While the sleeping bag is the most crucial piece of gear, the food is an equally important component of the overall load. Getting the right combination of quality and quantity can be challenging but will make a big difference in trip morale. Just forget the perception that the self-support staple has to be Powerbars and Ramen noodles. You can have light food that is palatable, filling and reasonably nourishing.

There are three ways of going about this: freeze-dried backpacking type foods; food you prepare yourself from foodstuffs purchased at the super market; or a combination of the two. For the pure enjoyment of it, I prefer to concoct my own meals from scratch with super market foodstuffs (see my sample recipes here). It’s time consuming though so consequently, often find myself supplementing it with freeze-dried.

Eating organically grown food. While my motivations for choosing organic are numerous, the most fundamental reason is health. There are innumerable concerns with ingesting chemical residues found on conventionally grown food; studies suggest organically grown food is more nutritious (more here); and organic farming does not pollute the air and water with chemicals. There are also numerous ecological concerns with conventional farming. Did you know that agricultural chemicals are the greatest source of water contamination in the U.S. and pollute up to 97% of streams and 60% of wells? Read more here. What about the price$? Organically grown food is more wide spread than ever. As a result, the price gap has shrunk between it and conventionally grown food. At times, organic is even equal in price or less. Still, as a rule, organic is more expensive. To squeeze the most from your dollar, shop around for sales and the best deals. Specialty shops are typically the most expensive while outlet stores the least. Food co-ops and/or farmers markets are usually the most consistent and logical sources. Be leery of labeling & the unscrupulous seller. As unfortunate as it is, just because something is labeled "organic" doesn't mean that it is. Your best bet is always to grow your own. The next best option is to purchase from trusted sources. When that isn't possible, purchase items that have been "certified" to be organic. Even though the current certifications have loopholes, tests have shown "certified" products to be consistently lower in chemical residue than conventionally grown foods (see below). You can also be assured the farming practices were more ecologically sound with the "certified" organic products. Remember. Our long term health is dependent on a healthy environment. Some believe the term "organic" is nothing more than a sales gimmick. Test data from the following three U.S. sources have shown organically grown food to be lower in chemical residue than conventionally grown food: The Pesticide Data Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketplace Surveillance Program of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation private tests conducted by Consumers Union. For more info, click here. If you grow a lawn, consider growing food in its place, organically. Doing this would be one of the most important contributions to society and the environment you could make. Plus, there may soon come a day when growing your own will again become more of a necessity rather than an option. Learn how, teach your children and make it a family affair. The rewards are money in you pocket, sense of independence and health..

Freeze dried foods
The advantages to these foods is that they are so simple and convenient. Depending on the type of food, you either eat as is or just boil water, pour it in the pouch, stir, let sit and eat. Other than washing your spoon, there are no dishes to do. You can buy single foods such as corn, peas, peaches, etc., or whole entrees such as pasta primavera and turkey tetrazzini. There is even freeze dried ice cream for dessert. Yes, ice cream! That aside, and some may even like it, many of these foods taste surprisingly good too. The downside however, is their cost, especially considering their scant serving size.

A similar option would be the instant organic foods by Mary Janes Farm based out of Moscow, Idaho. They offer many choices that can be prepared and eaten straight from the package. They also offer many bulk foods for the do-it-yourselfer.

Super market foods
You'd be amazed at all the different foodstuffs you can find by cruising the aisles of your local super market. If you can think of it, you’ll probably be able to find it and if you don’t see it in one store, chances are it'll be in another. Some of these foods can be cooked as is. Or, you can purchase individual ingredients and make your own from scratch. A health foods store will also have some interesting items.

The key things to look for are dry, light and if it needs cooking, short cooking times. Cooking requires fuel and fuel equals weight. I avoid foods that require much more than three-four minutes solid boil time.

Below is a small list of foods to look for. Most of these items can be bought from bulk which eliminates wasteful packaging and is usually a fair bit cheaper.

Breakfast
instant hot cereals, cold cereals, breakfast bars, instant oatmeal, instant breakfast drinks, instant spiced cider, instant coca, instant coffee, instant tea or tea bags, instant milk powder, instant potatoes, instant pudding, minute rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, fruit wraps, jerky, salami, pepperoni, string cheese, powdered drink mixes, powdered shakes, pilot bread, condensed bread, bread sticks and wheat crackers.

Lunch
the various different energy and protein bars, granola bars, dried fruit, fruit wraps, nuts, seeds, jerky, salami, pepperoni, string cheese, packaged tuna, wheat crackers, pilot bread, condensed bread, bread sticks, large pretzels, condensed mincemeat and nut butters (peanut, almond, etc).

Dinner
jerky, salami, pepperoni, packaged tuna, string cheese, minute rice, rice mixes, dehydrated refried beans, instant potatoes, ramen noodles, noodle dinners, angel hair spaghetti, soup packages, soup mixes, dried vegetables, dried fruit, fruit wraps, wheat crackers, pilot bread, condensed bread, bread sticks, large pretzels, powdered drink mixes, instant pudding, instant coca, instant spiced cider and tapioca.

