Survival Food: SPAM

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No – I am not talking about eating the unwanted emails that show up in your Inbox. I am talking about the……..well……meat that comes in a can and your mom very well might have served you for supper when you were a kid.

SPAM has been around since 1937. As a kid I remember eating it probably once every week or so. I always thought SPAM was HAM. Which is basically correct. SPAM actually stands for spiced ham.

Today there are many varieties of SPAM available. Here are the current varieties:

Spam Classic
Spam Hot & Spicy
Spam Less Sodium – “25% less sodium”
Spam Lite – “33% less calories and 50% less fat” – made from pork shoulder meat, ham, and mechanically separated chicken
Spam Oven Roasted Turkey
Spam Hickory Smoke flavor
Spam Spread – “if you’re a spreader, not a slicer … just like Spam Classic, but in a spreadable form”
Spam with Bacon
Spam with Cheese
Spam Mild

I have not had SPAM in many years so I decided to give it a shot. I went to the store and purchased a can of the classic variety. I threw some in a frying pan to heat it up. Not bad. Tasted like – well – spiced-up ham. SPAM. I would have no problem including SPAM in my diet after TSHTF or throw some in backpack for camping.

Now – SPAM is not a thick grilled New York Strip – but it is better than nothing and has a very long shelf life. If looking at your options for a high-protein meat-based storage food – SPAM certainly should be included. Speaking of nutrition – SPAM is very high in fat as well as sodium. So, it is not the best food as far as health goes but if calories is what you need it should work well. SPAM is pretty inexpensive.

The official SPAM website has lots of info on SPAM – including recipes. It is available here: http://www.spam.com/.

Rourke

Tags: food storage

food storage | Rourke December 11, 2010

14 Comments to “Survival Food: SPAM”

By Allen, December 11, 2010 @ 3:21 am

Watch that sodium brother, spam has a lot of it. I recently had a full check up and I was whining to my Doctor when he read and explained the somewhat high numbers to me, he said, welcome to your 40′s stop eating chocolate, red meat, no salt and run more.

Getting old sucks.
By Apartment Prepper, December 11, 2010 @ 3:27 am

Turkey Spam-I have not seen that! I’m one of the weird ones, I actually like original Spam, so I keep a few around, mostly for breakfast, it makes a good substitute for ham.
By Rourke, December 11, 2010 @ 3:37 am

Allen –

I couldn’t have said that better myself.

Rourke
By irishdutchuncle, December 11, 2010 @ 3:46 am

i like it, but not everyone does. more for me.

it tastes better when browned in the frying pan. it’s good sliced, in a sandwich, on toasted bread. i also cut it into smaller pieces, and use it in a “western omlet” like i’d do with canned ham. i think it also goes well with “beans and rice”.
By Leah, December 11, 2010 @ 4:56 am

I don’t eat pork but was happy to try the turkey spam several months ago. It’s so salty that I can’t eat it by itself. It’s good in eggs and in “pork” and beans. We do have this in our storage program.
By serfsup, December 11, 2010 @ 12:20 pm

I keep a few dozen cans in the pantry. Sure, it’s bad for you to eat now; but if things go bad it is packed with calories and protein. One can has 1020 calories, 42 g protein, and 96 g fat. That is an awful lot of nutrition in a can that costs less than $2 and stores for 5 years. It will not be the cornerstone of my diet, but it will be a nice break from rice and beans down the road!
By PFULMTL, December 11, 2010 @ 11:19 am

The other week I bought a 4 pack to see how long it would last me if I ate it everyday. I only made it 3 days before getting bored of it. I was using it with pasta, spagetti sauce and some canned green beans (random stuff I had). I also fryed it in a pan and ate it with rice and pickles, which wasnt bad.
By Rourke, December 11, 2010 @ 11:41 am

PFULMTL –

Yeah – I don’t think I could eat it every day and as it was brought up prior – not the healthiest thing in the world. A decent “survival food” option though.

Rourke
By Six, December 11, 2010 @ 12:06 pm

Oh yeah. We’ve had Spam in the emergency larder for years. It’s a great choice.
By Jen B., December 11, 2010 @ 5:58 pm

It certainly was a welcome addition to Britain’s supplies in WWII. In one interview I saw the woman said SPAM stood for Specially Processed American Meat. At tight as rationing was, ANY new supply was welcome.
By 3rdman, December 11, 2010 @ 6:36 pm

Salt or Sodium is only an issue if you have high blood pressure. In a SHTF you will need an increased salt intake if working in warm or hot weather. Spam may just fit the bill on this as military MREs do.
By 3rdman, December 11, 2010 @ 6:37 pm

Along with plenty of water of course!
By PFULMTL, December 13, 2010 @ 3:56 am

Spam with Bacon…is that like bacon pieces?

I actually found it kind of hard to eat an entire SPAM can in one meal. I had to split it up into two pieces and I slice one half of it into smaller rectangles. In a SHTF situation, I would still try to preserve some for later that day, but the can that it comes in isnt resealable. I guess a resealable big will do? How long does spam take to spoil once its opened?
By Tim Ralston, December 14, 2010 @ 12:58 pm

When it comes to emergency preparedness, most people I talk to think that nothing will ever happen to them- I constantly hear “why should I bother”. In today’s world it sounds crazy to talk about storing food. Why bother when restaurants, convenient stores and grocery stores are open 24 hours a day, 7days a week? We have grown up in the age of consumerism and take for granted there will always be food on the shelves. Well, what if there is a national emergency? Or if the unions repeat what happened in France – and stop delivery trucks in protest. What if our government keeps spending and hyper inflation occurs? Just look what happened in Boston! http://survivalist-hub.blogspot.com/. Why not be prepared just in case? It drives me NUTS when people have their heads in the sand!! But I know I am not nuts.
As a father of 3 small children, I have always tried to protect and provide for all their immediate and future necessities. I could not come home and tell my kids there was no food on the shelves. Now, I can sleep in peace having purchased years of emergency food! I love having the peace of mind, the feeling of being empowered– that my family and I are covered with the necessary emergency food, and survival supplies for the next 20 years at TODAY’S prices for what ever comes our way. For more information, go to blog http://survivalist-hub.blogspot.com/.