Freeze drying, unlike simple dehydration, preserves the quality of the food a lot better. I have rehydrated freeze dried fruits and found them nearly as good as fresh ones. Unlike MREs, freeze dried foods require water to make them as intended for consumption. You can eat freeze dried food without water, your saliva will rehydrate the food as you masticate it, and it will not be unpalletable, just not nearly as good as if prepared properly.
If you haven't tried MREs for yourself, then you should. I've eaten a palletful of cases of MREs in my life, and I can tell you they are no different than eating canned food. They are not meant as a nutritionally complete meal, but as suitable survival rations until you can get to a proper dining facility. They pack a lot of calories, but they also weigh a lot because most of the food in them contains water, much like canned foods do. Conversely, I have 1 course freeze dried meals that weigh about 1/3 what an MRE does and pack 2,000 calories. They too are not nutritionally complete, but are easier to pack because of the weight reduction, though they can be a bit bulky. They do not offer multiple courses in one package like an MRE (main entree, cracker, cheese or peanut butter, dessert, seasoning pkg, tp, matches, gum, etc). I've had some excellent freeze dried meals, and some that were not too good. Quality is about the same among all the major brands, so you will just have to try different dishes to see what you like.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
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