Valley Food Storage Review | Putting It To The Ultimate Test

Skilled Survival’s In-Depth, Hands On Valley Food Storage Review

Stockpiling food?

Isn’t that what our great-grandparents did after the great depression?

Yes, what they experienced changed them forever.

One of which is realizing how valuable and vulnerable our food supply is.

At some point in every independent adult’s life, they realize that they are fully responsible.

That they are no longer a child; they are the ones others look to for their next meal.

Often this realization occurs in our late twenties; for the rest of us, it occurs in our thirties.

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For me, it was the day my daughter was born.

It was the day I truly became responsible for someone else’s well-being.

Before then, I supported my wife and our chocolate lab.

But if push came to shove they could take care of themselves.

NOT my newborn daughter, though.

She’s helpless for at least the next decade.

That’s when I realized just how much responsibility I had on my shoulders.

Not my parents, not my friends, not my neighbors, not my government… mine.

I’ve been a survivalist and prepper for many years now.

I’ve worked hard to go from being part of the fragile masses to the resilient few.

I have always strived to be as independent as possible (no handouts or soup kitchens for me).

But my motivations changed that day.

I became a Father.

I took a cold hard look at my past preps.

At this point:

I realized that my meager 2 weeks stash of food was no longer adequate.

There are too many potential black swan events to feel comfortable with such a small food stockpile.

I needed to take care of my family.

That’s when I made it my mission to do some serious food stockpiling research.

After many hours comparing food prices, qualities, services, etc.

I decided my food company of choice would be Valley Food Storage.

Over the next several months, I systematically added to my food stockpile.

Now I have a much larger food stockpile, and it’s guaranteed to last at least 25 years.

Here’s my survival review of their (Irish Pub Style Cheddar Potato and Chicken A La King).

Valley Food Storage Video Review

Here’s a video that I did where I unbox and review VFS’s survival food.

If you prefer a written review, please keep reading below this video.

↓ Valley Food Storage Review & Unboxing (Long Term Food) ↓

First Impressions

Note: Since this was originally written – VFS has changed its packing.

Check out my review video above to see what it looks like today.

I don’t take much stock in superficial things such as design or color regarding packaging.

Because I know packaging can manipulate one’s perspective.

That’s not to say packaging doesn’t matter.

It’s just that I’m more interested in the quality of packaging and not its aesthetics.

I try not to judge a book by its cover.

This is survival food; there’s no need for the packaging to be pretty.

It does need to be of high quality, though.

And that’s exactly what my first impression of this product was when I received it.

The packaging’s quality was evident when I saw it, even though its overall look was a bit drab and utilitarian.

Looking at it took me back to my extensive food manufacturing experience.

When you spend ten years of your life working for a major food manufacturer, you start to understand what high-quality packaging looks like.

You also realize just how much money gets wasted on marketing in the packaging.

Money that could be better spent on a higher quality product if people could only look past the packaging. But unfortunately, most cannot.

I actually appreciate their packaging’s lack of attention-grabbing salesmanship, which is the opposite of what you see on most packaging nowadays.

To me, this signifies they’re confident in the product.

They don’t feel the need to invest large sums of money in packaging aesthetics.

Instead, they invest in high-quality Mylar bags that are labeled with the information you need.

No more, no less.

I like this when it comes to my survival food kits.

All function and no-frills.

Mylar Bags

Their Mylar bags are sealed extremely well.

You’ll have a hell of a time “accidentally” puncturing this bag.

It won’t survive a direct knife stab, but it won’t explode open if you drop it.

It’s tough.

Here’s a close-up of the seal around the outside of the Mylar bags.

As you can see for yourself, this bag is sealed shut without question.

This is a big reason why Valley Food Storage has a 25-year shelf life guarantee.

There are a few other reasons as well (I’ll cover them later), but this one plays a big part in it.

Revealing The Goods

It’s time to see what the actual food looks like.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So here’s a picture of the food inside the bag.

It looks pretty much like any other freeze-dried food I’ve ever had.

You can see little bits of ingredients such as peas, red bell peppers, rice, and potatoes.

You can also see the “flavor dust,” as I call it.

It’s dehydrated sauces like dried milk, garlic powder, and Worcestershire powder.

Here’s what it looks like when dumped out of the Mylar bags.

Ingredients

If you poke around on Valley Food Storage’s website, you’ll find the following quote:

With Valley Food Storage, we encourage you to read our labels! We only use the highest quality real ingredients in our food and products to make sure your food will not only be there when you need it, but it will be nutritious as well.

We eliminate all the unhealthy preservatives, hydrogenated oils, MSG’s and many other ingredients that limit the nutritional value, shelf-life, and taste.

With that said:

Let’s take a more detailed look at the ingredients in the food I’m about to cook and eat.

