Are vegetarians really going to turn away meat when SHTF or during a natural disaster?

 

In a starvation situation people will eat that is available, thier ethical or religious concerns go out the window.

If you dont beleive me look at instances of cannibalism in survival situations like a lifeboat.

 

I ordered small cans of AF's bacon and beef tvp. I havent tried the beef yet, but the bacon tvp tastes just like bacon bits and are very salty. They're good on salads and such. I will probably try the beef this weekend and will post here when I do. All the rest of the AF products that I've tried are pretty good. I really like the orange and peach drink mixes, the apple not so much.

 

I have a half used can open at the moment, I've used it in taco's pure and as a 50/50 mix with beef. Alone it has a slightly gummy texture and isn't the best, mixed with beef it tastes perfectly fine. I also use them dry on baked potatoes like you would use bacon bits(bacon bits are TVP anyhow)

Just beware that it may have adverse affects on your digestive system.

 

Trying small cans is a smart way to go. Personal preference for food storage foods is already a factor, but then add in your tolerance for fake meat versus your vegetarian GF's tolerance for it, and it's kind of a crapshoot. As an aside, brush up on your knowledge of a the effects of a high soy diet on men if you haven't already (hello, manboobs). http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects#.

A high soy diet gives me migraines, so if your GF isn't already eating lots of soy now, consider asking her to test drive a high-soy diet before investing lots of money in that direction just to make sure that all is well-tolerated.

 

She does eat soy now. About two to three times a week for her. The A.F. is not meant as a complete protein source. I just want a different option for protein for her besides beans (which I have a lot of already). She cannot eat meat. I made her eat bacon a few years ago and she was sick for 3 days. Not very pleasant. Tuna and other fish are an option but I don't trust any canned fish over 2 years.

 

That's a shame, because canned fish is one of the champs of long term storage.

None of the storage food TVP that I've tasted is very good and not very meatlike at all. But it's OK to hide in recipes and such.

Which is a shame, because they CAN make TVP taste very much like meat. I've had it before so I know it can be done. But it's not the cheap stuff they sell in #10 cans.

 

I am using A.F. scrambled egg as another source of protein. I like the flavor.

 

I would check out OvaEasy eggs. They have good reviews. I haven't tried them yet but will be trying them out soon.

http://www.nutriom.com

Also, why not have her find her own prepping food? You won't get the blame for buying the wrong food. Picky eaters sound like they would be dead weight and emotional draining when SHTF.

 

MikeK, have you had good luck with long-term fish? I am in a cooler climate than you. I'm just leary.

 

All canned foods other than the high acid stuff like tomatoes, pineapple, kraut, etc., lasts safely for a very long time. I've eaten canned tuna that was 10 years out of date. The texture had gone a bit mushy, but it was the cheap tuna that wasn't in chunks anyway. It was fine in recipes.

For more information on the lifespan of canned foods, please see my post in this thread:
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=341596

 

Update.

I recieved it today and tried it for dinner. All in all, not to bad. No, it wasn't ground beef but it was fairly descent.Took about 20 minutes of boiling to reconstitute it. The little lady liked it. It would be good for taco meat, or sloppy joes, or mixed in a noodle dish for some good protien. I would recommend it as another source of protein for LTS.

 

Have her take a look at wheat gluten flour, it's 75% protein and makes an excellent meat substitute called 'seitan'. Lots of recipes and instruction for making seitan are easy to find. Gluten flour is also very good to have on hand for adding a nice texture and binding (holding together) for all types of vegi-burgers. Once cooked it can be ground like hamburger and used in all kinds of recipes. Here's where I bought mine:

Vital Wheat Gluten - 3.5 Pound Can: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

Here's a recipe for vegi-lunch meat using gluten flour: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/06/veggie-lunch-meat.html

Some yummy looking seitan recipes here: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html