When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes

by Cody Lundin

  If you store food in the ways that have been recommended in this book, attracting bugs after the fact should not be a problem. Don't tempt bugs or rodents by being a slob where you have your food stored. Keep things clean. If bugs get out of control in some of your food, get that food out of the house and check to see if other food has been infested.

  Some bugs can be eaten along with the food, or the larger varieties sifted out. I don't know how many times I've eaten cereal with weevils in it. I consider it extra protein, as you might, if food is scarce. But the bottom line is, bugs eat your food, and their nutritional value is not likely to make up for the difference in what they have pilfered.

  Killing Bugs [and Their Eggs] in Food

  Sometimes when the bugs are absent, the eggs are not. One year I harvested native mesquite beans that were a staple food of the desert Indians in Arizona. At first glance the pods looked fine. After a few weeks, the eggs of whatever bugs were within the pods ate away at the goods, unbeknownst to me, and ruined most of the crop. The same thing happened with some pinyon nuts I gathered. Some native peoples used large winnowing-type baskets and hot coals from the fire to parch foods before they were stored.

  Freezing and Heating

  Cold can be used to kill bugs and their larvae and eggs. If you have access to cold temperatures, large quantities of food such as a full five-gallon bucket can be placed in a freezer at 0 degrees F (minus 17 degrees C) or lower for ten days. If smaller packages of food are used, the days can be lessened to four or five, as the food will require less time to be chilled all the way through. General household freezers are wimpy when needing to achieve seriously low temperatures but many chest freezers can do it. When it comes to killing bugs, the colder the temperature, the better. As the Native Americans have proven, buggy food can also be treated with heat. Most people recommend placing the food in question on a baking sheet into the oven for thirty minutes at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C), a temperature easily achieved by solar ovens. The dictionary definition of "tedious" references processing five hundred pounds of grain that way. Heated food should be eaten within a few weeks of doing so.

  Molds and Bacteria

  Mold can affect any type of food, including "dry" foods such as grains and legumes where enough moisture (humidity) and warmth are present. Of course there are fungal strains as well that grow in the refrigerator, as anyone who has opened forgotten leftovers can attest. Notice that hearty molds can infect foods with high sugar or salt contents as well (both excellent preservatives), even when refrigerated. Who hasn't looked in the bottom of a jar of jelly and seen mold or trimmed a piece from a cured salted piece of meat? Not all molds are bad for human consumption, but the ones that are can nearly kill you or at the very least make you extremely sick. As I mentioned with my squash incident, some molds produce toxic mycotoxins, which are produced around the root of the mold itself, so they can be deep within the food itself. Like skin cancer, superficially trimming the surface of the mold will not get the part that's deep within the food. Worst of all, fungal mycotoxins last for long periods of time and are not destroyed by heat.

  Here in the arid Southwest, we marvel at the rare occurrence of mold and mildew, throwing parties in honor of its extraordinary mustiness. Those of you who live in humid climates are unimpressed and are probably well versed in how to deal with invading mold and mildew. Keep your food storage areas clean. On countertops, refrigerators, and other food storage surfaces, mold can be eliminated with an assortment of household disinfectants such as our beloved chlorine bleach solution. Many "hard" foods such as potatoes, apples, and cheddar cheese can be trimmed of mold. Cut away the infected area along with an inch or so of the unaffected food without letting the knife touch the mold. "Soft" foods such as tomatoes, melons, cream cheese, and peanut butter should be thrown away. If you mess around with these and many other soft foods, you may pay a high price. Moldy foods should be thrown safely away so they can't be gotten into by curious kids and hungry animals.

  Bacteria need moisture to grow, and many strains found in foods can be very tough to kill. Some of the more nasty varieties toxic to humans can form spores that are very resistant to being eradicated. Moldy "wet foods" such as canned goods can become havens for the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, or botulism, one of the most deadly forms of bacterial food poisoning around. The toxin created from the growing bacteria is the culprit and is reportedly so potent that one teaspoon of the botulism toxin is capable of killing hundreds of thousands of people.

  Because of this, don't screw around with bacterial spoilage in any type of wet food, whether fresh, home-canned, or commercially canned from the store. Any canned goods that are bulging, leaking, smell bad, or that squirt liquid when you open them should be thrown away! As with moldy foods, make sure you dispose of them safely away from kids and pets. (Note: Canned foods that have gone bad will have at least two of the above traits. Some cans that have been physically dented will squirt fluid when opened with a can opener, as the volume inside the can has been reduced, thereby putting the canned goods under pressure.) However, IF IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT!

