Emergency Preparedness and Raw Food

[tangoswithmangoes]

Hi, folks,

This is my first post. I'm a raw newbie and learning so much from these boards - thank you!

I'm in the process of putting together emergency supplies for my family and finding that, not surprisingly, the food storage lists I'm finding are not at all geared to raw! So here's my query: If you had to provide enough nourishment for three people (two adults, one young child) during a time when you did not have access to refrigeration, electricity, or much/any fresh produce (yikes!), what foods would store? I'm hoping to get together enough for three days soon and build up to ten days' worth as finances allow.

Well-packaged raw nuts and dried fruit are pretty obvious, but what else? And how much? My dw and dd are l-o veg, not raw.

Thanks!
TwM

[lavendarJ]

Great Question!

I am not sure if it is considered raw or not but some type of miso. Or else you could probably create a raw broth that could perhaps be dehydrated, and then ground up and sealed. In an emergency situation this in some water might help to nourish the body and prevent sickness or dehydration.

[juliebove]

Obviously dried foods are the first choice. You can also get dried vegetables, but be sure that the ones you buy don't require long soaking. Water is probably more important than food.

[juliebove]

Great Question!

I am not sure if it is considered raw or not but some type of miso. Or else you could probably create a raw broth that could perhaps be dehydrated, and then ground up and sealed. In an emergency situation this in some water might help to nourish the body and prevent sickness or dehydration.

Miso isn't raw, but it is a live food, provided you get the kind that requires refrigeration. It would need to be cooked though or at least heated and this could be a problem in an emergency. In some situations, you can't light a match to use an emergency cooking device.

[Dimond]

Living in Florida, I always need to be prepared.
Some ideas:
A good wholefood green powder
Bars
Crackers
Oils like coconut & olive
Dulse
Fruits/Veg that can stay good for awhile without a fridge.

Some links for foods:
http://tinyurl.com/gcj39
http://tinyurl.com/fwqrn
http://tinyurl.com/js79o

[mongomango]

I have extensive preparedness supplies. Most of my food stocks are in sprouting seeds. Fast nourishment, portable, cheap, they won't go bad, and with a variety of various grains, beans, greens, and brassicas, your nutritional and caloric needs are pretty much covered. I also have dried nuts and fruits. With very little funds you can supply a family with enough sprouts for a year. You will need water, but not a lot. But because you will need water it is wise (even without the sprouting needs) to get a good water filter in case of situations like New Orleans or other disasters. First Need Deluxe is a very good filter that is actually a purifier and not too expensive. Katadyne pocket filter is much more money and it will not filter virii, but it will filter 13,000 gallons of water on one ceramic filter.

[Tirza]

Very good ideas.

Yes, I was going to mention sprouting seeds as a very important item. Crucial.

WATER of course, nuts, dried fruits and veggies, all our crackers and cookies, any kind of dehydrated food that doesn't need refrigeration or freezing after.

I have made some burgers and some falafels that I let dry too long by mistake. They were completely dry, right through and would keep a long time. They were actually yummy that dry, or they could be rehydrated a little if desired.

I can visualize some dried tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, etc, / or a cheese dehydrated then ground into a powder, reconstituted, and used as a sauce or gravy to soften them a bit.

I think that almost any sauce or dressing or "cheese" could be dehydrated completely and ground up and stored in air-tight jars.

[rawpriestess]

The first thing I would pack, would be a Nikken water bottle, it will filter out massive amounts of debris etc.


Then I would pack alot of water,

then I would consider anything that I couldn't get by foraging for greens and fruits and veggies, as a time to fast, and enjoy the process.

I would also make onion bread to crisp, flax crackers to crisp, and veggie soup powder, which is good mixed with nuts as a cracker spread, or mixed with water as a soup. or just eaten dry or as a seasoning, I make this by dehydrating my own veggies and dehydrating to crisp, then I grind up and put into small vacuum sealed bags to store, they last a long time and are water proof in the vacuum sealed bags.

I would also do some chopped veggies and fruits to dry, to either eat as a snack, or as flavoring for salads with fresh greens, (foraged) or to reconstitute.

I'd not eat anything canned or cooked, as It would make me feel terrible, I find that if I don't feel well, NOT eating makes me feel much better, so I would go for fasting as my number one choice in an emergency.

Again, I'd probably only pack water as my number one thing to keep.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I'd put some sprouting seeds and a nut bag in the supply. You can make sprouts in the nut bag quite easily - just hang it somewhere, even your backpack if you are moving around, and rinse it 1-2 times a day.

Dates are good - however I'd keep them in the freezer, instead of an emergency box as they would keep fresher that way, and then take them out of the freezer when the emergency happens.

Also some green powder - maybe some of those individual packets that Natures Way makes and a plastic shaker jug.

Dehydrate your own apples, bananas, mangoes, berriess, fruit smoothies, etc. Or just buy some "Just Tomatoes" dried foods as they are supposedly raw.

You should, though, mark your calender for a years' time to replace everything, and eat what you're replacing, to keep things from going stale.

[tangoswithmangoes]

Thank you so much, everyone! This is really helpful. :)

-TwM

[Sheryl]

You can make your own veggie stock by chopping up and dehydrating a variety of vegetables. I usually do:

Tomatoes
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Sweet Potato
Herbs

Whatever you can think of. It makes an amazingly flavourful powder once dried and ground you can use to season anything, or make raw soups with. Last almost forever too if stored fully dry in an air tight container.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[mongomango]

Oooh! That's a great idea!! Thanks so much.

[tvillemom]

Reading this post, I realize how much I depend on going to the store every week. I have nothing put back for emergencies. I also think I would like to know more about this soup idea. What could I dehydrate and package in baggies......I'm actually flying out to Puerto Rico on Friday,(just for the weekend) and I like the idea of having an "emergency" soup supply, packed up, but not in danger of spilling on my clothes.....then I can just reconstitute with water when I get there. I would really like to dehydrate the "chili no grains" recipe from this board.....I guess that's possible??? I could LIVE on the that for the WHOLE weekend!! Thanks for the great tips.
For long storage I would even consider using a food storage system. You can get the attatchments to use glass jars...and seal them "airtight" with the suction from the machine....
I do like the idea of always being prepared!
Wendi

[Tirza]

...You should, though, mark your calender for a years' time to replace everything, and eat what you're replacing, to keep things from going stale.

For sure! I once ran across some very orgainized and detailed instructions on how to store food for a year and to keep it rotating for freshness. It also showed how much of everything to store for how many people. Really good. It was from a Mormon site, I believe. They are very experienced with this as I understand it is a long-time practice of theirs.