Spam for survival food ?

Spam isn't something I would consider for "survival food." I have a hard time considering it food at all. :D
 
Canned SPAM is a great backpacking food judged by efficiency.

SPAM
88.5 calories/oz.

JAM
75.6 calories/oz.

DRIED APRICOTS
68.5 calories/oz

TUNA
56 calories/oz (canned in oil but drained)

Pasta
44.94 calories/oz (dry)

RICE
43 calories/oz (dry)

CHICKEN
30 calories/oz (canned)

Typical values.


As for the water in SPAM, don't you need water? I do.
 
Canned SPAM is a great backpacking food judged by efficiency.

SPAM
88.5 calories/oz.

JAM
75.6 calories/oz.

DRIED APRICOTS
68.5 calories/oz

TUNA
56 calories/oz (canned in oil but drained)

Pasta
44.94 calories/oz (dry)

RICE
43 calories/oz (dry)

CHICKEN
30 calories/oz (canned)

Typical values.


As for the water in SPAM, don't you need water? I do.

Oho, those are surprising numbers. Didn't think it would rate that high. Does that take into account the weight of the can? If so it is pretty good. The long shelf life & small footprint don't hurt either. Looking at the calorie count website listed below it does not score very high for its nutritional value though.

More foods and calories/oz measurements.
http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/702/hiking-food-thru-hiking-diet/
Calorie count for spam.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-spam-i7276
 
Oho, those are surprising numbers. Didn't think it would rate that high. Does that take into account the weight of the can? If so it is pretty good. The long shelf life & small footprint don't hurt either. Looking at the calorie count website listed below it does not score very high for its nutritional value though.

More foods and calories/oz measurements.
http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/702/hiking-food-thru-hiking-diet/
Calorie count for spam.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-spam-i7276

Does not count the can. Compared to a quart of water, the weight of the can is trivial, plus the can may be useful in a survival scenario.
Many of the "survival" plant foods are high in vitamins and minerals but low in calories and sodium.
 
Does not count the can. Compared to a quart of water, the weight of the can is trivial, plus the can may be useful in a survival scenario.
Many of the "survival" plant foods are high in vitamins and minerals but low in calories and sodium.

Sure the can in itself is not heavy, but when you have a bunch of cans it is worth looking at in my opinion. Compare the percentage weights of different packaging materials and it adds up surely? The oil or water that it is packed in also bumps the weight I guess. Carrying 15% extra in packaging is 15% too much, right?

As for the nutritional value it looks pretty bad to me, I am no nutrition expert but those sodium and saturated fat values are way up there. If the folks at calorie count rated it an F it is probably not something I am interested in.

Actually looking at the amount of fat you might as well go for the real calories/weight kings like peanut butter 190 calories/oz and olive oil 240 calories/oz. To get my protein I'd rather carry in a beans or legumes of some sort. http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/beans-legumes-highest-protein.php

I suppose cans are convenient though. :)
 
I slice it thinly and fry it up like bacon, goes great with eggs.

As a survival food? Not sure.....
 
Sure the can in itself is not heavy, but when you have a bunch of cans it is worth looking at in my opinion. Compare the percentage weights of different packaging materials and it adds up surely? The oil or water that it is packed in also bumps the weight I guess. Carrying 15% extra in packaging is 15% too much, right?

As for the nutritional value it looks pretty bad to me, I am no nutrition expert but those sodium and saturated fat values are way up there. If the folks at calorie count rated it an F it is probably not something I am interested in.

Actually looking at the amount of fat you might as well go for the real calories/weight kings like peanut butter 190 calories/oz and olive oil 240 calories/oz. To get my protein I'd rather carry in a beans or legumes of some sort. http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/beans-legumes-highest-protein.php

I suppose cans are convenient though. :)

when the topic is survival, I am less concerned about what Dr. Oz recommends for heart health. Besides, a couple of cans of SPAM - or PB - won't kill you.

The efficiency of SPAM including the can greatly exceeds many other foods thought to be standard for backpacking, such as rice.

PB sounds good.

Not sure what the effect of consuming olive oil in significant quantities would be on you GI system. YMMV.
 
Heh, I was not suggesting anyone consume olive oil on it's own. :D Just that it packs a lot of calories for the weight. Adding some to your meal plan can up the calories of your individual meals, thereby raising the calories/ weight ratio of your total food supply.

