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7 Quick Tips for Storing Spices and Herbs

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Many of you have read by now my experience with VacuCraft canisters.

I did want to share another little “thing” I do to try and keep my spices, herbs & other foods as fresh as I can whether it’s for dry pantry storage or in my refrigerator since I just finished jarring up about 7 jars.

  1. I determine which size of jar I’ll be needing to hold the food.
  2. I grab one of my “used” canning lids (I do NOT throw them away!) and a ring.
  3. Using my canning funnel, I put the herb, the spice, or the food, into the jar.
  4. I use a small “awl” and puncture a tiny hole in the lid.
  5. I cut a small piece of black electrical tape (about ¾ inch long) and place it over the hole.
  6. I then use my manual hand pump (either one of those that came with my VacuCraft or one of those that I’ve purchased with the Ziplock system).
  7. Place it over the taped up hole and vacuum until it’s very hard to pull your pump up. At this time, your lid should be sealed.
  8. Put the ring on it, and put it where you want to store it.

I use this same method when I’ve opened olive jars, pickle jars, and various other jars… just puncture a hole in the lid, tape it, vacuum it and put it back in your refrigerator!

I hate throwing out foods!

Can You Overwinter Parsnips?

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On April 17th just north of the Twin Cities there was 15 inches of snow. To refuse to get down about continuing snow I decided to bring in the first harvest of the year. Parsnips!

Parsnips Very early last spring I got that heavenly nudge to learn to grow parsnips. I had never even eaten parsnips much less grow them, but I know the nudge so I began to research.

At one of the early farmers markets in late April when there was hardly lettuce, yet there there was a farmer and his wife with parsnips.

I asked him if he was from around here, because I thought parsnips were harvested in the fall best after a frost. He said that they were good then but if you leave them in the ground and they go through the long hard winter they are even sweeter harvested in early spring. I felt the nudge again that many of us are like that too having gone through long hard winters of life and come out better the other side.

I grew parsnips and they are wonderful. I left some in the ground to test the word on overwintering. If they could make it through this winter we have had they could make it through any winter. I did not cover or mulch them at all.

Roasted Parsnip fries I decided today as it was snowing a little here to harvest some and it is true. They were great roasted for lunch.

If you can grow them in your climate just think, early spring and the fresh potatoes and squash stores are eaten and no crops ready, yet but you can go dig fresh parsnips.

What an amazing provision!

Food Storage: Here’s What Works For Us

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I try to not be afraid to admit that I need to try new things or different ways of doing things when a particular tactic is showing less than stellar results. To that end, our food storage has evolved over the years into a loose plan that, hopefully, will meet our needs and the needs of our family and close friends should it be necessary.

In the last years of the last century, Y2K was on everyone’s minds. For those with a ‘prepping’ mentality, Y2K gave us an opportunity to get our feet wet in what, for many, became a lifestyle of choice. It served to awaken within me that desire to be as pro-active, as prepared as I could be in every way.

Like some of you, before we had a really solid survival food list, we made purchases of buckets of wheat, soy, popcorn, rice, beans, you name it. Most of it suited our lifestyle. Some of it didn’t. I’ve mentioned before that soy doesn’t suit my palate, but on a homestead very little goes to waste. Chickens will eat nearly anything.

But it’s hard to eat 5 gallons of popcorn because after a few years, it just won’t pop. The wheat we did well with, since we grind our own for bread and wheat lasts almost forever. We finished up the last of the Y2K hard red wheat in 2013 and couldn’t tell that it was the worse for sitting in a five gallon bucket for 14 years without any special treatment. We had originally nitrogen packed it in the buckets ourselves, but once opened, it was exposed to ordinary air.

We had virtually no problems with bugs in wheat, barley or rice and bugs don’t seem to like pinto beans, but they get a bit hard to cook after a while.

I’m the prepper in the family and feel like I have to be prepared for this family of 19 people, 42 chickens and 3 cocker spaniels.

We actually eat from our preps. Our day to day pantry and prepping pantry are one and the same so we have overcome the issue of having stored food that is cheap and easy to keep, but not on your everyday menu. We have no freeze dried, no MREs, Mountain House meals or dehydrated strawberries.

