AUGASON FARMS Emergency Food Supply Bucket, 307 Servings, Dehydrated Meal Kit, Variety Pail, Long Shelf Life Just-Add-Water Meals for Prepping, Disaster Survival, Camping, Hiking, and More

When I was deciding which freeze-dried foods to buy for my emergency food storage, I wanted to compare prices. In order to do this, I looked at the total number of calories in each product and divided by 1,800 to find out how many days it would last. Don't be fooled by how many "servings" the manufacturer says it contains. A "serving" is not a MEAL. It is only a part of a meal.Most products price out at a cost per day of $5 or $6. This product prices out to cost only about $3.60 per day. Therefore, it is definitely the best buy for your money. (Keep reading because I'm going to tell you how to do your food storage for LESS THAN $1 per day!)The only problem with this product is the problem that All of these freeze dried products have - the calories come from carbs and veggies and they don't contain nearly enough protein. Although Augason says that their product contains 46 grams of protein per day, the problem is that all protein is not created equal. The protein provided by carbs and veggies is a low quality protein and your body is not able to absorb it. (I'll leave it at that and not bore you with a discussion about essential amino acids.) Therefore, it is important to supplement your diet with a high quality protein. A 150 pound person needs about 50 grams of protein per day. Happily, this is the same amount of protein provided by one medium size egg - an extremely high quality protein. Therefore, I purchased a can of Augason's powdered Scrambled Egg Mix. Two table spoons of this equal one egg. My plan is to mix in with other foods I eat to get the protein I need.DOING IT FOR CHEAPThe Augason 30 day food supply is probably all I will ever need. (In fact, I hope I never need that.) However, the general consensus is that you should have an emergancy food supply that will last for a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 months.Well, it's one thing to spend a few hundred dollars on an emergency food supply. But it's quite another thing to spend a few thousand dollars on a food supply that you will probably never need. So, here is how I solved this problem.I bought four basic food items in bulk - rice, pinto beans, instant mashed potatoes, and dried lentils. Next, I purchased some food grade 2 and 5 gallon paint buckets and their lids at Home Depot. (The food grade buckets are the white ones.) Then, some paper plates.Lastly, some dry ice.Here is how to store this food; place a couple of ounces of dry ice in the bottom of the bucket. Turn a paper plate up side down and place it on top of the dry ice. Then, fill the bucket with your food item. Place a paper plate on top of the food and place a couple of ounces of dry ice on it. Then, place the lid lightly on top of the bucket.As the dry ice evaporates, it turns into carbon dioxide. Because carbon dioxide is heavier than air, it fills the bucket forcing the air out through the top of the bucket. When the dry ice has completely evaporated, hammer the lid down. (Place a couple of pieces of dry ice where you can see them to know when the dry ice inside your bucket is completely evaporated. Because all of the air has been removed, your food is good for 20 to 25 years.I bought this food at a store called Smart & Final. It is a national chain that caters to restaurants. Their prices on these bulk items are way better than the supermarket.This store also carries bulk powdered sauces like brown gravey, alfredo sauce, hollandaise, and country gravey. You can use the same storage method for these using smaller plastic food storage containers.Another item you might want to get is Knorr's bullion powder. It comes in 3 or 4 different flavors. You can use it to make bullion broth or just sprinkle it on your food for flavor. The shelf life for this is infinity because the main ingrediants are salt and msg.My plan is to eat all of my freeze dried food first. After that, I have a 5 month supply of the bulk items I told you about. However, if money is tight, there's nothing wrong with just buying the bulk items. At the very least, you can buy a 25 lb sack of rice for $10 at Costco. You don't even have to go to the expense of buying the plastic buckets and dry ice. Rice has a two-year shelf life. So, every two years, just buy a new sack.ONE LAST PIECE OF ADVICEDo not tell anyone that you have long-term emergency food stored. If a situation arises where you actually need to eat your emergency food, it means it many other people will be starving. When people are starving, and especially if their children are starving, there is nothing they will not do to get food. And, that includes killing you and taking your food. So, find a good hiding place for your emergency food and remember that this information is on a need-to-know basis.

I opened this up to test out the food before I purchased any more, and I have to say, so far I am impressed. I very much enjoyed what I have I tried so far.Been using the water bottle, and it does that job pretty well. One fire starter will not get you through the month, but it will let you make that first fire and you can create char cloth from that if you really need to... it is more of a bonus than a key feature of the kit.The bucket comes packed with food... Everything is packed in 6-15 serving sized vacuum packed bags. I cannot get everything to fit back in... even after eating 3 of the bags worth of food. The meals provided really are more of a side dish type items... so while it can serve as a month worth of food, I find the real value is as a base to build around.It seems to be pretty easy to find this for around $100 including shipping... so the price for this much food would be pretty hard to beat.Potato Soup: Very good. I added salt and pepper. The potatoes do separate from the rest of the soup mix in the bag, so you do have to mix it up before cooking if you are making less than the 6 servings that each bag contains. You get 5 bags.Macaroni and Cheese: I also liked that. Also added salt and pepper... but I like salty food. Cheese powder and Macaroni come separated. You get 4 bags of macaroni. Each contain 7.5 servings. The cheese comes in 2 bags with 15 servings each. Bags are not resealable. Benefit of the separation on noodles and cheese is that you control how much cheese you want in the dish. Also, as both the pasta and the cheese can easily be used in other types of dishes, you are able to do so without being forced to make just Mac & Cheese.Morning Moo: It is not milk powder... there are other ingredients... but it basically tastes like powdered milk. If you have the option, it tastes better cold rather than room temp. You get 4 bags of 20 servings.I have not tried the other items, but I will list how many servings of everything that is included in the kit:Cheese (30 servings)Cheesy Broccoli Rice (30 servings)Creamy Potato Soup (30 servings)Creamy Chicken Rice (30 servings)Hearty Vegetable Blend (30 servings)Instant Potatoes (30 servings)Macaroni (30 servings)Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal (40 servings)Morning Moo Milk Mix (80 servings)Each bag also includes an oxygen absorber.I plan on taking several of the packets that I have not used yet and put it in my emergency bag. Just keep in mind that if you do the same, almost everything needs to be cooked, so this is only good if you have a pan and fire/heat access.The cooking instructions are printed on the back of each bag as well as on a flier included in the pack. The flier also includes a 30 and 45 day meal planner.I was so impressed at the value and taste so far, I ordered 3 more of these for actual storage.