Food - I'd -really- appreciate your opinions!

Hi guys,

For anyone who knows me outside of the forum, you'll know I have quite a few small-time successful businesses running. Ranging from Marketing to Computer maintenence. Being the entrepreneur like fella I am - I've got a survival related idea I'd appreciate your opinion on!

One problem I've always faced is with food. I live in an area personally, where while there is indeed wildlife to feed upon, it's scattered and likely to be tainted with disease. All alternative strategies aside, carrying food on short camping trips is always a big deal for me.

I've got some money to invest in a potential idea, and I'd really appreciate the opinion of the people this sort of thing would be useful to! I promise everyone who replies helpfully, that once the product is running you'll be the first to try it.

MRE Questionnaire
1. Roughly, how tall are you and how heavy are you? This helps determine a medium of nutritional value.. or the need for a wide variety of servings!

2. How do you feel about primaraly liquid based MRE? I'm fully aware of the need for solid food, just for the record. But liquid based foods save a lot of space and weight, so how would you feel about a primaraly liquid diet?

3. If the MRE eventually was to be liquid, could you suggest any common 'flavours' or 'tastes' you'd appreciate? Chocolate.. Strawberry.. even 'chunky meat'!..

4. Would a self heating function be essential?

5. Likewise, how do you feel about hot vs. cold food?

Thanks for any help you guys can give. I'm trying to create a light, small, easy to make, tastey and nutritious survival and camping based MRE - just to be sure this is understood!

Cheers,
Bigmoose


[edit on 7-1-2009 by bigmoose]

[edit on 7-1-2009 by bigmoose]

reply to post by bigmoose


Where I'm from the best survival food is ...uh...big moose!

I don't think the liquid diet would be very fun to eat to be honest.I think i would just bring a bunch of lightweight soup packets and a water filter instead.
I don't want to shoot your idea down and think you should do whatever you think will work so don't take what I said wrong.I just can't see how you came to the idea of a liquid diet and why that would be good in survival.Right off the bat it sounds heavy to carry.
Weight is 125 and height is 5 7
Not fussy on the sounds of it.
Anything that tastes real
I could heat it myself but would like the option of it being ready to eat as is.
I like hot food.

Ok you baited the hook and I bit.

I'm not postive but I think the Roman troops carried a bag of seame seeds with them. I myself would say dried fruit, nuts, even dried veg all would need is water.

thanks so far!

and for the record, the 'food' isn't liquid.. it would actually be a powder that would mix with water. Substituted with a small hard to digest bit of solid food, and a fatty oil capsule. So in fact, it would be very light! 100ish grams I believe!

But yes, to drumsrfun - in a similar effect my project is effectively a glorified cup-a-soup. thanks for the in depth opinion though mate.

also, thanks googolplex - some of the ideas of hard to digeste solid food included some of your suggestions. Thanks for that.

Bigmoose

p.s. I contemplated a shrink ray to foil pack big mooses, but struggled to perfect the laser mechanism!

reply to post by bigmoose


i stocked up on Chocolate..100% coco

Originally posted by bigmoose
One problem I've always faced is with food. I live in an area personally, where while there is indeed wildlife to feed upon, it's scattered and likely to be tainted with disease.

MRE Questionnaire
1. Roughly, how tall are you and how heavy are you? This helps determine a medium of nutritional value.. or the need for a wide variety of servings!

2. How do you feel about primaraly liquid based MRE? I'm fully aware of the need for solid food, just for the record. But liquid based foods save a lot of space and weight, so how would you feel about a primaraly liquid diet?

3. If the MRE eventually was to be liquid, could you suggest any common 'flavours' or 'tastes' you'd appreciate? Chocolate.. Strawberry.. even 'chunky meat'!..

4. Would a self heating function be essential?

5. Likewise, how do you feel about hot vs. cold food?

Cheers,
Bigmoose


[edit on 7-1-2009 by bigmoose]

[edit on 7-1-2009 by bigmoose]

First off, you should give the tainted animals a try, never know what type of fun powers you might end up with.

Seriously, I think I see where you are headed with your business idea, so Ill reply in kind.

