The Value of Cooking

"Food, glorious food! Hot sausage and mustard!" - Oliver the musical

As the modern world becomes ever more urban, most of us have little experience in the skills our ancestors once knew: cutting firewood, building a fire, hunting, farming, etc. Today another basic skill is disappearing - cooking. Walk through a grocery store and you'll see precooked bacon, pre-sliced vegetables, instant meals and microwave meals.

During an emergency the no-cook food items will be quite useful; the microwave meals less helpful without power. Stocking up on precooked foods is a good idea BUT are you aware of the price premium you are paying for having someone else make your meals for you? Here are some prices for one year food supplies taken from the catalog Emergency Essentials:

• $ 800 "Traditional" Dehydrated Food Basics (12 cases of grains, veg, beans, dairy, fruit)
• $1,500 "Premium" with basics plus freeze dried meals, dessert mixes, flavored pancake mixes, etc,
• $2,400 "Ultimate" with 25 cases of "just-add-water" cooking meals including Western Omelets and Hash Browns.
• $3,400 MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) Year Supply

Bottom Line
There is a four times price difference between the Traditional combine-the-ingredients-on-your-own and the 100% MRE food supplies. Knowing how to cook meals from basic food stock will save you money when building your food storage.