Surviving on wild food - Vegetarians!

I am vegetarian and find the concept of killing animals abhorrent. I would soon die than kill another animal. I do not want to get into a debate over vegetarian vs non vegetarianism. I would just like some real useful tips on how a vegetaian could survive out in the wlderness on wild food without consuming game. Please share any resources or book recommendations if you know any. Thank you.

[edit on 8-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

1.Get a book of edible vegetation in your area.

2. Eat vegetable listed in said book

3. Be prepared to move every week or so due to you literally eating your self out of house and home.

4. learn that eating meat while in survival mode is essential.

5. Survive

You'll have to start with a stockpile of non-perishable/dried food stuffs.

Find a hot spot with plant foods you can cultivate.

Radishes grow extremely fast and in pretty miserable conditions too.

Be prepared to die should a cold snap or dry spell pass through.

How do you feel about eating grubs, maggots, worms and insects? If you're willing to eat them you might get by alright.

reply to post by Indigo_Child


So you just won't eat game? That means you will eat fish I take it?

Then definently find a place with a lot of fish!

But if you won't even eat fish, then you really need to get a book on
edible wild growing plantlife. Can't recommend one, but your on a computer so should be easy to look up.

You would be a vagabond for sure as you would have to go from place to place to find the edibles. Heck, you would prolly burn up the calories you ate up from one good spot looking for the next!

On a side note, I too have tried to be a vegetarian. Don't know how you all do it, but my hat is off to ya! Just made me sick and lethargic.

From my experience in a survival situation personal preferences will kill you. There is just too much prejudice against so many food sources all over the world. There is little reason for so many to starve.

But then you didn't ask for my opinion just help. I will have to go with plain green pond scum. It is chocked full of most things required to survive on. It can be dried and stored. It travels fairly well. It doesn't taste too bad either, somewhat like pumpkin. However it does contain smaller zooplankton and water borne animal life in a microscopic form. You could probably survive indefinitely on it.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

reply to post by Indigo_Child


Just keep in mind this quote:

"Survival cancels out programming"
- John Ringo

Never say never. Plan a veggie supply. But keep an open mind that you may have to resort eating a rabbit or bird.

If you rather starve than kill another animal, your might change your mind when you and/or your loved ones are crying and begging for a bite to eat.

Well, since you did say vegetarian and not vegan (I think a lot get confused), if it were me I'd stash:

Powdered milk! - Powdered milk + Wild onions + Edible tubers & mushrooms = FANTASTIC soup!

Powdered/dried eggs, A good oil (Rapeseed is good), and tightly sealed flour. You could make a lot of good meals with that stuff; and fried, breaded mushrooms, dandelions, etc are decadent and simple.

A large bag of powdered peanut butter might not be a bad idea if you are worried about protein, but there are a lot of great tubers and nuts, including acorns, that are high in protein.

[edit on 8-5-2009 by maus80]

reply to post by Indigo_Child


Get yourself a book called 'Wild food' by roger phillips. I have a copy from the 70's or 80's and it's awesome. Good homebrew recipes too!
Basically, there's all sorts to live off as you probably know. Hard bit is getting going finding things like lambs lettuce, sea plants like samphire. Once you have patterns remain in your mind and you 'll be like the bushtucker man before you know it.

Get yourself a good healthstore or indian grocers and buy big packs of beans -mung, kidney etc and you'll have a fair bit to choose from there alone.

My new challenge is to get hardier wild salads and green leafy veg to grow in my garden.

You can eat nettles, dandelion heads, pretty much a lot of what you gaze upon down a country lane can be eaten in some way.

Ps. You might have to get a more local guide, as most books I've got are UK oriented. Depends where you are in the world.

Hedgerow Medicine is my latest - it's probably more UK based again, but it's very good. Much of the plants (no mushrooms or nuts in it) are edible, nutritious and also easy to find and have benefits on our health to boot.

Don't forget to try and grow or get goot root veg, plus much root veg grows in colder months. Potatoes are worth not overlooking.
[edit on 8-5-2009 by matsplat]

[edit on 8-5-2009 by matsplat]

reply to post by Indigo_Child


What part of the world are you in Indigo? That will have a lot to do with which books will be useful to you when dealing with wild food. In the UK, Ray Mears has written a lot of books and made a lot of TV shows about wild food. He has also written books about surviving in the wild in most of the worlds environments.

I'm vegetarian too, but would probably find it necessary to eat fish and other seafood for protein in a survival situation, I'm not sure. Interesting topic.

