There are two special requirements for food carried where bears abound.  First, select foods that are minimally attractive to bears.  Second, if you plan to hike any significant distance, you will probably want to include dehydrated (e.g.,  freeze-dried) items in your menu.
 
 
ODOR
 
   Even bears that are otherwise very friendly can become aggressive if they want your food.
 
 
FOODS TO AVOID
 
  1. ★    Throughout my youth, I had few greater pleasures than eating fresh trout, salmon or other fish
        that I caught while camping.  I enjoyed that pleasure even in areas where black bears were
        relatively abundant -- but where we seldom saw them.  I have also relished the meat of freshly
        killed game.  Nevertheless, those are pleasures I forgo in viewing areas or anywhere else that
        bears are likely to be encountered.  There are few things that attract a bear more quickly than
        the odor of frying or roasting meat.  Once “invited” to share your meal, a bear won’t take “no”
        gracefully.  If I must eat fresh meat (sometimes I have no other food), I wrap it in
        aluminum foil and bury it in sand among hot coals.
 
  1. ★   The next-most attractive odors are those of fruit, even rotting fruit.  Old banana peels or
       watermelon rind have been known to bring bears on the run.
 
 
GARBAGE AND TRASH
 
  1. ★    All garbage should be stored in at least two layers of sealable plastic bags and then placed inside
       a bear-resistant food container.
 
  1. ★    If you burn garbage or trash, expect this to attract bears.  I prefer burning on the beach, below
        the high-tide line, when the wind is blowing out to sea.  After burning is finished and the residues
        cool, I place them into 2 layers of sealable plastic bags and then into a bear-resistant container.
        The odor of burned plastic nauseates me, but I have seen it attract bears, who then rolled in the
        residues, as though “perfuming” their fur -- much as some dogs roll in cow manure or rotting
        meat.
 
 
 
COOKING & CLEANING
 
1.    Do not fry or roast meat, whether red meat, fowl or fish.  The odors of both grease/oil and meat travel far and can bring bears on the run.
 
2.    Ideally, all food should be cooked in a sealed container.  
        o    I heat canned goods inside the can by dropping them into boiling water.  
        o    Freeze-dried foods are kept in their original plastic/foil container and boiling water added;
              then the bag is sealed as well as possible while the food steeps.  
              *  To keep bags of freeze-dried food from tipping over, I stand each bag upright in an
                 aluminum pan of appropriate size.  Without this precaution, a bag is especially vulnerable
                 to tipping while you are pouring in the boiling water.  Not only is a hot bag hard to hold,
                 but it’s all too easy to splash your hand with the boiling water.
 
3.    I usually eat directly from the can or package, to minimize dishes -- less because of the work
        involved in cleaning dishes than because more dishes means more food odor wafting out on
        the air where a bear might detect it.
 
4.    As soon as I remove food from any can or package, I put that container into a plastic bag and seal
        the bag to minimize release of food odors.  I do the same thing with plates, cups, silverware, etc.
 
5.    I wash not only eating utensils, but all food containers, to minimize residual odors.
 
6.    All washing is done at least 100 yards from camp, or in a body of moving water that will carry the
        food residues away.  I rinse each item as completely as possible, using a scouring pad or sand.  
 
7.    Only then do I use soap -- preferably an unscented biodegradable soap.  I dump soapy water
        into a shallow pit that I dig in soil at least 50 feet from the nearest creek, pond, etc.
 
8.    All cleaned eating utensils are stored in a sealed (e.g., Ziplock) bag.  All cleaned food containers
        are stored in another such bag.  The cleaned food container bag is stored inside a bear-proof
        food container.
 
 
 
 
LIGHTNESS
 
DEHYDRATED (e.g., FREEZE DRIED)
 
  1. ★    Nothing beats dehydrating, for instance freeze drying, to lighten food.  But it tends to lack flavor
       and can be very expensive -- although prices have come down quite a bit in recent years.
 
  1. ★    Most commercially pre-prepared meals consist mainly of starches with a few scraps of meat.
       I prefer buying freeze-dried meat and veggies in bulk (e.g., #10 cans), then divvying them out
        myself into individual meal portions.  
 
  1. ★    Freeze-dried / powdered tomato sauce is a big help in creating tasty meals.
 
  1. ★    I pre-cook pasta, then dehydrate it.
 
  1. ★    In planning meals, I expect to eat one 2-person portion per meal.  Even if a person could
        subsist on a single-person portion at home, hiking with a pack and being cold a lot of the time
        vastly increases caloric needs.
 
FOIL-PACKED MEAT
 
  1. ★    Tuna and salmon are now available in foil pack -- which are much lighter than cans, but    
        vulnerable to being punctured.  I carry them in double layers of sealable plastic bags.  I
        cook the meat by dropping it into a container, than adding boiling water.  Then the container
        is sealed to minimize release of odor.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
WEBPAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
To read viewer comments
about foods that are appropriate in viewing conditions,
or to add your own comments,
go to BVA’s Blog site by clicking below
 
Once at the blog site homepage,
click on the tab (top of page)
for Food.  
Once you reach that page,
if the listing for a particular vendor is not visible,
you can check for it using the search window.
 
 
Food Suitable for Areas Where Bears Abound
Businesses Catering to  Bear Viewers   (c) 2006  WildWatch
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