OK, after reading a good number of posts (THANK YOU AirborneSapper7!) but no where near all 611 pages, I'll be adding the basic bulk foods items to feed us for 12 months in the event the SHTF in a notable way but not a TEOTWAWKI event....we all have to die someday and I know my Lord and Savoir Jesus...
That said, IMHO, the odds are that most SHTF scenarios will be of a much shorter duration, like when we were snowed in at our new mountain home for a week without power a few years ago (the incident where I became a prepper), where other more important preparations might come in to play, like proper defense so I can make sure I keep what is mine.
For those time periods I'd like to build up maybe 3 months of freeze dried and dehydrated foods. things we could occasionally but happily eat now and to rotate stock. HOWEVER, after sampling some of them, there are some I'd put into the category of "it will keep you alive, but..." Then the salt, sugar, preservatives, MSG, and other additives will kill you long before some extended SHTF scenario ever will.
Has anybody done a taste test on same kinds of freeze dried and dehydrated foods from different suppliers?
In general, does freeze dried or dehydrated food of the same kind taste better?
I would assume that the same food factory makes the same foods sold under different names and labels for resellers. Has anybody cracked the code?
Are any offerings factory direct? At, I assume, better pricing?
Anybody know which brands have the least amounts of salt, sugar, preservatives, MSG, and other additives?
Can I assume that freeze dried foods will store in my nearly constant 60F insulated basement pantry longer than dehydrated foods?