Well in true survival mode theres always a readily available supply of protein under feet, even under the snow in the winter. Earthworms.

either way you slice it you will need some kinda fat..either be an animal or a tub of lard..Your body will eat it self eventualy

If you plan on surviving on what you can gather from your environment you are going to have to give up on your ideals or get ill and starve to death. Being a vegetarian is only possible now because of the way that we farm massive amounts of food. If you are trying to survive out there then you are going to have come to terms with killing animals. You need to collect a large amount of vegetables to make up for a small piece of meat. The protein and fat in the meat are necessary for survival. If TSHTF you will have to choose between your ideals and your life. Chances are your life is worth more than that of an animals. (maybe not I don't know if you are scum or a good person)

-Cauch1

reply to post by Malcram


I think I could bring myself to eat fish and if I was really desperate insects. I am just not prepared to kill more sentient animals like cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, squirrels. Maybe chicken and birds in general.

I don't know how I would bring myself to killing an animal. Why is my life worth more than that of an animal? Would Buddha have killed an animal to preserve his own life?

I watched a view videos on youtube by Ray. Very helpful stuff! I am in the UK.

[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
I am vegetarian and find the concept of killing animals abhorrent. I would soon die than kill another animal. I do not want to get into a debate over vegetarian vs non vegetarianism. I would just like some real useful tips on how a vegetaian could survive out in the wlderness on wild food without consuming game. Please share any resources or book recommendations if you know any. Thank you.

[edit on 8-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

You wouldn't you would die. Pure and simple it would be impossible to survive as a vegetarian in the wild.

You are only able to maintain this type of diet from the wonders and joys of the agricultural revolution. You would survive for quite some time - eventually you would die.

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
reply to post by Malcram

 

I think I could bring myself to eat fish and if I was really desperate insects. I am just not prepared to kill more sentient animals like cows, sheep, pigs. Maybe chicken and birds in general.

I don't know how I would bring myself to killing an animal. Why is my life worth more than that of an animal? Would Buddha have killed an animal to preserve his own life?

I watch a view videos on youtube by Ray. Very helpful stuff!



[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

you are not connected with reality with these types of ideas - truly connected societies, like ALL societies ate meat - it comes from respecting the creature that you kill - you are living in a disconnected fantasy world.
Sorry, thats probably tough on you as you are enjoying the wonders of self absorption and you sound slightly affected by mild narcissism - not being rude but you really do - I think you should get out into the wild with some real people, some indigenous people who are actually connected with the spirit world, nature and reality.
Get some penguin or walrus into you -mmmmm walrus.

reply to post by audas


It is just my morals that I do not want to kill animals. Respect that. I am not saying anything about your morals, so why should you mine?

I do not buy into the myth that all ancient socities ate meat. I think many of our ancients survived on grains, beans, vegetables, fruits and berries, nuts, honey. That is the real food full of vitality and energy. Meat is made up of the same nutrients, but it contains less of it in a substandard form. This is why it is "heavy" and toally counterproductive to spiritual growth.

[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
reply to post by audas

 

It is just my morals that I do not want to kill animals. Respect that. I am not saying anything about your morals, so why should you mine?

I do not buy into the myth that all ancient socities ate meat. I think many of our ancients survived on grains, beans, vegetables, fruits and berries, nuts, honey. That is the real food full of vitality and energy. Meat is made up of the same nutrients, but it contains less of it in a substandard form. This is why it is "heavy" and toally counterproductive to spiritual growth.

[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]

All not true - sorry - this is not a moral debate - never said it was you are just misguided.

Further there are absolutely NO societies that did not eat meat - none. Not one. This si pure wishful thinking on your own behalf.

Finally absolute bumkin bout meat - it is the highest form of energy available bar none. Humans are specifically designed to eat meat - and funnily enough - not designed to eat vegetables. Yes we are omnivorous - however we are very inept at digesting cellulose - thats why herbivores have multiple stomachs, chew cud, have bacteria in their guts for breaking down teh enzymes - we don't.

Further meat has such high energy (along with a wealth of other extremely important minerals that are simply no where near available as readily or quantity in plants ) that we evolved to teh level of intelligence, with the brain capacity we have today almost entirely due to our carnivorous nature.
The reality is that the information you have is based on strange assumptions surrounding modern eating patterns which are all stuffed up anyway - eat a balanced, varied healthy diet.
If you wish to go vegetarian it will be healthy - just as healthy as eating meat if you do it correctly, maybe even better - but don't for a second try and rewrite the historical record based on fantasy and self delusion. That's what creationists do.

