Food Survival - Food is all around us

Someone recently posted about EMP and some of the comments shocked me.

One person said we would all have to eat bugs and worms or something along those lines.
No folks, you don't have to eat bugs, you can and they are good protein, but there is so much
food all around us in the US, but most Americans have totally lost touch with the land.
I'll give you a few good examples.

Dandelion roots taste just like coffee when roasted
Milkweed is edible, all parts of the dandelion, curly dock, chickweed. (I could go on for days)
For my southern friends, kudzu, totally edible!
Cattails, totally edible, the pollen can be used to make bread/pancakes. (just be cautious where you get the cattails from, ie sewage)

My parents and father in law grew up in a time and place where they did not have money and did not go to the store. The land was their grocery store.
They caught frogs, possum, rabbit, squirrels, turtles, pigeon, fish, they pretty much ate anything they could catch.

a reply to: JAGStorm
Well here in Florida citrus grows wild. When I have a group of kids at the Paintball field, I bring them to the trees with the parents for orange time after their first game lol. Fresh off the trees.

Did you know kudzu is an invasive Japanese plant?? Our county spends a lot of money every year clearing them from canals and retention ponds. They kill water flow pretty bad and they effect oxygen levels too I think in the water.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Hi!

Yes I lived in the South, I know all about the Japanese curse, Kudzu! It is all edible except for the vine. You can cook it just like collard greens! yum!

One of my most favorite experience in my entire life was in a Florida orange grove. It was January, it was 90 degrees. We took kids out to pick oranges. The grove was in full production. The smell, the sun. It was also at a time when you were allowed to eat as many oranges right off the tree. We all got acid burns in our mouths from all the citrus we ate. Man that was a good time. There is nothing you can compare to eating oranges off the tree. Its sad way up North here, the oranges are tough as leather! We have amazing apple picking season, but oranges are better.
I never liked watermelon until I lived in florida either. It is like a whole different fruit down there.

Poke-salad! Even Oak acorns are edible but the tannin has to be thoroughly soaked out of the acorns before they are ground up into flour.

originally posted by: CharlesT
Poke-salad! Even Oak acorns are edible but the tannin has to be thoroughly soaked out of the acorns before they are ground up into flour.

I kept finding these giant chestnuts in my yard. I mean like abnormally big ones. The squirrels were planting them all over. Late summer my husband took our dog for a walk and he found the tree they were coming from. A farmer up the way has a tree with what seemed like a million chestnuts on it. The tree is old and deformed but still seems to be producing like crazy.

If the SHTF that is the first person i'm trading with!

a reply to: JAGStorm
I live at the shore and fish often. We also have Mussels, Periwinkles, even Limpets which can be harvested along with edible seaweed.
How long stocks would last in the event of total societal collapse I can only imagine.
I could see myself walking back from the beach with a bag of food and having to fight to keep hold of it.

...I depend on medication to stay upright though, looting the national chain pharmacy would be my first concern, I can't harvest food if I can't walk straight. I have a month supply at all times, but after that I'd be screwed.
I'd probably loot opiates as well to top myself when my medication ran out.

a reply to: JAGStorm

No offence intended here but are the nuts out of a spiny outer shell? My first impression was that you were looking at White Oak acorns. If they are Chestnuts, you better get them quick because the worms will beat you to them in short order. There are 3 old Chestnut trees down on our old family land just south of me. They are good roasted, if you don't bite into a worm first.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy


I could totally see a bunch of people trying to be fishermen overnight!

Medication is a huge issue if there is a collapse.

I would not loot opiates, that is probably where the most people are going to be.
Learn natural alternative.
Willow bark = natural aspirin

Also if you want to help anything grow, use water that had willow pieces soaked into it, it will help anything root better.

a reply to: CharlesT


I'm pretty sure these are chestnuts.
Yes they can be wormy, so are acorns.

But if the shtf I don't think we'll care much about that.

You can make a flour out of chestnuts that is pretty tasty.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You got it.

All the fresh long pork that will be available.


Stock up on spices.

originally posted by: Lysergic
All the fresh long pork that will be available.


Stock up on spices.

No thank you,
i'll stick with chestnuts

a reply to: JAGStorm

and how long are " reserves " of all the foodstuffs you cite actually going to last - when 320 million people are facing food crisis ?

people talking about chestnuts - i hope you know the diference between the sweet chestnut and horse chestnut ???

your life will depend on it - if you attempt to eat them

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: JAGStorm

and how long are " reserves " of all the foodstuffs you cite actually going to last - when 320 million people are facing food crisis ?

I think it really depends on where you live. If you are in the city or dense suburbs, probably not long.

If you think about the US, we have vast amounts of land. Each area has enough natural resources to sustain people. The question is do enough people know how to forage or hunt or find water. I think we'll find that answer is no. So those that do will be ok. Where I live there are still people that live without electricity. We are also lucky in that we have ample clean water.

I watched a documentary on modern day people having to live like it was colonial times. It was shocking and very difficult for them at first. By the end of the series they were chomping down on a possum and lighting fires like a pro. Starvation is a huge motivator!

a reply to: JAGStorm


If you are in the pine forest whether lost or on purpose you can eat pine needles and inner tree bark. Lots of vitamins.
Not to mention pine nuts from pine cones.
Likewise sap makes good glue

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
people talking about chestnuts - i hope you know the diference between the sweet chestnut and horse chestnut ???

your life will depend on it - if you attempt to eat them

I think regular chestnuts and horse chestnuts look different enough (at least to me)

Now mushrooms are a different story. Right now I'm only comfortable foraging a few that I know 100% certain are not poisonous and are easy to tell. (Morels especially)

I can't stress enough that when listing edible plants how important it is to include the proper Latin names as well. Common names vary wildly regionally and person to person and are duplicated among plants many many times.

For instance, in my area the introduced species of chickweed (Stellaria media) is edible but the native species (Cerastium nulans) is considered by most sources to be inedible. A species of coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) that grows through much of the US and Eastern Canada is often touted as a salt substitute. This is not one of the several species of coltfoot found in western Canada or the N/W US (Petasites palmatus,P. sagitatus,P. fidgidus,P. vitifolius) which cannot be used. Also, people tend to interchange the names of cattail and bulrush.

More people die from eating misidentified leafy plants than they do from misidentified mushrooms. Please be responsible, do your research and make sure that plants are identified specifically by their unique Latin name as well.

originally posted by: chris_stibrany
a reply to: JAGStorm


If you are in the pine forest whether lost or on purpose you can eat pine needles and inner tree bark. Lots of vitamins.
Not to mention pine nuts from pine cones.
Likewise sap makes good glue

My mom absolutely loves pine nuts, I couldn't stand them growing up. I think they taste too soapy/perfumy.

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
people talking about chestnuts - i hope you know the diference between the sweet chestnut and horse chestnut ???

your life will depend on it - if you attempt to eat them

Horse chestnut is a champion for taking care of Hemorrhoids.