We do have several cases of strawberry jam, purchased in 2010 at a very good sale price. I opened another jar this week and it is as good as when I bought it. Last year several local supermarkets had sales of name brand canned vegetables, products that we normally use, at 2 cans for $1.00. Too good to pass up and so we have perhaps 3 dozen cases of corn, green beans, whole and sliced potatoes and carrots.

Another time we got Wolf Brand chili without beans for $0.59 and laid in at least a 5 year supply. My daughter refuses to serve her family from a can or a box with an expired date, but properly canned foods have been found to maintain their nutrition for years longer than we’ve been led to believe, and my personal experience bears that out.

What we have stopped doing is buying our beans of various kinds, wheat, barley, corn meal, rice and several additional items either in large bags from supermarkets or in 5 gallon pails from the suppliers we all know so well. While those are economical ways to prepare, we have decided that, for the two of us, those are quantities that are likely to deteriorate to some degree before we can use the entire large bag or 5 gallon pail. We still have some beans and wheat in 5 gallon pails, unopened, so they’ll last until we need them, and if a disaster ever happens and we have to feed more than the 2 of us they’ll come in handy.

The major change in our method has been to purchase what is available in #10 cans and we are storing and using from these cans for the above mentioned items, as well as pasta, rolled oats, noodles and granola. I know that the cost to purchase in this size containers is a bit more expensive, especially compared to buying your pinto beans at Walmart, but we take comfort in knowing that the things we need are here and will last indefinitely and that comfort and security is part of what you pay for.

Our diet is supplemented extensively with the regular canned vegetables in our stockpile, as well as canned hams, salmon, chicken, tuna and some other meat products for protein. Again, all a part of our everyday diet. And, all things considered, since I purchase most of our supermarket food ONLY when it is on sale, my overall cost, even when purchasing rice in a #10 can, is lower.

We are on sort of a paleo diet, and we’re not big consumers of wheat, especially, and use almost no processed products, most of which are not packaged for long term storage. Our meals also rely heavily on our garden during our long growing season. We end up eating most of what we grow and share with friends and family so we don’t do a lot of canning or freezing.

So, the rest of the story? Finally, after 30 years of prepping, the last 20 of which have been ‘serious’ prepping, we’ve all but eliminated the waste from our food storage. The advantage I feel we enjoy is switching to #10 cans for the mainstays, and buying in bulk at the local supermarket when they have a crazy sale (and don’t worry too much about those expiration dates).

What Are the “Three Sisters?” [plus how to plant them]

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Three Sisters gardening — corn, beans, and squash planted together using Native American companion planting method

If you have a small garden plot and don’t like digging it up every year, Three Sisters gardening may be for you. It’s a Native American companion planting technique at least 1,000 years old — practiced by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest, and Mesoamerican milpa farmers across what is now Mexico and Central America. They grew these three crops together not for tradition’s sake but because it works: the combination produces genuinely higher yields than any of the three plants grown alone.

It adapts to climate conditions, requires minimal year-to-year soil disturbance, and produces calorie-dense crops you can store. For a survival garden or homestead, it’s one of the most efficient things you can plant.

So, What Are The 3 Sisters?

The Three Sisters are corn, beans, and vined squash. Each one solves a specific problem for the others:

  • Corn grows tall and straight, providing a natural trellis for the beans to climb — no stakes or cages needed. It’s a heavy feeder and susceptible to wind, both of which the beans help address.
  • Pole beans fix nitrogen from the air into the soil through bacterial activity in their root nodules, feeding the corn and squash. Their flowers attract pollinating insects. Their vines bind the corn stalks together for wind resistance.
  • Squash spreads across the ground as a living mulch — shading out weeds, retaining soil moisture, and deterring deer and raccoons from the corn with its prickly leaves and vines.
Three Sisters garden diagram showing placement of corn, beans, and squash in mounds

Check out the layout depicting the placement of corn, beans, and squash.

Mound, Flat, or Depression — Match Your Climate

In wet or cold climates, mound your planting area. Corn hills about 5 inches high and 18 inches across allow the soil to warm more quickly in spring and improve drainage. You can plant earlier this way, which matters in a short growing season. In dry climates, dig a slight depression instead — it channels water toward the roots and retains moisture that would otherwise evaporate. If you’re getting the normal 40 inches of rain most vegetables want, a flat circle works fine.

