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42K views 62 replies 45 participants last post by  Blacky 
#1 ·
Hey folks, I am looking to get my mitts on some bulk emergency foodstuffs for long-term storage. A few months ago I ran across these guys:
http://www.wisefoodstorage.com/
I just want to know if these guys are trustworthy as a retailer and manufacturer, and if their product is any good before I put down money.
Dried food has some advantages for me and my family. As far as I know, it's insensitive to temperature, lasts 30 years, and only requires hot water to make. Also, it's light, and Wise sends the stuff in plastic drums, so I can stack it and move it rapidly into my jeep and GTFO of dodge.

In all honesty, I am just trying to figure out the best course of action on setting up food supplies for my family.
 
#5 ·
I buy from Emergency Essentials. They have a website. I have lots of food stored, mostly from them. The service is good, the food is good, the shipping is good and the owner is a true believer. Second on my list is Nitro-pak.com. They are also reliable.

When buying the food, go for the freeze dried and dehydrated stuff. I put a lot of money into MRE's about 7 years ago. The S did not HTF. Now that supply is wasted. The freeze dried lasts 20 years. MREs are about 5.
 
#51 ·
Personally, I prefer buying dried ingredients, not pre-made meals because I don't find them all that tasty and I would rather put together my own meals from scratch.

I bought a couple of the sampler packs from eFoodsDirect, etc., and cooked them up - frankly NoodleRoni and Hamburger Helper tastes just as good (actually better) and costs 20% of what they charge for freeze dried meals. Ok, so maybe they don't last as long, but if properly repackaged in Mylar with oxygen absorbers I but they would last just fine for 5 years +.
 
#8 ·
wise will send you a sample. It was way over spiced for my taste, and it was one serving. After an hour I was starving again, and I hadnt done anything. Per there website there was only 200 calories in the serving I had. I feel you would get a better deal in EE super pail, 6gal buckets properly packed. Substitute in some freeze dried #10 cans and you will be set. They even sell it in a year supply combo for $699.95 product JW1-FS-Y310. As soon as I can afford it I will be ordering one.
 
#9 ·
huh... wow. I wish I'd seen the Emergency Essentials website earlier. That's basically exactly what I was looking for. Here I thought my google skills were good.

Also, having looked over the nutrition facts on the Wise site, the sodium levels are unbelievably high for a 250 calorie serving (900+ mg). Considering you'd basically have to eat eight servings like that to satisfy a 2000 calorie diet, that rapidly turns into outright dangerous levels. I understand that in a survival situation, sodium becomes more of an asset, but there is still a level where it is dangerous.

In any case, you guys seem to hold EE in really high regard. That's good, guess that's where I'll be looking to get my long-term foodstuffs. Anyhow, it's really late here, and I got work in the morning. Thanks for all the help.

Also, SiouxSquirrel, I am not some sleazeball ad troll. If I was, I'd probably be better paid. I can see why it looked like that though. Sorry.
 
#10 ·
I don't know if they're reputable or not, but they will ship you a free sample. That was all it took for me to eliminate them from future consideration. They aren't even using real meats, and I didn't care for the samples I got. If you're seriously considering them, try the sample, then examine their lineup with a critical eye. Do you really want to eat that kind of stuff long term?
 
#12 ·
With Wise foods--they are vegetarian. That's fine except they do not make that clear to customers.

Also--watch their time-period claims (and also other sellers who offer time period packages). Find the number of calories in any food package--do not take claims of "one-year supply" etc. at face value. (Do not settle for number of servings either--very misleading).

2000 calories per day per adult is what is needed. Even at that level, you will lose weight. Many sellers are selling 700 calories a day as adequate. Ridiculous.
 
#16 ·
With respect to the boards sponsors, if you are starting your food storage plan, my thought is eat what you store / store what you eat. Double buy from the grocery store until you have six months to one years worth. Long term food storage is important, but in my opinion secondary to expanding the basic kitchen pantry to 'bedroom size', and assessing your other priorities.

I write this as someone who began prepping, and as an American consumer immediatly started buying 'super-pails' and expensive gadgets - most of which are rarely used.

That said, I am an Emergency Essentials customer, and very satisfied.
 
#20 ·
With respect to the boards sponsors, if you are starting your food storage plan, my thought is eat what you store / store what you eat. Double buy from the grocery store until you have six months to one years worth. Long term food storage is important, but in my opinion secondary to expanding the basic kitchen pantry to 'bedroom size', and assessing your other priorities.
Ideally, that's how it should be. But for whatever reason, when people are first getting started, they tend to overlook that point. I know I did when I first started my food storage. I bought freeze dried foods and highly regretted it. But convinced that they were the only way to go, I bought more and highly regretted it again.