Chicken A La King Ingredients

Enriched Parboiled White Rice, Non-Fat Dry Milk, Food Starch, Non-Dairy Creamer, Chicken Base, Chopped Onions, Freeze Dried Peas, Red & Green Bell Peppers, Dried Mushrooms, Chicken Broth, Sea Salt, Carrot Flakes, Butter Powder, Sugar, Cream Plus Butter Bulbs, Garlic Powder, Chives, Sauteed Mushroom Flavor, Crushed Worcestershire Powder, Nutmeg, Thyme.

Well, I have to say, I recognize the names of all of these ingredients for a change. Nice.

Irish Pub Style Cheddar Potato Ingredients

Potato Dices, Non-Dairy Creamer (Palm Oil), Food Starch, Sweet Whey, Savory Chicken Flavor, Red and Green Bell Peppers, Sea Salt, Chicken Powder, Cheddar Cheese Powder, Chopped Onions, Xanthan Gum, Aged Parmesan Cheese Powder, Crushed Worcestershire Powder, Parsley Flakes, White Pepper, Butter Buds, Beer Flavor.

To be honest, I have no idea what Xanthan Gum is. I recognize the rest. Impressive compared to the ingredient list I typically see on our food labels.

Let’s Find Out How These Ingredients Taste

The cooking instructions are straightforward for nearly all freeze-dried foods.

Valley Food Storages is no exception here.

Essentially it comes down boiling water, then turn down the heat to a gentle boil for 10- 20 minutes.

After that, you let it stand for another 5-7 minutes.

Plate and serve. Easy.

Here’re a few pictures of the process, but it’s so easy I won’t bore you with any more details.

Dinner Time (Or If You’re From The Midwest: Supper Time)

Great packaging and legible ingredients can only take us so far.

If it doesn’t taste good, who cares, right?

After letting our main dish (Chicken A La King) and our side dish (Irish Pub Style Cheddar Potatoes) rest for 7 minutes, we were ready to dig in.

These two dishes created a pleasant aroma that filled the kitchen.

As is normal with dinner, our dog “Loui” pulled up some kitchen floor and drool in anticipation.

I can’t blame him, though; it smelled delicious.

Here’s what the end products looked like just before devouring.

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I did have to strain the Chicken A La King some since I prefer my main dish to be a bit more chunky and a bit less soupy.

The Irish Potato turned out nice and creamy, perfect for me.

The food was delicious.

Normally I only eat freeze-dried food while on backpacking trips.

During these multi-day excursions, any food tastes good.

So it’s always hard to tell if it’s really good or you’re just so hungry anything would taste good.

But for this test, we decided to prep the meals as a replacement for a regular meal.

Fortunately, no one was disappointed.

For me, The Chicken A La King did need a dash of salt, but that’s such a common and easy fix.

For my wife and daughter, it was just fine without any alterations.

And Loui sure wasn’t complaining…

We all ate until we were full.

Which for me included a second helping, and we still had enough leftovers for at least 2 more meals.

The packaging states that each freeze-dried meal consists of 5 servings.

So we prepared 10 servings total.

There were 3 of us eating (Loui just got to clean the pots), so we ate 3 servings and had 6 servings remaining.

For a total of ~ 9 servings.

Obviously, serving estimates are not an exact science.

But I do appreciate their honesty in this regard.

I feel like we got what we paid for with their servings.

If you are familiar with food serving statements from most food manufacturers, you know it can get silly.

Rarely will a stated serving on packaging actually fill you up – which wasn’t the case here.

So Why I Decided On Valley Food Storage?

They are, in my opinion, the best.

Especially when you compare them on important survival aspects, including:

• Price
• Shipping Costs
• No Fillers
• High-Quality Packaging Materials
• Package Process – Nitrogen Replacement
• Non-GMO
• No MSG
• Made In The USA

Just check out the many reasons why to choose Valley Food Storage.

Price, quality packaging, real ingredients, no fillers, and free shipping are why I choose VFS for my family’s food stockpile, and you should, too.

Review Wrap Up

Maybe you’re still on the fence. I respect that 100%.

I also have a healthy amount of skepticism, which has helped me avoid numerous silly mistakes.

So don’t just take my word for it; click here for a FREE sample (+S & H).

There’s nothing to put your mind at ease as taste-testing Valley Food Storage yourself.

I actually recommend that’s what you do.

Click here to order a free sample (just pay a reasonable shipping fee).

Ensure that you take care of your food stockpile when it fully meets your expectations.

The sooner, the better because there are no do-overs after SHTF.

Click here to buy some today.

Prepare, Adapt & Overcome,

Cofounder Of Skilledsurvival.com & TheResilientLife.com

Born & Raised On A Rural Farm In The Midwest

Mechanical Engineering Grad From A Major University

Engineer With A Major Food Manufacturing Company

10+ Years Researching, Writing, & Teaching Preparedness

Mission: Help Folks Stop Living A Life Fragile To The Future

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