1. About a average for an American male.
2. The idea of only a liquid diet appalls me. I wouldnt even consider it. Water enhancers are fine, and things like moutain house, where you add water to create solid food works, but a purely liquid diet, no thanks. Ill pack the extra weight.
3. Not sure what flavor "chunky meat" would be, but just the idea is making me ill. As someone else mentioned, my idea of chunky meat happens to be a big moose. Didnt someone in Washington or Oregon do something like this a few years ago with soft drinks that tasted like meals? Jones Soda or something like that?
4. I dont care about self heating, easy enough to make a fire, however, alot of day hikers and campers would probably want it.
5. Nothing like sitting in my shelter in a cold rain eating cold food. Yum Yum. I cant think of anyone that prefers cold food. Best bet is something that can be eaten either way. Cold if you cant produce heat and still have something with taste, and heated if the situation allows.

Best of luck in your endevor.

I am starting to get where you are going with this a little.
The fat capsules for proper diet (as you need fat) and a powder.It sounds simple kind of and it would be something I would possibly try but only if the chemical factor was really low.The dietary part you seem to understand so I will give this a chance for sure.Any idea is always worth looking into.
Currently,a friend and I have been dehydrating veggies and looking at broth mixes for a survival or camping situation.The idea of a fat pill to balance things out is a great idea in my opinion.You need the nutrition when you can't get an animal.
If you eat rabbits for a few months you can die from protein poisoning...it has no fat.
Theres your free market research.LOL

May I request a beer flavoured meal with an alcohol pill??

[edit on 7-1-2009 by DrumsRfun]

Not a bad idea, liquid foods are in some ways a revolution.
You want to stay alive or not?
Solid food is good but if you have to get somewhere and run short cause you chose not to take the liquid food (due to weight say) then things can turn around on you.
For me I think liquid food might be the future, its less bs to prepare and consume it and is perfect for the lone survivalist.
The 'boil-in-the-bag' meals I've eaten from army rations are a pretty good version of 'liquid' food. They weren't liquid but they were'nt really solid either.
Tasty too

reply to post by bigmoose


These are the pros and cons as I see it with liquid food. If you already have a survival hide away or location and the liquid foods are already stockpiled it may not be a bad idea because you will not have the time to transport the heavier liquified product to another location.

If you need to transport liquid foods by back pack this could be a problem with the weight of the survival product. Yes you need water anyway but not as much if your survival food is dehydrated.

I have found a company that processes organic certified food from the Oceans. The food is tested for priority pollutants including herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals. The great thing about the food products from the cold waters of the Oceans are that they are all natural and loaded with minerals. We are not talking fish but different foods derived and naturally flavored from 8 different forms of unique light weight seaweed loaded with protein. One of the ingredients found in seaweeds including kelp is what most Americans are very difficient in and that is iodine.

MREs=constipation

Hopefully, your product would address this significant problem.

reply to post by VelmaLu



Obviously you were not in the military...MRE's are DESIGNED to constipate you, plug you up. No one wants to have to stop in the heat of battle to take a dump! When you are on the move, or in survival mode, you do not want to have to constantly have to stop to go to the bathroom, you will get dehydrated that way!

Now, Bigmoose:

I would not want a strictly liquid diet, no way.

A self heating function would be absolutely necessary. When you are out there on the move, away from what you knew as home, and cold.....you want something that will not just warm you up physically but something that will emotionally stabilize you. Why do you think Campbells always shows you a commercial of someone out in 50ft. of snow, and then they have a smile on their face when they get HOT soup? Because it is not only nutritious, but it makes them FEEL better.

The new MRE's are actually all you need.....I feel like you would just be trying to reinvent something that already exists, which does not make good business sense. If you want to spend your money on something, figure out how to setup some kind of coop of farmers or something for a day when we will really need it, or a seed vault, etc. Don't try to reinvent the wheel....if it aint broke, dont fix it!

Best of Luck!

Liquid diets are okay for a short time, but people NEED to chew on something. A little beef jerky, or something similar would be helpful. But take from someone who has been on a fully liquid diet for several days. It is boring, frustrating, and people aren't going t stick with it for very long, even if it means putting themselves at risk by eating possibly tainted gaime.
By the way, I'm 5' 9" and weigh about 325lbs(much to my shame)

Hey guys,

First off I really appreciate your opinions! It's given me a chance to really get this in a helpful directions. FYI, here's some stuff that was useful and was taken into consideration!

1. Initially at brainstorm stage, the thought circled around a powdered and flavoured MRE. Thanks to you guys, it's evolved to a soup stage. In other words, it's wont just be a pure liquid drink, it will likely be a a hot soup - with chunks of dried chicken.. dried vegetables.. etc.