Choosing Your Varieties

Variety selection matters more than most Three Sisters guides admit. The wrong choices and the system doesn’t work — the corn gets overwhelmed by the beans, or the squash clumps rather than spreads.

Corn: Three Sisters gardening often works best with flint, dent, or flour corn varieties, as they are harvested at the end of the season. Native American varieties like Hickory Cane Dent Corn and Cherokee White Flour work well. Sweet corn can be used but requires you to carefully navigate sprawling squash vines at harvest. Avoid very tall, weak-stalked hybrid varieties that may fall over once beans start climbing.

Beans: They must be pole beans (vine-type), as modern bush beans are incapable of climbing cornstalks. Good pole bean choices include Blue Lake, Scarlet Runner, and Italian Snap. Kentucky Wonder — which we grow and review here — is one of the most reliable heirloom options for this system.

Squash: Use a winter squash variety — butternut, acorn, delicata, and the like — which grow on vines that spread across the ground. Summer squash varieties like crookneck and pattypan won’t work because they grow in single clumps rather than as a spreading groundcover. The trailing vines are what make the living-mulch system function.

Corn — Planting and Growing

Corn is wind-pollinated and needs other corn in close proximity for best results — no pollination means no kernels. This is why you never plant corn in a single row, and why the circular or clustered mound system works so well: plant corn first after the last frost, when soil temperatures reach at least 55°F. Plant 4 corn seeds in a square pattern at the center of each mound, then thin to the strongest 3 seedlings after germination. By planting in a tight cluster you get optimum cross-pollination between plants.

Pole Beans — Structure and Nitrogen

If you’ve ever planted pole beans you know they will take over any structure they can find. That’s the feature, not the bug. When corn reaches 4 to 6 inches tall, plant 4 pole bean seeds around each corn stalk — one bean at each of the 4 compass points, 6 inches from the corn. The vines will bind the corn stalks together, providing maximum wind resistance. The flowers attract pollinators that benefit the whole garden.

One thing worth doing: coat the bean seeds with an inoculant before planting for better nitrogen fixation. Inoculant is a powder containing the right bacteria for legume nitrogen fixation — inexpensive, widely available, and makes a real difference in soil enrichment, especially in new garden beds.

Squash — Moisture, Mulch, and Deterrence

When the beans reach six inches, plant squash seeds around the perimeter of the mound, spacing them 18 inches apart. The spreading leaves retain moisture in the ground, stunt weed growth by shading the area, and attract additional pollinating insects. The prickly texture of squash leaves and vines also deters deer and raccoons — they don’t like navigating through it to reach the corn.

Three Sisters garden watering pot sunk in center with corn planted around it

Here’s a setup that works well: sink a garden pot in the center of your mound for deep watering. Plant six corn around that pot. Add the beans on the outside of the corn a week later, and four squash plants a week after that. The sunken pot directs water straight to the root zone — efficient, especially in dry stretches.

Getting Going — Planting Schedule

The staggered timing is critical. Plant everything at once and the corn gets overwhelmed before it can establish:

  1. Corn first — after last frost, soil at 55°F minimum
  2. Beans about a week later — once corn is 4–6 inches tall and growing confidently
  3. Squash a week after that — when beans are reaching 6 inches

Want to extend your harvest across the season? Sow seeds any time after spring night temperatures are in the 50-degree range, up through June. Plant successive mounds a week or two apart and you’ll have Three Sisters dining for as long as your growing season holds. Depending on how you like to put up vegetables, you can spread the work across the summer or batch it all at the end into a big canning session.

One more maintenance note: do not apply nitrogen fertilizer once beans are established — the bacterial fixation in the bean roots supplies what the corn needs. Adding nitrogen at that point throws the system off balance.

Storing Your Harvest

Squash stores particularly well. A dry, cool area — root cellar, basement shelf, spare bedroom — keeps most winter squash in good eating condition for three to six months without any processing. Butternut and acorn are the most forgiving. Check them monthly and use any that start to soften first.

Dried beans from this system are among the most storage-friendly calories you can grow yourself — sealed in Mylar with oxygen absorbers, they last 20+ years. Corn can be dried and ground into meal, or pressure-canned as whole kernel. The Three Sisters aren’t just a companion planting system — they’re a complete calorie-crop strategy. For more on maximizing what your garden produces for long-term storage, see our calorie crops and gardening for survival guides.

