The End is Near!! So What's for Lunch? Survival Food on KCRW's Good Food 89.9FM or KCRW.com. Saturday, June 4 at 11AM.

Apocalypse Chow! Just add water!

What to eat when disaster strikes?

No, I'm not talking about a bad hair day just before a hot date and then trying to figure out what restaurant to go to. I'm talking about when the proverbial crap hits the fan and all hell breaks loose on Mother Earth, you had better be prepared with food and water for at least one week or until the 7-Eleven gets another delivery of Twinkies, Funyuns and Rockstar Energy Drinks.

Survival foods, like freeze dried fruits, vegetables, meats and even complete meals, are one solution to outlast natural disasters, manmade catastrophes or the next Twilight movie installment when Twitards will roam the streets en masse like zombies.

Long term foods have come a long way. Trust me. I've actually tried some of the really good ones. They're not sacks of wheat and granola bars anymore. (But, if you like that stuff, they're still around.) I visited Honeyville Food Products in Rancho Cucamunga to taste and learn more about them.

A rehydrated rotini with meat sauce was actually flavorful and satisfying. It was much better than a can of Chef Boyardee. The texture of the pasta was slightly overcooked but still kinda, sorta al dente. Even the bits of meat tasted...fresh-ish. Not kidding. The tomato sauce was pretty nice too. And with a potential shelf life of 20 years, this stuff may even outlive you.


Frozen to freeze dried.

Next I sampled a space age ice cream treat that was freeze dried and funky. It looked just like an ice cream sandwich because it was, only all the moisture had been removed. The consistency was like a crumbly cookie, and when December 21, 2012 slams us, we won't have to worry if the ice cream man made it through the apocalypse.


Pineapple that's crunchy not juicy.

If you like piña colada that's crunchy, then you'll love this freeze dried stuff. Again, long shelf life and will still keep its flavor and nutrients long after the day after. I'd even eat this one as an everyday snack. They're very much like pineapple chips.


Judgment drink!

Okay, so it's now week 3 of the End of Days and all you can think is I'm out of milk! No worries. Honeyville sells moo juice in varieties from regular to Hershey's chocolate conveniently packed in sippy boxes for handy disaster consumption. No need to worry about the expiration date because this milk is good for up to 2 years!


Cream that wheat!

If you see a natural disaster as impromptu camping out and like to keep it real without the aid of sissy freeze dried foods and canned goods, then a sack of wheat and a wheat grinder are what you'll need. Packed with vitamins, minerals and, obviously, lotsa and lotsa fiber, wheat will last years and provide basic nutrition so long as you know what to do with it and don't mind the taste of cardboard as the world comes to an end. Bon appétit.

Listen to my visit to Honeyville Food Products on KCRW's Good Food on 89.9FM in Los Angeles, Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 11am or anywhere on KCRW.com.

For more info, check out the Honeyville Food Products website.