There's a lot of information out there on the web about preparing for an emergency. Most of this information is geared towards readers that are able to plunk down some serious cash on;
Books, reports, DVD's and other survival guides
Memberships (not including travel and accommodations) to survival communities or organizations
Prepared, packaged disaster survival kits
High-end camping equipment and designer clothing
Prepared, packaged, freeze-dried food
Which is great for those that can afford these things, but considering the state of the national economy and world-wide financial difficulties, I'd be willing to bet that the greater proportion of regular folks like you and I can't afford these "survival luxuries."
There are a lot of us who can't make the budget stretch to the end of the month, much less storing a year's worth of food ahead of time. Or for that matter traveling to an exotic "safe" place or buying gold and silver. It's just not going to happen for us that way and we need an alternative.
Instead of buying "Franken food" or the military style prepackaged meals-ready-to-eat, I purchase powdered milk, oatmeal, beans, rice, lentils, organic pasta, organic brown sugar, pancake mix and several other items all in bulk when available.
Having a food dehydrator is a definite must! Buy your favorite fruits and veggies, dehydrate them and package them separately in ziploc baggies or chop them up and mix with noodles or rice for pre-made soup servings. The fruit can also be made into leather or powdered so that mixing with water provides a drink or a sauce topping for pancakes or corn-bread.
To further augment your diet and provide a valuable source of protein that is easy to pack and store, buy range fed, no additives beef and make your own jerky. Powder this jerky and add it to soup mixes and stews for meals or eat it by the piece, on the go.
Fish can be dried and stored in the same manner as well as other protein sources.
I suggest getting several different sizes of ziplock baggies, the freezer type are best to store dried foods in. I make up meal packages consisting of a main course in a quart size bag(beans, rice, lentils, pasta, pancake mix, oatmeal) with a separate, smaller baggie containing jerky or powdered meat, another with a veggie and another with a fruit. A smaller, 1/2 sandwich size of baggie will contain tea, coffee, powdered milk, powdered chocolate milk, juice mix, honey or brown sugar.
All of this can fit easily into the quart-size baggie, rolled up, then roll up that bag and put it in another to provide even more protection from the elements and rough traveling. These baggies will be useful when empty so don't throw away! You can even store water in them!
Discount grocery outlets provide canned goods at significant savings over the big name super stores and of course coupons make the process even cheaper.
Just remember, the idea here is to provide you and your family with an emergency food supply that you can have available in a grab-n-go survival pack to take with you in case of forced evacuation. You probably won't want a lot of canned goods because of their weight and awkwardness.
Remember also that a lot of the weight you need to pack will be water and possibly seasonal camping gear or weapons. Don't underestimate your need for water in a stressful situation. You would be surprised how far you can go on a chunk of jerky and a handful of parched corn or dried fruit as long as water is available.
Processing and packaging your own meals for an emergency evacuation situation will be much less expensive than buying prepackaged meals. Added benefits of personal survival meals are knowing what you're eating, what it tastes like, and having no unnecessary surprises in an already stressful situation.