2. The initial and foundation powder/food recipe is made from purely natural ingredients. Dextrose ('corn sugar'), whey, creatine.. to name a few examples of natural ingredients considered. Sound very chemical, but are in fact not. (google them!).

3. I think I get the point, strictly liquid = bad.. regardless of the apocolypse . Some sort of solid food was always going to be included - more for the sake of keeping your digestive system capable of doing so - but I'll keep in mind it's just as important to include for psycological effect too.

Just to adress desertdreamer and your point considering re-inventing the wheel:
The point of this little garden shed venture is to take the idea of an MRE a bit further in terms of practicality and nutrition. Smaller.. lighter.. more natural.. and hopefully just as satisfying!

Thanks again guys, next step is to get some figures down on paper and in a few months I'll have some 'prototypes' ready. Of course, keeping some in the back for ATS to criticise

Bigmoose

I am wondering what you are going to do to process your meat and veggies for this soup mix? Freeze dry it? I would be more inclined to buy a freeze dried steak vs a pouch of soup but that is just me. I remember being in the Army and fighting people for the freeze dried beef patty that came in the old MRE's...I LOVED THOSE THINGS!!!!

I am going to spend a portion of my tax return this year on a year supply of freeze dried food for the family...you just never know.

reply to post by kaferwerks


He can dehydrate it or jerky it.It is harder then I thought and i can't do it yet.LOL
2 lines

MRE Questionnaire
1. about 6'9" at about 222lbs
2. I absolutely love the dairyshakes that come in MREs. Anything along that line would be fine with me! But it does seem unlikely to appeal to a broader audience. Ramen noodles, or some pemmican-cakes perhaps?

3. I'd be happy with the standard vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. How about mixed different berries? Could even have real dried fruit blended in!

4. To tell you the truth, I only had 9 hot MREs whilst in the service. And I heated most of them with a potbelly stove. I have a sizeable MRE-heater collection that I did not want to jeopardize...

5. With most MREs it does not really matter, as they taste bad either way. With the exception of pork-rib, tetrazzini, and the veggie-burger (which tasted much more burgeresque than the 'real' MRE-burger in my opinion) -they only tasted acceptable when scalding hot.

For a mobile (I have to carry it around) bag I would recommend Tuna in the foil pack (easy to eat out of the package) Beef jerky, oatmeal / granola bars in the foil wrappers, raisins, bag of almonds, chocolate bars, and my favorite (not really but does the job) a ziplock bag full of uncooked dry macaroni.

Originally posted by bigmoose

MRE Questionnaire
1. Roughly, how tall are you and how heavy are you? This helps determine a medium of nutritional value.. or the need for a wide variety of servings!
- I'm 5' and 102 lbs.

2. How do you feel about primaraly liquid based MRE? I'm fully aware of the need for solid food, just for the record. But liquid based foods save a lot of space and weight, so how would you feel about a primaraly liquid diet?
- Well, I don't think I would do very well... it would be okay if it wasn't like.. "meat flavored liquid" or anything.

3. If the MRE eventually was to be liquid, could you suggest any common 'flavours' or 'tastes' you'd appreciate? Chocolate.. Strawberry.. even 'chunky meat'!..
- Hahaha. Chocolate, strawberry, maybe orange, tomato... nothing complex. No bubblegum!!! Ick.

4. Would a self heating function be essential?
- Not essential. I wouldn't want ..warm strawberry. Warm tomato would be good. Or if it was heated you could do like... soup flavored. Sauce flavored.

5. Likewise, how do you feel about hot vs. cold food?
- Warm food is always better, if feasible. Salads and such are okay cold, even tuna, pasta salad, etc.


[edit on 7-1-2009 by bigmoose]

There are already various forms of what you are trying to achieve. In hospitals, we use Fortijuice, Ensures and powdered forms of fortified meals.

One thing to consider, a liquid diet for any length of time is going to give you diarhoea, therefore loss of valuable fluids, electrolytes and nutrients, plus your stomach will not take kindly to solids if you restart on them. You have to readjust gradually or you will get a condition called ''overfeed'' - this used to happen a lot with aid being given to the starving in African countries, before it was understood.

Sorry to sound negative, but I thought you should be made aware of some of the problems that could happen.