Don’t overthink this one. Just have fun and enjoy some sweet, all-American calorie crops.

No Knead Artisan Bread [Recipe]

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I’m betting on a lot of you on SCP are bread makers. So I thought I’d share my absolutely MOST favorite bread that I make up. I use the basic recipe of the YouTuber called artisanbreadwithsteve… if you’d like to find him.

I’ve used it for several different types of breads, but I don’t have one of his fancy ceramic crockpots, so I use either my Corningware crock with it’s lid, my small cast iron skillet (if I’m camping), my mini-bread loaf pans, my regular sized loaf pans or my larger sized loaf pans.

This recipe works almost flawlessly… unless you alter the type of flour you use. I’d suggest getting used to the “basic” recipe before you step into the designer-type breads.

Either way, I’m just sure you’ll love it as much as I do. One of the main reasons I love it is that I put the dough together in about 5 minutes or less, follow his directions of covering it with plastic wrap & forgetting about it for 8-12 hours. You let your yeast do the work for you. I usually put it together after supper and then get it ready for the 2nd rise just before I start breakfast.

Cleanup is a breeze. Just a bit ago though (before lunch) I mixed up a batch of dough because I planned to make some hoagie buns for our sandwiches etc. I love being able to take the same dough, make a few minor adjustments (raisins, cinnamon, sugar or ground flax, ground sesame seeds, oatmeal, you name it!) and having scruuumptous and easy artisan breads… be they round, square, oblong or whatever shape I want them to be in, even braided!)

You Will Need:

  • 3 cups sifted flour
  • 1 ½ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. instant yeast
  • 12 oz. room temp. water

Directions:

  1. In a glass bowl, mix all dry ingredients with a wisk. Add water & use the HANDLE of a wooden spoon or plastic spoon.
  2. Starting at the outer edge of  your bowl, work your way inward until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl (It will be a somewhat “sticky” bowl)
  3. Cover with plastic wrap & set in a safe place and leave for 8 to 12 hours to rise (about double).
  4. When risen, set your oven to 450.
  5. Grab you favorite 8″ skillet (I like my cast iron one) and oil it GENEROUSLY.
  6. Gently push your dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface.
  7. Flour your hands and gently flatten your dough to about 2 or 3 inches and then FOLD gently the ends inward, then the sides inward.
  8. Place the dough in your oiled skillet & then turn it over to make sure both sides are oiled.
  9. Place in your pre-heated, 450 oven, and bake for 30-35 minutes (until golden brown).
  10. If you “tap” on the top of your bread, it should “thump” and this should mean it’s done.
  11. Remove it from your skillet, let cool on a rack, and when thoroughly cool, place in a bread bag.

(DO NOT KNEAD THIS DOUGH!!!!)

9 Best Vegan Emergency Food Supply Options

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Putting together a vegan emergency food supply is a unique undertaking. For starters, emergencies are something that many of us don’t like to think about. And if you are somebody that eats a vegan or plant-based diet, food storage can be even more difficult. Even so we’ve had people reach out to us about vegan options for emergency food storage.

Even if you’re not a vegan, you might become one by necessity. In many areas, prepared meat products like steak and chicken breast virtually disappear in an emergency. In those cases, grains, beans, seeds, and other plant-based products then replace prepared meat products.

For example, when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, many refugees were forced to sustain themselves with plant products until help arrived. Luckily, there are some outstanding vegan food supply options.

The Short Answer:

1. Food Storage Guys Vegan 6-Month Food Supply

What Makes It Great:

  • The best vegan option for long-term emergencies
  • Provides one adult 2,000 calories for 180 days
  • 25-year shelf life
  • Fantastic variety
  • Re-sealable lids on the #10 cans
Check Latest Price
6 Month Vegan Emergency Food Supply

The Food Storage Guys produced a diverse array of meals that will last the average adult 180 days. This vegan food supply is an excellent option that boasts a 25-year shelf life. As long as you keep the #10 cans at room temperature, the meals will be there when you need them most.

In terms of the meal options this vegan emergency food supply includes dried dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. Fruits, vegetables, pasta, beans, rolled grains, seeds, and more.

