Backcountry meals have a reputation. They’re practical, sure. Lightweight. Shelf-stable. Technically food. But memorable? Rarely. And for Edmonton entrepreneur Lisa Bélanger, they were also a nutritional mismatch.
It’s 2019, and Bélanger 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’s in your backpack.
“The biggest thing that affects blood sugar ultimately is food,” Bélanger says. “…I really needed food that was low in carbs, high in protein, and that would help me keep my energy steady while on the trail.”
The standard menu of backcountry meals leans hard on carbohydrates, the kind of calorie-dense staples that work for many hikers but weren’t ideal for Bélanger. 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’t a strong long-term strategy.
So Bélanger built her own solution. Her company Flat Out Feasts produces low-carb, keto-friendly freeze-dried meals — 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.
“It feels like you’re eating a home cooked meal, just out of a bag,” she says.
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 — 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.
All of the products are freeze-dried and prepared in Edmonton. Bélanger, 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 or at various in-person retailers across the city.
