CHEAP Long-Term Survival Food/Ration (one buck per day)

I was thinking about this during my walk this morning.
How to store enough food for a long survival/famine situation, cheapest way possible.

Here it is. CHEAPEST way to get adequate calories, with at least some protein and other nutrients:
1 WHEAT
2 BEANS
3 COCONUT OIL

Grains and beans yield about 1600-1700 calories per pound.

Coconut oil yields about 4000 calories per pound.

Let's say you need rations amounting to 2400 calories per day. That's minimal, but survivable assuming not too much physical activity.

Let's say you go with one pound of grains/beans (1600-1700 calories), plus 3 ounces of fat (750 calories), total about 2400 calories.

Cheapest grain is wheat in big bulk, about .50/pound. Beans run around $1/pound. Let's say you go with 2/3 grain and 1/3 beans. 2/3 pound wheat is ~.35, 1/3 pound beans is ~.35, total .70 per day.

Wheat as low as .44/lb:
[link to www.azurestandard.com (secure)]

Kidney beans, white beans, brown lentils, split peas, about $1/pound. Peas are cheapest (as little as .74/lb) and for my money are the most palatable, also easiest to cook (less fuel required, they cook up fast).
[link to www.azurestandard.com (secure)]

Coconut oil can be had for as little as $1.50/pound, which would be ~.30 per 3 ounces.

coconut oil:
[link to www.webstaurantstore.com (secure)]

Why coconut oil? Because it is saturated fat, and sat fat lasts a long long time, whereas unsat fat goes bad in a few years. Coconut oil is also highly palatable, and debatably has special health advantages. It is also quite cheap. You could go with bulk bacon fat or beef tallow which would serve as well, but at higher cost. I could not find tallow for under about 4.00/lb (versus coconut oil at 1.50).

tallow:
[link to www.ebay.com (secure)]

Note that the COST OF CALORIES is about the same for grains/beans (mixed) and coconut oil. It costs about .30-35 per 800 calories for either.

Note that grains supply ~50 grams protein per pound, beans ~100 grams. Hence your one pound mixed ration should supply about 65 grams of protein. None too much, but probably enough, barely.

Hence you have a total of 1.00 per day for your food, a very very basic survival ration, not fun to eat but will keep you alive. Of course you would want salt, vinegar, hot sauce and etc. to make the fare reasonably palatable. The coconut oil will help greatly with palatability, and for filling effect. You could even go with a higher proportion of oil to grains/beans -- say, 4-5 ounces of oil per day, instead of 3 -- and this will not effect daily cost, since cost of calories is about same, as noted. This would however reduce your protein and other nutrient intake.

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SO, THEREFORE: ONE BUCK PER DAY at minimum, $365/year, plus odds and ends, say $400. Perhaps 10% more including shipping.

If planning for a 7-year tribulation, that would be around $3000 per person. Assuming that you WANT to live through such a hell.

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PS:

It would be good to have a little extra protein. You could go with more beans (cheap), or some kind of dried meat or fish (expensive), or with powdered protein supplement (mix of whey and pea; cheap). Powdered protein can be had in big bulk (25 kilo sacks, bulksupplements.com) for around $5 per pound -- average of whey/pea. That's about .30 per ounce. An ounce of protein daily would be a help, long term.

Another great item to consider is tomato paste. Super-rich in protective carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and other goodies. Very cheap and long-storing vegetable ration. Each can contains equivalent of ~5 servings of vegetables, for about .35, hence .07 per serving of vegs. Super-cheap.
One of the best buys in the whole supermarket.

Last Edited by GLP Gadfly on 09/19/2021 01:05 PM