Dehydrated foods (for me) have two main uses.
1) For Go Bags, they are light, easily prepared, and keep for a long time without rotation. All things I want for meals in this role.
2) For grocery items that are harder to come by, and in non-powder form, expire quick. Powdered milk, cheese, eggs, butter, etc. are all good to have this way. Same with dry mixes, sauce mixes, etc.
Otherwise, MUCH cheaper to do home canning, home dehydration for stockpiling foods. Also, store bought cans last anywhere from 2-5 years, depending on contents, so as long as these are rotated, a much cheaper home option than buying VERY expensive prepared long term meals.
Canned meats are typically 2 years, so will have to rotate them more. Typically, not going to do a lot of this, because I like fresh meat, not canned. However, canned tuna, canned chicken, and canned stew are things I uses.
Likewise, you can store dried beans, rice, mashed potato flakes, cereals, dry pasta, etc. properly to last for 15 years. (and again, could rotate).
Finally, doing the above allows for diversity in your meal choice, and the ability to take advantage of local game. For example, pre SHTF, probably not going to have a soup made from pigeon. But, post SHTF, I'm betting a bowl of pigeon soup with some home-canned veggies, stored noodles, and seasonings would really hit the spot.