Once more - no society in the long history of modern man has been vegetarian until modern recorded history and the agricultural revolution allowed us the indulgence to do this.

reply to post by audas

Sorry, thats probably tough on you as you are enjoying the wonders of self absorption and you sound slightly affected by mild narcissism - not being rude but you really do - I think you should get out into the wild with some real people

That's a bit rude, isn't it? Indigo has said from ther first post that she didn't want this to be a moral debate, but more of an exploration of the possibility of surviving as a vegetarian. This is not a conversation about history, society, digestive systems or the agricultural revolution. I'm in exactly the same position as Indigo, and I've though about this many times. I could, at a push, eat fish, but nothing else. I'm sorry if our moral sensibilities are not acceptable to you, but this thread is not about them.

One thing that people haven't mentioned in long term survival strategies is the nutritional value of sprouted beans and peas. They are absolutely packed with everything we could ever need, and it would be possible to store large amounts of dried beans and peas for a long time, sprouting them as needed. Here's a wee linky for you....


www.sproutpeople.com...


Enjoy!

Originally posted by caitlinfae
reply to post by audas

 

That's a bit rude, isn't it? Indigo has said from ther first post that she didn't want this to be a moral debate, but more of an exploration of the possibility of surviving as a vegetarian. This is not a conversation about history, society, digestive systems or the agricultural revolution. I'm in exactly the same position as Indigo, and I've though about this many times. I could, at a push, eat fish, but nothing else. I'm sorry if our moral sensibilities are not acceptable to you, but this thread is not about them.

Not really Audas has a very good point. It is Indigo who is bringing morals into this. The harsh facts are that if you are going to survive in the wild you need to eat meat. Also Audas was right in correcting Indigo. All societies ate meat. For a start it was necessary for survival, secondly it is very nutritious far more than fruits and vegetables (despite what Indigo says) and thirdly it just plain tastes good. Now don't get me wrong I have friends who are vegetarian and lets just say that their health is not all that good. I had one friend who tried to go vegan and had serious problems because of it. You may be able to survive without eating meat now but not in the wild.

Also can someone please tell me why it is okay to eat fish but not other animals. I asked a friend once and they didn't know themselves they just said that that was the way it was for them.

-Cauch1

reply to post by audas


There are arguments on both sides. I am not interested in getting debate over vegetarian vs non-vegetarianism. Please respect that.

I will only say this much and I am entitled to state my opinion, so I intend no offense to anyone. While it is true we are omnivorous, foods more conducive to holistic well being are vegetarian food(fruit and veg) There is a science behind this, but it a spiritual science. Each food item we consume has life-force/energy(Prana/Chi/Ki) and it attains this life force directly from the Earth and the Sun. This is why food which is directly nourished by the sun has more vitality. Generally, food falls into three categories of energy:

Inertia inducing
Passion inducing
Calm inducing

The foods which cause heaviness induce inertia such as alcohol, meat, nicotine and other drugs. These are foods low in lifeforce. Meat is low in lifeforce because it comes from a second-grade or third grade source. The human meat-eater at the top of food chain acquires their energy from an animal, which either derives its sustenance from the Earth(second grade) or from other animals which derive their sustenance from the earth(third grade)

Lets start from the bottom of the food chain with the herbivores. The animal consumes earth-food nourished with the suns life-force or the earth. Some of this energy is used to build flesh. This literally happens through the soldification of energy from the food i.e., it becomes heavy. This second-grade source is then consumed by a carnivorous animal. Some of that energy is used to build flesh, but this is a more dense and heavier energy. This third-grade source is then consumed by a human. Some of that energy is used to build flesh, but this is an even more dense and heavier energy. If a human then consumes another human they are getting the most dense energy possible.

From this we can see that the initial life force gets lesser and more dense along the food chain. Now spirit has the quality of "lightness" so if you feed it dense food, it will become heavier and this will cause it to degrade.
The best evidence of this is in cannibals. They have the most degraded spirit and it reflects in their violent behaviour.

I believe there are some scientific studies which show that that meat-eating is a factor in producing aggressive and violent behaviour. This is probably why the martial-class throughout history has been fed a diet of mostly meat.

Now as a free soul I have the right to choose what I want to be. If I choose the body over the spirit, then yes I can eat meat. However, I have chosen the spirit over the body, so no I will not eat meat. Only in an exreme survival situation will I consider eating some kind of meat of an animal which is least in sentience, such as fish.

[edit on 10-5-2009 by Indigo_Child]