Another option, and a great one at that, are the instant organic foods by Mary Janes Farm based out of Moscow, Idaho. They offer many bulk food choices for the do-it-yourselfer or single servings that can be prepared and eaten straight from the package.

Meal planning
First, you’ll want to figure how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners are needed. You can usually leave out the dinner on the last day and even the lunch if you think you’ll make it to the take-out by lunchtime. So, a three day trip with an AM start and early PM finish would include: 3 lunches, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners.

When preparing your own at home:

• Make easy to prepare meals that require little cooking time. This way you can spend more time doing other things and you won’t have to carry as much fuel.
• Pre-measure everything so there is less preparation time at camp.
• Put each different part of each meal into its own ziplock and label the contents and instructions with a permanent marker. Then put each of these into one big bag. Can't tell breakfast from dinner? Grab that permanent marker again.
• Though not necessary, if you own or have access to a vacuum food sealer, use it. Not only does it take some of the bulk out, compared to using ziplocks, your food is less likely to get pulverized when packing/unpacking.

General tips:

• To keep your palate and nutritional needs happy, plan for a variety of food and try to eat similarly to how you do at home. Not surprising your body with a strange diet will help keep any sudden and unexpected bowel movements at bay and your drysuit clean.
• For variety, add small portions of several types of foods instead of one big helping of just two types of food. For each meal, I like to take a snack size zip lock bag full of dried fruit labeled with the quantity.

As a rough idea, with a fair bit of pre-tip prep time, I can get by quite comfortably on a total of 15-16 ounces per day on the average decent-weather 4 day trip. If it’s cold and or lots of hiking is required, I’ll add an ounce or two to that. For reference, I'm a medium/heavy eater and 6' and 165 lbs. The following is what’s involved:

• no canned goods
• no packaged meats
• no fresh produce
• no Army MRE's
• no containerized beverages
• combination of home brewn concoctions and freeze dried backpacking meals
• Lots of home dehydrating. By dehydrating your own fruits, you can lower the moisture content enough to cut the weight 7-8 times that of commercially dehydrated. This has little to no affect on the flavor.
• For bread, I use condensed bread, pilot bread, large pretzels or bread sticks instead of bagels. High nutrient whole-wheat crackers are good substitutes too.

Fruit leather trays in action: lentils top left; mashed potatoes bottom left; brown rice bottom right; celery upper right; and pasta sauce with lentils bottom photo.

Additionally:

• When preparing, slice all your fruit and veggies into slices less than 1/4” thick. This will speed up the drying process considerably.
• To prevent strawberries from sticking to the trays, cut into quarters (or sixes if big), and place skin side down.
• To speed up the cooking time at camp, partially cook the sliced veggies at home prior to dehydrating.
• Note how many slices are in the average apple, banana, carrot and so forth. This way you’ll have a better gauge of how much to take and be able to better mimic your normal eating habits.

Grown on natures terms without chemicals, the quality of this food can not be beaten. Free in cost, fun, different flavors, no carried weight and as fresh as it gets. What more could you want?

There are many guide books on the subject. A fairly recent and good one...at least for the west, is Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies by Linda Kershaw. For general plant identification in the Rockies, take a look at Plants of the Rocky Mountains by Kershaw, MacKinnon and Pojar. Excellent book!

General food tips

• Pack your food in a variety of bags so they can be reused at camp or on the water. Click here for an example.
• Pack your lunch in a separate and accessible drybag so when mealtime comes, you don't have to unpack the main bags. I only cook at breakfast and dinner...when every thing is unpacked.
• Lipton cup-o-soups and similar packets amount to very little by themselves, but make a great base for home made soups (see my Chicken and Veggie Soup recipe).
• Spruce up crackers and bread by putting a spread on such as peanut butter, almond butter, etc. Do the same with dried fruit. It's a tad heavy but makes a nutritious and tasty lunch snack.
• If taking peanut butter or similar spread, use bottom filling squeeze tubes. These handy little doodads are inexpensive and available at most outdoor stores.
• For a non-cook desert, or whenever you have a sweet tooth, try dried pineapple, cherries, apricots or plums. These are mouth-watering and healthy substitutes for candy and other products containing refined sugar.
• Also, repackage any supermarket food that has excessive packaging. This eliminates bulk and saves a bit of weight.
• Most super market soups (2 ¼ ounce Nile Spice, Nissin and Maruchan) need to be doubled or tripled to make one main course for one person. As a booster to these, you can add dehydrated vegetables, freeze-dried meat or minute rice. If taking freeze-dried meals, take the same thing into account.
• To protect your food from rodents, insert it in a dry bag and hang from a tree before bed time. Under the cover of darkness, these bucktoothed thieves will not hesitate to chew their way through any thing they can reach with food in it...including your shelter with you in it. I had one chew through my bivy in three seconds flat to reach a rice cake near my ear.

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