Augason Farms 30 Day Premium Emergency Food Supply Kit - 1 Person Survival Meal kit - Just Add Water - Dehydrated Meals with Long Shelf Life - Ideal for Prepping, Camping, Emergency Use - 307 Servings

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.

Pretty good food. I will pursh again.

I have bought many of these. Great value for the price, quality of food is good, tastes good, is storable and stackable and the amount of food for the size is amazing. The seal has always worked and is great for long term storage and protecting it from the elements.

It's nice to know when you need customer service, they are there... I bought two containers and it is recommended that you open the container(s) up and inspect the bags individually as there might be micro breaches in the pouch bags. Sure enough I found two of them. One was a pin size hole, another was a slight rip - both making the individual bags compromised. I wrote Augason Farms customer support and within 15 minutes they wrote back and were happy to fix the problem. I identified the bags that were breached and within a few hours - they sent proof that the bags are being shipped to my house. THAT'S customer service and I'm a loyal fan now. :-)

Nice

I opened it up to check if any packages were busted. None were.. It was packed in pretty tight so I can see where issues could arise, but that wasn't the case for me. Putting the product back in proved my Tetris skills to be lacking.As for taste- I didn't buy this with the intention of using it. Hopefully I never have to.I read a couple reviews that said the lid was rather difficult to open. This was true for me. I used a flat head screwdriver to help pry it off.. That being said- be careful not to stab your product (remember it's packed to the brim) or worse yourself.All in all, I am happy with the product I received and would purchase again.

Update August 3, 2017I really had not paid much attention to this, but the bucket being shipped now is a larger bucket than what this package used to come in. I had an old empty bucket out and noticed the difference. (I use the buckets for storage.) The previous buckets from this company were 5 gallon buckets. This is a 7 gallon bucket. And like before, it is packed to the top and squeezed under the lid.Augason Farm foods are the basics, without a lot of frills. They have some things which tastes great, and others which I can pass on. It's a matter of taste. For tastes and ease of preparation, I prefer the Mountain House brand. But for basic good food for the buck ($$$$), this is the best deal. Their "Morning Moo's" is the best powdered milk that I have ever tasted. So my money seems to go to these guys here on Amazon.Previous review below:---------------------------------------------I figured that it was time to re-order one of these buckets. I am in the process of finishing off a bucket that I opened about 4 years ago. You can buy this bucket in Sam’s Club, but I like having it delivered to my door. Plus I think it is slightly more expense at Sam’s Club.The food is basic, but very good. The powdered milk in these buckets is the best powered milk that I have ever had in my life. I normally hate powdered milk, but I like this. It does not have that typical powdered milk taste.I made some “Hearty Vegetables” tonight. It’s basically macaroni, rice, carrots, lentils, and I am not sure what else. It tastes good, as if it just came from a garden. One of the ingredients in it still seems slightly dried out even after being cooked. I am not sure which one. But I add butter, slat, and pepper to it and it tastes fine.I had some “Chicken and Rice” from the bucket last night. This probably takes longer to cook, more then anything else in the bucket.One down side, or up-side, depending on your point of view. The food here is seriously dried, with ALL moisture removed from the food in this bucket. You can’t just add hot water to any of this, except the milk. You really do have to cook it for awhile in boiling water before the food will soften up. This is great for preserving it. But it also taxes your patience while you are waiting for it to be done.The food will definitely fill you up. No questions there. Like all of these dried survival foods, there are somethings that you like better than others.One thing about it, if you are traveling or without access to refrigeration, this is the way to go. I don’t know about the 30 day part since my last bucket has lasted me 4 years. But I just pull something out of it occasionally, and when I happen to even think about it.But I have met people who buy these buckets on a regular basis to feed their families. I remember meeting a guy wheeling 10 of these buckets out to his car at Sam’s Club. And these buckets was all that he had purchased.I am uploading photos of my “Hearty Vegetables” and milk for my meal tonight, from my 4 year old bucket.Update July 145, 2017The local Sam's Club appears to be dropping these. The local Des Moines Sam's Club is currently selling their in-stock buckets for $30.