Example: Take your rice and beans, throw in some olive oil and you are getting closer to spam values. 2 thirds rice and beans, 1 third olive oil yields 112 cal/oz.

48 cal/oz value for the rice and beans taken from: http://fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/rice-with-beans?portionid=183038&portionamount=1.000
I used 1 third olive oil because spam is also pretty fatty stuff.

Olive oil does not directly influence blood sugar levels: http://www.livestrong.com/article/417068-is-olive-oil-a-low-glycemic-index-food/
 
That's what we kept telling ourselves! But after the 50th or 60th chunk of roe, that was getting hard to believe...:D

restaurantuni4.jpg

Dude. That stuff is seriously expensive at a sushi restauraunt.

BTW, I would consider spam or any canned food for 'survival' situations.
 
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One raised on pon haus and scrapple, Spam isn't that bad. Hey it's better than hot dogs. IMHO
 
In 2009 a buddy in Iraq ordered cases of canned eel and canned octopus. I was in hog heaven. Love that stuff. When he saw me eat it day after day, he reordered more. I'll try anything edible before I declare I don't like it. Just the way I was raised. I've never found anything edible I don't like, and I've eaten some weird stuff in weird places.
 
I LOVE SPAM. :)

Great with eggs or in ramen noodles...... or with rice...

Anyone ever had a spam musubi?! definitely give them a try...
 
SPAM works very fine when you are hungry for a fried rice meal. A can of it with a big heap of leftover rice can feed a crew at any meal of the day. When you have it with rice it adds the salt that goes good with plain rice, toss it in a pan with some peanut oil, scramble an egg or two, diced chilies and green onion whether you are at home or out camping that's a lot of good flavor. Now common sense is true that there is a lot of salt in SPAM but once in a while you need to enjoy some variety. I know some people get all wound up over their food preferences and that's how families, faiths and cultures work...no problem. A friend of mine who is originally from Guatemala and is all of 5'3" asked me what I eat because I am tall and thick of muscle and waist. I told him I eat 'la comida del Oso' or the meal of the bear. Basically any food is likely to get tried if it is put in front of me and if it tastes fishy then hook me up.
 
slice it thin (around 10 slices in a can let's say) and fry it until brown/crispy. you can also then chop it up and mix with scrambled eggs and cook it in the leftover oil in the pan. don't eat it straight from the can!

065_029_zps6678be57.jpg

Lol that looks like one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. I usually fry up rice with tons of garlic and salt. Then add scrambled eggs and spam.

Btw I LOVE spam. I also really pork roll and scrapple.
 
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 x 1 serving 2 oz (56g)
Calories 173.728
Total Fat 15.254 g
Saturated Fat 5.533 g
Trans Fat 0
Monounsaturated Fat 7.717 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.652 g
Cholesterol 39.2 mg
Sodium 766.64 mg

Ok so there are what? 9 calories per gram of fat. So we are talking about 137.27 calories of fat within the total of 173.73 per 2 oz. If the math is right it looks like an ok source of fat. I like to shoot for 100 calories total (breakdown not withstanding) per oz so in that regard it is lacking a bit with 86.87 in the total calorie count. Yea know it doesn't seem all that bad based on the numbers.
 
Key word in original question: "survival"
Truly hungry folks will eat Spam, or anything, and be grateful for it.
 
Pickled herring is not gross! :)
I have never been tempted by Spam.

I heartily agree about the pickled herring. It's a year round staple in our home.

SPAM is OK, and never gonna expire and good when calorie is king. I do keep a couple "singles" in my get home bag.

SPAM, IMO, is not a healthful product for regular consumption.
Good for camping trips, keeping in the RV, and of course the plate lunch in the back of Matsuyama Food Mart
 
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Spam is OK .. I dont mind it mixed very liberally with something to kill the flavor and soak up some fat .
Id not be stocking it up in bulk for in case of a survival situation tho .. Id be more inclined to eat something I could face day after day.
I dont like carrying cans so for me itb be kept as a back up of last resort after we run out of cats dogs pigeons and bugs in the neighbourhood
but yeah , its food , and when your options are eat , or die , its something to eat so I guess it works
 
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