ROGER - Does the LDS church recommend using MRE's for disaster preparation/food storage?
JOEL - The Church has never officially recommended MREs as a
food storage component, for a few reasons.
As a policy the Church does not express endorsement
for any specific prepared comercial or government
products; rather it gives recommendations for basic
non-comercial staples that can be bought at any store.
Also MREs are expensive, heavy, packed with a lot of
calories, and are meant to sustain active soldiers in
extreme conditions (although there are civilian versions of MREs).
Having said that I know many LDS families who do have
them in their emergency food storage because of their
ease of use and long term stability.
Here are some of the pros and cons of MREs:
Pros:
Can be eaten right from pouch without preparation
Requires no water to prepare
Can be heated for hot meal by many methods
Convenient to use
Familiar foods available
No mixing or blending required
Cons:
Taste of MREs considered poor by some
Many entrees more like sauces & require additional
quality carbohydrates for a filling meal
Entrees alone will not supply adequate nutritional
value
Because of foil pouch, they are susceptable to
puncture
Can be heavy if larger quantities need to be
transportated
Artificial additives added in many recipes
Expensive considering actual food received
There's a non-official LDS Preparedness manual at this site that has a lot of info on both military
and civilian MREs.