Then I started with the Mormon basics and added to it. What I ended up with was mostly dehydrated, along with some home canned/dried, and a few store bought items. These are our every day foods now and it saves a bundle on the grocery bill over buying all our food at the store. Basically about all I buy at the store anymore is fresh veggies, fruits, cheese and meats, unless I find a sale on something I want to add to storage.
 
#17 ·
I also like EE (www.beprepared.com) There are other good ones that have had good mention on this forum and which I also have ordered from, like www.honeyvillegrains.com and others. My favorites are EE and Honeyville because of the variety, price, and excellent service at both places. Unlike with Wise, you can also order individual cans from the other two. With Wise, they have only more expensive package plans.

I recommend #10 cans of basic ingredients, not the entrees, so that you can have more variety from the cans you have. Instead of beef tetrazzini, for instance, order a can of beef and another of FD sour cream and add your own noodles and other flavorings. This way you can use the beef and the sour cream in other menus too and have everything taste the way you want it instead of their version. I would do this with all storage cans so that you have a much wider variety of meals for the same quantity of cans. So with beef, you can add it to chili, meatballs, sloppy joes, tacos, casseroles, etc., etc.

This way you also don't get the high sodium and other additives that come from the entrees. Peas are just peas, no additives, strawberries are just strawberries, etc. Add your own salt if you want it.

Ignore the number of servings...they are ALL over-optimistic for that! What you need to know is the number of calories for your day's menus and the nutrition information you would have in that menu. EE has a storage chart that figures some of this out for you, with the nutrients and calories you are getting, how long it would last for the number in your family, etc. This is only a guide that assumes only #10 cans are in storage, but it can still be handy.
 
#18 ·
Just to give you some other options, I've ordered my food from the following companies:
Emergency Essentials - My go-to site. Seems to be a favorite of most here!
Shelf Reliance - I purchase when their sale prices are cheaper than Emergency Essentials. Their shipping is reasonable and super-fast. Lots of good info available here, too.
Honeyville Grain - I wait until they have a coupon code.
Survival Acres/Walton Feed - The Rainy Day Foods have some dehydrated foods available that I can't seem to find elsewhere. Shipping is not cheap to my zone, so I try to get my stuff at one of the above first.

Hope that helps someone.:thumb:
 
#22 ·
I would also reccomend you check out the Mormons. They have been prepping for a hundred years and have it down to an art. I have purchased a considerable amount of food from them over the past few years and the quality is great and the price is phenomenal.

They only carry the basic staples, rice, wheat, oats and beans, but the price ranges from $21 to $40 for 6 #10 30 year cans. The price includes shipping. Usually recieve about 1 week from order date.

Link below:

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&categoryId=10002&langId=-1&cg1=14087&cg2=&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=
 
#24 ·
I personally like www.EmergencyDehydratedFood.com better than Wise Foods and EE. They are way less expensive. For what it is worth.
Its hard to tell if they are cheaper or not since EE doesn't even sell stuff like this :confused: These seem like those buckets you can buy from costco. Do they seriously only sell 4 products or am I missing something????

I prefer EE, the lds cannery and also the ready store but only if they are having a good sale since they are pretty overpriced.
 
#44 ·
#29 ·
I ordered half a dozen samples from Wise Foods thinking that I'd try them first, man I'm glad I did....first off, their ads are VERY Deceiving (you think you are getting chicken parmesan or beef stroggie, but when they arrived, in very small lettering it said flavoring only, so they are all vegetarian meals.

Next I followed the prep instructions and they tasted like reconstituted cardboard, couldn't get more than a few bites into any entree....avoid them!
 
#33 ·
I tried the free sample from Wise also and my experience mirrors yours. There are a lot of fly by night companies popping up lately. Personally, I'm sticking with companies that have been around a while, and products that have been around a while.

What a lot of these new companies are doing is repackaging commercial soup mixes and such, rather than actual long term storage foods. Most of them are not optimized for nutrition anymore than the junk food from the store is.

That's also part of why I tend to avoid premade entrees for the most part. Though they can be handy for short term situations.
 
#30 ·
I noticed Emergency Essentials got some free pub on the show "How The States Got Their Shapes". The show host predictably tried his best to make the idea of emergency prep look the doman of crazies from the couple of minutes I watched
 
#34 ·
Taste is an EXTREMELY subjective thing. Nutritional value aside, if you don't like the taste of anything, you are a lot less inclined to eat it. ALWAYS get samples and try something before you invest.

Between stress and appetite fatigue, you can really create some problems for yourself if you are stuck with food you don't find palatable.

My hubby and I have VASTLY different tastes in food. I have given up trying to get him to try different things and just stock the few things I know he will eat. Me?? I like variety and will try anything once ...
 
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