8 days primitive condtiions

Onions (storage types, not sweet or green) and garlic should do ok. Keep out of the sun and in something breathable. In a hole is good too. Underground temps are surprisingly stable and cool. She's an archiologist on a mining expidition, there should be plenty holes, lol. Carrots might not make the full 8 days before getting too wilty.

Don't forget the dried/powdered versions of garlic and onion, even though they're a sin.

Pack her an extra can opener. No one wants a repeat of the Panorama City Boy Scout Expedition of '96.

Food waste is a problem with wildlife. Not sure what all it would attract in Neveda. Coyotes? Dunno if there are bears there.

Protein is the biggest issue. Dry/canned/dehydrated instant beans are all good. Shelf stable tofu. Textured vegetable protein. Old style dry cured bacon would last. The cowboys used it. Send some of the live chickens with her, lol. Cowboys slaughtered a cow whenever they needed one.

TBH, it depends on how much of a priority food is going to be. If she's going to be working all the time  and/or isn't into cooking, I'd point her towards the wide selection of freeze dried foods. They've come a long way.

I'll have to ask my dad if I see him this weekend. He's the big camper.

Pack a coolbox with frozen meat for the last couple of days. Beef is probably the best. Fill the coolbox with chunks of ice and keep out of the sun. Cover with hessian bags or towels or anything and keep them wet. Only open the coolbox after a couple of days. The meat should still be OK after about 5-7 days (that's from experience with day time temperatures around 40-45 oC).

The alternative of keeping food underground is a very good one!

Other than that: tinned food, dehydrated food etc. I don't know what's available in the USA. Must be a lot more than here!

Go visit an outdoor's camping place and there should be a fair amount of choice of dehydrated stuff.

Normal supermarkets should have lots of tinned food.

Cured meat should keep a long time as well.

We got something here that's called biltong. I believe beef jerky is pretty close to it. That keeps forever (if you don't eat all in one go).

One of the things we used to do was pack different coolboxes (as described above). The first one to open would have your more perishable meats like pork and chicken for the first couple of days.

If we would think the meat would not last that much longer, we would cook all and make sure we would reheat properly every day till finished.

Phil, I'm a little concerned for your niece, given the conditions as you ennumerated them.

What I understand is that she is being inserted into an existing team on a site that has to be prepped for mine development. But the company has not provided basic amenities such as portapotties, generators (I've never even heard of a major archeological site without them, not in the modern world), housing, etc. And on top of that she has to provide her own food and prepare it using who knows what equipment because they haven't specified. All that because they haven't provided a camp cook.

When this team is finished, and the actual construction gangs move in, do you think they'd tolerate such work conditions?

Something doesn't sound kosher.

phatch, 

around these parts everyone goes on river trips, as in the mighty colorado, for a week, two or three at a time. they pack everything in coolers and insulated bags and eat pretty darn well i must say. they do get resupplied somewhere down the river,but my friends actually cook real food.  they also have back up meals in foil pouches that either they bought or made ahead of time...check out some serious  camping stores(not wal-mart) just to see what is available...you might be surprised, and it will certainly give you some ideas. one thing we always, always always have on river trips is canned smoked oysters..not sure if its suppose to ward the ju-jus off or what....tell you what, they are pretty darn tasty after a day or two on the river...actuallly, everything is pretty darn tasty...more importantly then the food, what kind of cooking equipment will she have available? a camp stove? grill? open pit cooking? i would think the company she is working for has some sort of basics set up or is it to each their own? survival of the fittest? seems in those kind of team situations, people look after one another and help show them the ropes...unless of course you're talking t.v. reality 'survivor' mentality! hydration is really really key....electrolyte drinks, water, water and more water...cookies or some sort of sweet, even if its a hard candy type...i will try and get some names of good meals from my river guide friend...hope this helps

joey

If nothing else, she could always get some of the military ration packs, and use them on the days that she has little time to prepare a meal.

Having spent 9 years in the Army and much of it in the field where we could and did go longer than 8 days without a hot meal which I am sure will not be the case for her, you could do worse than MRE's.  While not always the tastiest things in the world they are nutritious (they can keep a combat soldier going a long time).  Dry staples like rice and beans are good.  Crackers etc for snacks will last quite awhile in dry conditions.  Powdered milk if necessary and I'm assuming that there will be potable water available.  I guess I could go on and on.  If she's working 8 on and 6 off I can assume that she will be able to come off site during the down time?  If so then she'll have the opportunity to adjust to a more varied diet.  Oh and don't forget the instant coffee, with a non dairy creamer and sugar.  :)

Oh and I forgot to mention that Nestle's Quick and non dairy creamer and hot water make a pretty decent hot chocolate drink also!  :)

I'm late in joining this conversation, but a couple ideas ...

Lavash bread can be dried and then reconstituted by spraying a little water on it and letting it sit a while.

Dry ice is great for keeping things frozen. I did a canoeing trip that was a week and a half and if I remember right, we had stuff that was frozen up to the end of that time. You can wrap the dry ice in newspaper to keep it from subliming too fast ... and it can still keep things frozen.

I did a 2 week backpacking trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and we had to carry our own food. We bought all freeze dried foods, spices, vegies, etc. It actually wasn't half bad for weighing 10lbs for 2 weeks worth.