Survival Foods - Country of Origin

[A Question of Quality]

In my pantry there are a wide variety of food items: canned fish, legumes, pastas, rice, fruit, meat all in just about every color of the rainbow. After some serious consideration I am now narrowing down my food-search going forward based on the product's country of origin. With some items I feel as though it really matters where the food comes from. Now down the line in a SHTF scenario I probably won't care what country produced and packaged my food as long as it gives me sustenance, but for now I'd like to stay as healthy as possible.

You'll find that some items are very hard to find outside of certain countries depending on where you are in North America or elsewhere. In New England I find it is hard to get certain fruits and vegetables that aren't from Mexico or South America. For example: one of my favorites is avocado, but they are more often from Chile rather than domestic.

Fish products from Southeast Asia and the EU

Basic rule of thumb is try to stick to US and EU foods as they are subject to a much higher standard of quality, especially Europe. Many pesticides and preservatives approved by the FDA in the United States are outlawed in most of Europe, meaning that their food and drink industry meet a higher set of standards. So if I'm getting canned fish from say Denmark or Germany you can bet your bottom dollar it's at the very least as good, if not better than what you can get from the U.S. or even Canada. I've personally eaten in Denmark and Germany and can say firsthand that the quality of food - especially with fish and livestock is very noticeable over what you can find in a U.S. grocery store.

With Chinese distributed foods I feel a bit of unease. China is still a developing superpower - and by that I mean the infrastructure is still evolving and the government still has many holes in it. My main concern is the unknown and very unbalanced set of standards for quality of foods. Not only that, but the prevalent and ever-increasing levels of pollution as well. There's a laundry list of food safety incidents that are worth looking at just for China. With something like canned or packaged tuna from China - pollution and improper handling should immediately come to mind.

Thai Iced Tea bought locally

 
Obviously the same can go for fish from Japan, not that Japan really ever had issues with food quality, but after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011 all fish should be avoided from Japan and surrounding areas. It may seem obvious, but people still make sushi from fish around Japan that are most likely irradiated. Never underestimate the power of ignorance.

Travel farther south to a country like Thailand and I feel slightly more comfortable about the food. Little has been criticized from Southeast Asia in terms of food quality so it seems to be a safer nook - for now at least. Although in comparison to China quite a few countries look pretty good.

The best thing to do is to learn a bit about different countries and their food standards before buying certain products.