Food is the most basic concern of the prepper and survivalist. What will my family and I eat after the collapse of civilization or the SHTF?
The most immediate reaction is to stockpile preserved foods. The second reaction is to find way to continually produce foods. This is most seen in homesteaders and urban farmers who focus on how to continually produce food one modern commerce stops.
Producing food always takes time. Crops take time to grow. Livestock take time to multiply. The supply is also an issue. One patch of vegetables will not be able to sustain you and your family. Harvests will not always be year round. Therefore, preserved foods are a necessity for every prepper and survivalist. You need that buffer of foods for that initial period and for interruptions in supply of food.
There are a number of preserved food stuff one may consider. The most obvious is canned goods. Canned Goods are sturdy, last for years, preserve food extremely well.
Another rout you might want to take are dehydrated foods. These can range from your homemade sun-dried jerky to your super advanced freeze-dried space foods that have every little bit of moisture zapped out of them. Their biggest advantages are that they are light weight. Depending on one type of dehydrated foods you have, a possible disadvantage you may have is that any exposure to moisture will quickly encourage bacterial growth and will destroy (read: spoil) them.
You can also have pickled or marinated foods. These will be usually kept in jars, with minimal preservatives and made by enthusiasts. Depending on the process they can last just as long as canned goods.