So I have to rant. Just a little, because I have no regular outlet for this type of stuff.

My father made it over to my apartment to see me yesterday. I've somewhat lost touch with him after he divorced my mother some time ago. There's some dark past stuff I don't want to dredge up at the moment, but after the Vietnam War, it truly changed him. Made him paranoid, fearful that the government might be following, him, trying to poison his food, trying to turn his family against him.

Now with all the fear going around with the new President-elect.... sigh my father bought myself and my two sisters over $400 worth of MREs "just in case of civil unrest that might become something more" and tons and tons of various vegetable seeds to use as currency after the nuclear fallout.

So yeah....

I'll knit you clothes for those seeds, man.

JK. I'm sorry, that sounds rough. And from what I hear MREs taste awful.

Jump on youtube, watching people open and try MRE's is like one of my weird obsessions. It's just the best.

That's really unfortunate, but at least inside that paranoia and unrest there is a seed of gold in that he wants to make sure y'all are taken care of.

That is exactly what my mother said. <3 I just.... I'm sorry we live in a world where he thinks war is the only end game. Maybe I've been too naive thinking that there could be peace.

In my country some politicians suggested hoarding food and water in case there's going to be a war / terror attack / natural disaster somewhere in the future and a lot of people stormed the supermarkets right after so it's not just your father. I can see that it feels weird though.

Wow, that sucks. But seriously...I'll take the MREs. They may be gross, but it's better than starving to death. And with the way things are going, you may find yourself quite thankful for those in the near future.

With the idiot that Trump selected to supervise standards on vaccines (re: he's an anti-vax), you might need them. If not, send them to me.

I'm gonna admit, I would be stoked with those gifts. Seeds are handy, and I actually love MREs. Plus, they're handy in the event of a power outage, supply emergency, etc. Up here, severe weather grounded all cargo flights, and trucks weren't making it in, either. Most of the supermarkets were out of produce within 2 days! It was crazy.

Just try to look at it like this ... your dad may have some issues, as well as viewpoints that you may not agree with, but the gifts came from a place of love and concern.

That sounds like a horrible Christmas gift. Totally not optimistic. D8

Well, on the flip side now you have a ton of food that will never expire and if you are desperate for calories you can eat them. The downside is that those seeds to have a shelf life and will not be as successful in the future like they are now. If you don't plan on using them then you can probably donate them to the local extensions office and/or friends that do like to plant crops.

Some companies make seeds that are packaged in a way that extends their shelf life -- I think I've seen up to 10 years?

I'd imagine that seed banks are probably the only place that are able to save seeds for quite some time. I am excited to know that there are now seeds that can last upwards of 10 years, though! I definitely need to find out which ones they are.

I know these seeds claim to have a shelf life of at least 5 years, and longer when kept consistently cool. You'd still have to rotate them out every 5 years or so, ideally, but they definitely have a better shelf life than your average seed packet.

Like others have said, MREs are actually handy to have around since they last practically forever and require no electricity to heat up. We have a stockpile for typhoons and other power outages. Maybe not ideal as a gift, but very practical. Also, my husband is military and he has favorite MREs and gets excited to eat them every so often. Whatever floats his boat :3