Backcountry meals have a reputation. They\u2019re practical, sure. Lightweight. Shelf-stable. Technically food. But memorable? Rarely. And for Edmonton entrepreneur Lisa B\u00e9langer, they were also a nutritional mismatch.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 2019, and \u200b\u200bB\u00e9langer is deep into hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a 4,000-kilometre route stretching from Mexico to Canada, when she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The autoimmune condition means the body no longer produces insulin, making blood sugar management a daily calculation. And on a trail where every step burns fuel, that calculation starts with what\u2019s in your backpack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing that affects blood sugar ultimately is food,\u201d B\u00e9langer says. \u201c\u2026I really needed food that was low in carbs, high in protein, and that would help me keep my energy steady while on the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
The standard menu of backcountry meals leans hard on carbohydrates, the kind of calorie-dense staples that work for many hikers but weren\u2019t ideal for B\u00e9langer. For a while she improvised, stuffing her pack with cheese, nuts and pepperoni. It worked, technically. But hauling pounds of unrefrigerated snack food across mountain ranges wasn\u2019t a strong long-term strategy.<\/p>\n
So B\u00e9langer built her own solution. Her company Flat Out Feasts produces low-carb, keto-friendly freeze-dried meals \u2014 an approach that differs significantly from standard dehydrated fare. Dehydration removes water with heat and airflow, often leaving ingredients shrunken or chewy. By contrast, freeze-drying uses extremely cold temperatures and a vacuum chamber to remove moisture through sublimation, turning ice directly into vapour. The result is food that keeps its original structure and flavour, and springs back to life with a splash of hot water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like you\u2019re eating a home cooked meal, just out of a bag,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
That philosophy has resonated. What began as a personal workaround has grown into customers taking Flat Out Feasts meals across Canada, throughout the United States and even on trekking expeditions intercontinentally \u2014 from Indonesia to Patagonia. For travellers with dietary needs, or simply a preference for better trail food, the pouches have become a reliable companion far from home.<\/p>\n
All of the products are freeze-dried and prepared in Edmonton. B\u00e9langer, who was born and raised in Edmonton, started her idea on a mountain trail, developed the product in her hometown and now has her products adventuring in backpacks across the globe. Her products are available online<\/a> or at various in-person retailers<\/a> across the city.<\/p>\n Like this content? Get more delivered right to your inbox with Ed. Eats
\n A list of what\u2019s delicious, delectable and delightful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Backcountry meals have a reputation. They\u2019re practical, sure. Lightweight. Shelf-stable. Technically food. But memorable? Rarely. And for Edmonton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-547915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}