The wife and I started looking at food storage a couple of years ago, I got samples from most of major players, in the end we found that all products are not the same. We now have a room full of freeze dried food some dehydrated, as shelf life is 25 years in the right climate. We use our stock of food in our meals when ever we can. To me you are starting out the right way, samples and research the companies that sell it. We do most of our business with Emergency Essentials and Honeyville, the best brand we found for us was Mountain House. Hope this helps.