Six years after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf-Coast, victims are receiving notices from FEMA, and apparently they want their money back.

“FEMA is seeking to recover more than $385 million it says was improperly paid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The debts, which average about $4,622 per recipient, represent slightly less than 5 percent of the roughly $8 billion that FEMA distributed after the storms. At least some of the overpayments were due to FEMA employees’ own mistakes, ranging from clerical errors to failing to interview applicants, according to congressional testimony.”
– news-journalonline.com

83,000 debt notices were sent out this year for victims of Katrina and other storms that occurred in 2005. Apparently it’s taken the government agency approximately 6-7 years to act on the mismanaged funds.

It’s an interesting notion, receiving funds for disaster recovery and then being asked to pay it back 6 years after the disaster. This begs a few questions. Questions that we’d love to hear what The Ready Nation’s take is:

1. When the government appropriates funds for responding to disasters should there be any strings attached? Is attaching strings an appropriate approach to help mitigate fraud or is there a better solution?

2. Are victims getting what they deserve due to a lack of preparation on their part or are there situations where receiving aid from the government is justified and necessary?

3. With proper foresight could these victims have better positioned themselves and avoided being at the mercy of FEMA? If so, what would you recommend they have done to be better prepared?

If you want the most convenient option for food storage, you need freeze-dried food.  Mountain House and Saratoga Farms Freeze-Dried Entrées make food storage easy and here is why:

1. It’s Real Food. Remember when you were little and your mom told you to stop eating junk and eat some real food? (This may or may not be what she was talking about.) Freeze-dried food is prepared by making real, quality food, then gently removing the water and oxygen. By simply adding water, freeze-dried food returns to its original state, full of nutritional value.
2. It’s Simple to Prepare. During a disaster you won’t have much time to prepare an exquisite meal. You’ll have to keep your wits about you. The great thing about freeze-dried food is that you just add water. You can quickly create a delicious meal within minutes by just adding some H2O.
3. Freeze-Dried Food is Light-Weight. Since the majority of water is removed from freeze-dried food, the weight of the meal is drastically reduced. This means that you can quickly put it an emergency pack and be on your way.
4. Freeze-Dried Food Stores Longer. Don’t want to rotate your food storage?  Want to get it and forget it? Not a problem with freeze-dried food! Since freeze-dried food extracts oxygen and water, the food can be stored for up to 30 years and in some cases longer.
5. Freeze-Dried Food Tastes Great. If you have ever tried to eat other types of food storage you know that some of them are not easy on the taste buds. Food Storage is not worth anything if your family will not eat it.  Freeze-dried food entrées are not only easy, light weight, and a great long term storage option, they also taste fantastic!

When planning and shopping for food storage one might wonder exactly how many calories per day would a person need to get by? If hard times were to hit a family or a disastrous event were to come its way would their food storage really cover them nutritionally?

According to the FDA, the average adult male in the USA burns about 2,200 to 2,400 calories per day and females about 2,000 to 2,200 calories per day. Your food reserve should reflect this daily average if you want to maintain your current health. The number of calories that you should eat depends of your weight, age, height, and your activity levels.

The data below estimates the number of calories a typical person (based on age and gender) should consume each day. While there are clearly exceptions this is a pretty solid general estimate.

Children     2-3 years old 1000 calories
Children     4-8 years old 1200-1400 calories
Girls     9-13 years old 1600 calories
Boys     9-13 years old 1800 calories
Girls     14-18 years old 1800 calories
Boys     14-18 years old 2200 calories
Females     19-30 years old 2000 calories
Males     19-30 years old 2400 calories
Females     31-50 years old 1800 calories
Males     31-50 years old 2200 calories
Females     51+ years old 1600 calories
Males     51+ years old 2000 calories

In terms of calories, if you’re not eating enough, your body will most likely go into a “storage” mode. Basically the moment your body thinks it’s not getting enough food, it will hold onto calories and  fat since it thinks it’s going into starvation mode. Your body will also slow down its metabolism because it thinks a “fasting state” may be close and it will want to preserve as much energy as possible but your body can only live like that for so long. Adequate food stores will be needed to ride out the current predicament.

Assess Your Pantry

You will likely have some food when a natural or man-made disaster hits. Your pantry may have enough food in it right now to last a few weeks or more but you really should do an inventory of your food and see how many days it will last your family. Fresh food and the food in your fridge and freezer will go bad quickly so plan to use this first. Once these options are spent you need to turn to your long term food storage to get you by.

After your inventory is complete, try calculating how many calories your family will need per day and see how it matches up to your current food stores. Decide how long you want to prepare for and think about back up plans for when it is all consumed. One key to living a peaceful life is to be ready for what life throws at you, as the popular adage says “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst” and by taking these steps and building a sufficient storage plan you and your family will be able to rest easy at night

In our previous installment on Why Some Food Storage Products Won’t Last we covered the importance of a good can seam and how a poor seam will lead to increased levels of oxygen over time which results in food spoiling early. Today we are going to look at another element of the can, the necessity of a double sided enamel coating.

There are two main reasons to use a double enameled can, first the flavor of your food is preserved by creating a layer between the steel and the food. Without the layer the food will take on the taste of the steel can over time.

The other benefit is preventing rust both internally and externally. Moisture coming in contact with metal will lead to rust which over time jeopardizes the can’s ability to create the ideal atmosphere for the food contained inside.

While double enamel cans cost more (and some companies skimp by going with a one sided enamel) you shouldn’t settle for anything less. You need to make sure that your food storage #10 cans comes with external and internal enamel coated walls so you can maximize the shelf-life of your food storage.