It’s also important to remember that many long-term food storage products can start to taste really similar, and get dull after a couple of weeks. Because of this, the Food Storage guys include seasonings, baking, and cooking supplies. They also include cooking supplies like baking powder, sugar, and salt. You should also supplement this purchase, which comes out to $1,100, with cooking gear and oil.

The meals are a truly high-value option for anyone living in urban areas since food deserts often form during emergencies.

Other Great Vegan Emergency Food Supply Options

2. Ready Hour Beans Trio With Rice (100 servings, 14 pk.)

What Makes It Great:

  • Bucket includes six pouches of beans, six pouches of white rice, two pouches of Southwest Rice
  • These meals are easy to prepare, full of essential protein and fiber
  • Comes in a durable, waterproof bucket
  • 30-year shelf life
Check Latest Price

Ready Hour’s Bean and Rice kit is a vital addition to your vegan emergency food supply. The 30-year shelf life means you can store these buckets away for easy storage. The entire bucket includes black beans, red beans, pinto beans, long-grain white rice, and southwest rice. Altogether, the 14 pouches have 100 servings for average adults.

These Ready Hour food buckets don’t require much work to prepare, since you only need low heat for rehydration. Another benefit of this rehydration method is that it keeps in the flavor and nutrients. Regarding nutritional value, all the food included in this bucket is low in fat and high in fiber (a category that many mainstream emergency food supplies lack in).

As we already mentioned with the Food Storage Guys/ product, as long as you store this food bucket in a dry, cool place, you can expect this bucket to last you at least 30 years. However, in the event of a flood, the bucket’s waterproof design will keep your food fresh and secure.

3. Augason Farms Fruit Variety Pail

What Makes It Great:

  • 86 servings
  • Shelf-life of up to 30 years
  • Short-term emergency option
Check Latest Price

Another great supplement is Augason Farm’s fruit pail. The pouches include strawberries, apples, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, and 113 servings of Spiff-E-Whip Dessert Topping. Augason Farms conveniently packages their food individually. 

Another reason Augason’s fruit pail is an excellent option for when water is scarce because you don’t need to wash, peel, slice, or dice the contents. While this shouldn’t be the only food you store for an emergency, they’re an affordable addition at only $157. As long as you keep these products in a cool and dry place, you can count on this product for 30 years.

Vegan Emergency Food Testimonial
Augason’s Fruit Pail garners several positive reviews like the one above on Amazon and other retail sites.

In total, this pail boasts just under 6,000 calories. It weighs under 3 pounds, meaning it won’t take too much effort to carry, while still containing a load of essential nutrients.

Luckily, with this vegan emergency food supply is ready to eat right out of the packages. The fruit pouches also make great additions to oatmeal, cereal, and yogurt, a great way to add variety during any emergency.

4. Food Storage Guys Vegan 1-Year Food Supply (2,000 calories per day)

What Makes It Great:

  • Provides one adult 2,000 calories for 180 days
  • 25-year shelf life
  • Re-sealable lids on the #10 cans
Check Latest Price
1 Year Vegan Food Storage

The Food Storage Guys also provide an incredible 1 year vegan food supply. Like their half-year choice, this one year supply of dried, freeze-dried, and dehydrated plant products provide 2,000 calories a day for at least a year. You’ll want to supplement this product with a makeshift water supply, such as the WaterBob bathtub bladder or emergency water barrels.

In these uncertain times, it’s always ideal for you to have a well-balanced diet. With an abundant supply of fruits, vegetables, pasta, beans, rolled grains, and seasonings, you won’t grow bored with the meal options during a long-term crisis.

Nice praise from a satisfied customer purchasing the 1 year vegan food supply from Food Storage Brothers.

You also won’t spend the days hungry and rationing food, since the Food Storage Guys allotted nine total servings a day for a single adult. If you’re expecting to take care of another person, this supply will last you for half a year. And for four people, this supply lasts for about three months.

The single problem with this vegan emergency food supply is the price. At $2,100, the FSG vegan emergency supply is not exactly budget-friendly. If you’re able to make this much of an investment, you should consider the one year or the half-year vegan options from FSG. However, if this price doesn’t work for you, we have more budget-friendly options below in the product list.

