeah, I know I'm paranoid because I've done it. I only have to be right once you have to be right every day.

[provis99]

3. freeze dried food is terrible, but you've never tried it?

Ok, non-judgmental dude.

[sendero]

4. I don't have to eat shit..

.. to know it's bad. You can google it if you want to. For ACTUAL EMERGENCIES, like backpacking where you don't have a choice, it makes sense. To compare it to real canned food is ridiculous.

[rustydog]

20. It might taste like milk chocolate and caviar (unless you hate caviar too)

If it is the only food around in a major disaster.
this is emergency food supplies when your pantry empties, when the stoor up the road was looted two weeks ago and delivery trucks stopped.

[Taverner]

5. I've had it on many a backpacking trip

Yes it sucks, but its best if you've never had it to try it. Cup O'Noodles will get you used to it.

[sendero]

15. I probably should be more specific.....

.... freeze dried foods are fine for certain applications. But not as a home food store. Regular canned foods have these simple advantages:

1) They cost about a third to a fourth

2) They taste much better and there is more variety of foods available

3) You can (more easily) eat them as part of your everyday meals and "rotate" your food stocks so that none will get too old

4) And finally they will last as long, maybe longer, as freeze dried foods in similar environmental storage

The ONLY advantage freeze dried foods have is their reduced size and weight. If you are carrying it around, that is a significant advantage, or if you don't have the 12 sq ft of floor space to devote to food storage, again maybe fd would be good.

I have done extensive study on this and I just would caution folks that are thinking about storing food for emergency preparedness to avoid wasting their time on freeze dried.

[DemoTex]

6. I often eat "Mountain House" brand freeze dried meals at the fire lookout tower.

Some of the entrees are quite tasty (Beef Stroganoff, Spaghetti, Pasta Primavera, for example). With some extras like fresh spinach and parmesan cheese, these meals can be quite good.

I spend about 5 months a year in the Oregon wilds in a fire lookout tower. I cook some meals from scratch, especially early in the fire season before the lightning starts. Late in the season I'm just too damn tired to cook from scratch.

I buy in bulk from REI early in the season. I figure the MH meals cost me about $5.50/ea, in the end. But I only eat them for evening meals, and then - at the most - about three times a week. They are very good leftover, too, if properly stored and eaten in a day or two. I do have a generator and small microwave oven for reheating meals.

Thank goodness for freeze dried!

[Tx4obama]

7. NOT a bright idea to walk around in a disaster w/ a backpack that says FOOD on it. n/t

[spin]

8. Glenn Beck is a Mormon ...

Mormons stockpile food. It's part of their religion.

My mother and step dad became Mormon and they had a years worth of food in their home. I understood all the canned goods but I had a hard time comprehending why they had three freezers packed with meat. One long power outage during a hurricane would have been a disaster. (My step dad told me that he planned to get dry ice if a hurricane approached.)

It fun to ridicule Glenn Beck, but the advise on stockpiling food might be wise. If you shop carefully you can buy many food items on sale. Having a supply of canned goods can save trips to the store if you decide to make a dinner and find you need canned tomatoes. If you are saying to yourself, "What's the big deal about going to a grocery store?", you obviously live in a city. Try living in a rural area 30 miles from a convenience store.

In these tough economic times a person who loses his/her job may find funds to buy groceries short and a supply of food may come in handy. Beans and peanut butter can get old quickly.

And if there is a long term power outage, you have food to last until things get back to normal.

My daughter tried canning food this year and it worked out surprising well. Many of the farms in our area allow people to come in after the harvest and pick anything left. She canned corn, potatoes and green beans and it saved our family quite a bit of money. I actually prefer the taste of her canned vegetables to store bought canned vegetables.

One problem is how to store all the food. That's where the freeze dried stuff could come in handy. One of my friends bought MREs for the year 2000 scare. He said that his family ate some every week and some were very tasty. He then would replace them in case of an emergency.

edited for typo

[FrancisTreptoe]

9. I think this endorsement reflects more on his "end of days" nut job viewers.

[spin]

10. You will see a lot of concern as December 21, 2012 approaches ...

Some people will be stocking up on food, guns and ammo.

[FrancisTreptoe]

11. Similar to the Y2K douchebags.

The difference with Beck viewers is that it is religiously driven.

[spin]

13. I remember the company I worked for spent a small fortune updating their programs ...

to work after the year 2000. None of the programs would have caused a disruption in society but our product test processes would have been screwed.

There was some threat to the power grid and the infrastructure, but fortunately the serious problems were averted. Many programmers came out of retirement to rewrite code that the younger programmers had never used. They made some big bucks. If the effort had not been as extensive as it was, we could have had major problems.

One co-worker bought freeze dried food in preparation. He said that it tasted pretty good and that after the new year he his family dined on these MRE type meals once a week. Probably tasted a lot like those old TV dinners that I used to hate.

I took a short vacation and left the Tampa Bay area to visit my daughter in south Florida. She lived 30 miles out in the country. I usually took a vacation at Christmas to visit her and my grand children, so this wasn't really any unusual behavior on my part.

I see no real problem with stockpiling food except for where to store it. If things are bad enough that you need a years worth of freeze dried food, you are going to be pretty much screwed. Food may be the least of your problems. I figure the most food you realistically need is probably two weeks to a month. If you need more than that then society has totally broken down.

[Statistical]

12. Everyone should have a one month supply of food on hand.

For people unlikely to plan individually I can see this being a viable option.

Frieze Dried isn't the greatest quality but it is calories and in an emergency (think Katrina) having 30 days supply of frieze dried food, 50 gallons of water, a heat source, and water filter can be worth its weight in gold.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Very true! I dare say 3-6 months.

But, one can buy all that stuff Beck is advertising for less than $200 if you shop right. Of course, if one insists that the labels on their food are color coordinated with the backback and water bottles, and with the labels on all the other survival gear, then by all means buy the thing. :-)

[LynneSin]

18. I'm not questioning the need to have a bit of food on storage

But to me this just seems like overpriced crap he's trying to sell.

I probably have enough food on hand that I could go without for about a month, but alot of that is frozen vegetables, canned sauce and pasta. But if I were to stockpile in my house, like others, I would go with canned foods first. The price is much more reasonable and better selection available.

[Arkana]

16. If Glenn Beck had been around 100 years ago, he'd have been

that jerk huckster on the side of the street selling hair tonic that was really made from cat piss and food dye.

[Lucinda]

17. Someone said in another thread that he has a financial interest in the company

I don't know if that is correct, but it would explain pimping for a company that charges more than a quick trip to the grocery store would for similar foods.

I am digging that stainless steel cup though. I use my backpacking stainless cup all the time. :)

[Ilsa]

19. His LDS side is pushing through. nt