5. Augason Farms Freeze Dried Fruit & Veggie Variety Combo

What Makes It Great:

  • At least a 30-year shelf life
  • Best deal with this company
  • A diverse selection of fruits and vegetables
  • 522 total servings that come out to approximately 12,500 calories
  • Two pails with 26 pouches of fruits and vegetables
Check Latest Price

If you’re not satisfied with only the fruit pail, Auguson Farms offers fruit and vegetable buckets as one item. This deal is excellent for anyone looking for the most affordable way to stock up on essential foods, but with a vegan bent.

Many gluten-free fruits and vegetables are an excellent option for snacks since you can eat the fruit right out of the package. One reason this feature is so valuable is it helps conserve water, which is an ideal feature because most MRE’s require warm or boiling water. Boiling water also wastes vital resources besides water, such as gas and cooking oil.

Finally, like all the products we’ve listed in this article, this fruit and vegetable emergency food will last you throughout the years. Both pails boast a shelf-life of up to 30 years, so long as you store them in a dry and cool place. What’s more, is that all the food includes is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. Even while you’re surviving a crisis, you’ll have the energy and strength to persist through the harshest conditions.

6. Food Storage Guys 16-Day Vegan Organic Food Storage

What Makes It Great:

  • Certified 100% organic and vegan
  • High vitamin, minerals and antioxidant content
  • 10 to 15-year shelf life
Check Latest Price

Here’s the Food Storage Guy’s short term vegan food solution to emergency. For 16-days, you’ll have the fuel to keep you going until you’re safe. This product is excellent for areas where hurricanes frequent since chances are you’ll reach help before your vegan emergency supply runs out.

The contents are rolled oats, white rice, millet, garbanzo beans, green lentils, black beans, pinto beans, quinoa, green superfood powder, chia seeds, fermented miso powder, and cajun spice mix. All of these ingredients have high vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant content. On average, this will provide the average adult with at least 1,000 calories a day.

This supply is also an excellent option for anyone operating within a budget since the total cost comes out to $289 per food supply shipment. Averaged out, this will cost you $6 per day, and you’ll thank yourself when you need this supply most. In terms of daily nutrition, this FSG product provides 13 grams of fat and 43 grams of protein every day. In totality, this provides just under 32,300 calories for any crisis you might encounter.

Every shipment with the food storage guys is free for orders over $100. 

Here Are Some Other Great “A La Carte” Vegan Food Storage Options

7. Augason Farms #10 Can Tomato Powder Emergency Food Storage

What Makes It Great:

  • 137 Servings totaling 4,795 Calories
  • 25-year shelf life
  • Great for campers and hikers, as well as preppers
  • Use as a base for pasta sauce and tomato soup
  • Gluten-free
Check Latest Price

The tomato powder from Augason Farms is a great, all-around tool to keep with your long-term food supply. You can make delicious tomato soup from just warm water, adding in your grains like crackers, or use it as a base for your pasta sauce.

It’s a great way to change up your food options whenever you find yourself in an emergency. Whether that crisis is a food shortage, hurricane, or anything else nature can throw in our direction this year. All you need to do is add water, and you’re ready.

8. Augason Farms #10 Can Dehydrated Potato Slices

What Makes It Great:

  • 28 servings totaling 1,960 calories
  • Helpful recipes included in the labeling
  • Certified gluten-free
  • At least a 25-year shelf life
Check Latest Price

This #10 can of dehydrated potato slices holds 28 total servings, equal to just under 2,000 total calories. This product is listed here as supplementary because you can use potato slices in various meals to make your extended vacation from civilization a little more comfortable.

You can store this product with the rest of your emergency food supply and forget about it. Augason guarantees at least a lifetime of 25 years. Also, if you’re not a great cook, Augason Farms included a couple of recipes that might come in handy, especially for vegan meals.

9. Augason Farms Freeze Dried Sliced Strawberries

What Makes It Great:

  • 30-year shelf life
  • Ready to eat right out of the can
  • 18 servings totaling 630 calories
Check Latest Price

Augason Farm’s #10 Can provides a fantastic boost to your vegan emergency food supply. While this shouldn’t be your sole option for any food crisis, the freeze-dried strawberries make for a great on-the-go snack, as well as an excellent addition to meals such as breakfast and oatmeal.

And, like most emergency meal supplies, as long as you keep your storage in a cool and dry place, each shipment comes with a 30-year guarantee. Part of this has to do with their #10 cans, which Augason Farms produces with high-quality stainless steel. As a result, the cans are water-resistant and keep out any oxygen that would hurt their contents’ quality.

Here’s a quick account in the wild:

Like this review points out, these strawberries are awesome in cereal, granola, breakfast bars, protein shakes, breads, cakes, yogurt, and a whole host of other foods.

What to Look for in Your Vegan Emergency Food Supply

Certified Vegan & Plant-Based Ingredients

The products we’ve listed here are certified vegan, created with 100% plant-based products. For most vegan emergency food supply options, animal-based products weren’t even in the same building.

However, there are countless other options out there, and you must check to see if they’re certified vegan. Many companies will try to pass off ingredients, hoping you won’t notice. So always make sure to do your research, especially if you’re buying something that didn’t make our list.

Shoot for A 15 -30 Year Shelf-Life

Most of the products we’ve listed in this review boast a shelf-life of 15-30+ years. However, these time forecasts rely on the fact that your store your vegan emergency food supply in a cool and dry place.

Many companies will make their containers––whether they’re #10 cans or pails––water-resistant. So in the event of a flood, your food will stay safe, but these measures are baseline. You should also ensure that they are stored somewhere cool and dry, like a basement or garage, to maximize lifespan.

Amount of Food Included

The products we’ve listed in this article range from a supply that sustains you for about a month to an entire year.

Deciding which product to invest in depends on a couple of factors, such as how long you expect to live without fresh food access. For example, suppose you live in an area prone to hurricanes. In that case, you might only need approximately a month’s worth of a vegan emergency food supply.

Another factor is your budget since some of the products listed here cost upwards of $1,000. However, you also have the advantage of buying products over time, since most emergency food supplies last upwards of 15 years.

Nutrients

The transition from a typical diet to a vegan lifestyle, you’ll need to supplement nutrients previously derived from animal products. When you’re putting together your vegan emergency food supply, you’ll need to make sure the products have enough protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and antioxidants.

Most emergency food supply companies list these out in their advertising, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the nutrient content. However, if you’d like some additional ideas for incorporating certain nutrients into your diet, here’s some starters:

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a Vegan Emergency Food Supply Cost Less?

Overall, meat products will cost you more than plant-based foods. While individual products will fluctuate, following a couple of simple steps so your wallet is the only thing that isn’t losing weight.

For example, make sure you buy the raw materials in bulk because this will save you both time and money since you won’t need to keep stopping by the produce section.

Another tip is to buy seasonally since something like apples or watermelons will cost more when purchased out of season. Many grocery stores, especially places like Whole Foods, advertise which of their fruits, vegetables, and plant-based products are in season.

What are the best options for water storage?

When it comes to storing water in an emergency, a reliable and sanitary method is vital. Recent events like Hurricane Laura or Hurricane Maria testify to this fact. Some options, such as bathtub storage systems, have a good track record with hurricane victims. You can also take advantage of water bricks or just straight barrels of water.

What are the best fruits & vegetables to store long-term?

According to Peta, some great fruits you can store long term are pretty much anything you can find canned in juice. There are also some dry fruit options with raisins, mandarins, mangoes, and pineapples. You can also store canned green beans and spinach, carrots, corn, tomatoes, peas, and mushrooms.

What is a #10 Can?

Large, No. 10 cans are an incredibly useful container for storing stable shelf food. Not only are they made from high-grade steel, but they are also airtight and made to survive just about any emergency or disaster. They are pest-proof and will keep their contents safe from the elements and any external contamination. And, unopened cans will even float.

#10 Cans are particularly useful because many preppers use them as bases to start their crop grows. The size, capacity, and steel components make them perfect for growing herbs, storing water, and valuables.

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, the Food Storage Guys’ 6-month vegan food supply is the best option out there (full details here). Unlike the company’s year-long supply, this is the most budget friendly vegan option available right now. 

With a 25-year shelf-life, you can store this vegan food supply and forget about it. Meanwhile, the bounty of nutrients––such as fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds, seasonings, baking & cooking stables––will keep you healthy and energized while you survive whatever nature throws our way.