  Using Salt to Reduce Moisture

  It would be almost impossible for dry grains and legumes to grow harmful bacteria due to the lack of moisture. They can, however, grow mold. There is an easy method used to keep the moisture content in certain stored foods low that involves our friend salt. For food products such as rice, dry beans, dried peas, and pastas (other grains will require a different method), putting one inch of salt in the bottom of a container such as a food-grade five-gallon bucket before adding the food will hold the moisture content below 10 percent. This eliminates the environment required for molds to grow and prevents many insect eggs from hatching. Don't separate the salt from the food. Just pour the food right on top of the salt. As we know from our salt talk, the salt will store indefinitely and can be used as is. This method is a great way to have salt work for its storage space until it's used for its own sake.

  The Dizzying World of Food-Storage Strategies

  The technical information involved in storing foods is incredibly intense and has been the subject of dozens of books. I have only so much room in this book so you're on your own to research the other methods used to increase the storage times of food. Other home storage strategies might include Mylar bags, flushing with carbon dioxide and nitrogen, special enamel-coated cans, moisture-absorbing desiccants and oxygen absorbers, dry ice, vacuum sealing, and food-grade diatomaceous earth. Your local LDS (Mormon) church might have a cannery near where you live and you may be able to use their food-packing facilities for a fee. If the option feels right to you, it doesn't hurt to ask.

  Come on, Man, Tell Me. . .How Long Do Stored Foods REALLY Last?

  I wish I knew for sure, other than the obvious good keepers such as salt and white sugar. In the months of research I did for this book, I came across many, many contradictions as to how long stored foods will last. Some sources say whole wheat lasts for six months, others, indefinitely. And I could go on and on with the discrepancies. This is the main reason that I don't include a one-size-fits-all, handy-dandy food storage chart stating exactly how long your stored food will last. I looked at several such charts and many of them have very different answers for the same food product.

  I personally have experimented with dried pinto beans (among several other things) that have been stored for more than fifteen years, still in the paper sack in which they were bought! Other than requiring a lot of soaking time and extra fuel to cook, they're fine. . .or are they? I don't have the resources to take my beans to the neighborhood laboratory and have them analyzed for nutritional content and microbes, as I'm sure is true for many other food storage "experts" who've undoubtedly experimented likewise. So I have fifteen-year-old pinto beans in a paper sack that are still edible, so what? I live in Arizona, land of limited moisture. How would that sack of pinto beans do in a closet in Washington state?

  As with human nature and Mother Nature in
a survival scenario, food storage is fraught with variables as to how the story will end. There is no question that following the rules of food storage will increase the shelf life of your stored food. How long it will really last is anyone's guess. Take all prophetic advice about how long your vittles will be vital with a grain of salt. The sure way out of this dilemma is to rotate your food by storing what you eat and eating what you store.

  Bugs, Mice, and Rats:

  It's What's for Dinner

  When the times get tough, the tough look for alternative food sources. I don't like killing things for food, but I realize the importance of knowing how to do so if that's my only option. So do the students who take my classes on survival skills, some of whom have been vegetarians or vegans. Animal meat doesn't originate on a Styrofoam plate covered with plastic wrap. I'm convinced the world would have a lot more vegetarians if people who chose to eat meat had to kill it themselves. Doing so is an awesome responsibility and very humbling. That said, every urban, suburban, and rural area will have their share of smaller critters that hardy survivors can exploit to their advantage—bugs and rodents being the most common.

  Eating What Bugs You

  Eating bugs has gotten a bad rap, most recently from stupid television shows designed to shock people that seem to have nothing better to do. Most insects and bugs can be eaten and almost all contain a high amount of protein. Stay away from stinkbugs in the Southwest, caterpillars in general, and beware of insects that can hurt you such as bees, wasps, yellow jackets, and the like. Some insects should be cooked to kill potential parasites they carry, such as grasshoppers.

  I realize your family will more than likely protest to worms being on the menu. Such an opinion is just that, an opinion based on cultural conditioning and being grossed out by the appearance of a foreign-looking creature. Bugs aren't gross; they just look gross to most people. If you knew the ingredients of a hot dog you would eat bugs. Most bugs and insects have a very mild flavor that can easily be disguised with spices or other food. Their shapes can be disguised by cooking and grinding them if necessary into a powder. This homemade protein powder can be added to soups and stews or something else to help your family achieve the nutrition they need—without the gross-out factor. If your survival food stash is getting low, cutting it with bugs will help extend the rations. For the most palatable results at the dinner table, think twice before telling other family members what you've done—and don't tell Vinny!

  Remarkable Rodents

  Mice and rats are extremely adaptable creatures. They are also easy to catch and kill with a little advanced preparation. My "Really Cool, Gotta Have It, Multiple Use Stuff" list presented later in the book includes traps for mice and rats. Rattraps are simply mousetraps on steroids. I have killed rats in mousetraps, and vice versa, but unless the mousetrap comes down on a vulnerable part of the rat's anatomy, you will more than likely lose your mousetrap to the rat. Unless the powerful critter gets stuck in a small space while trying to navigate with the trap attached to its body, it will disappear to a place only the rat knows about.

  The most common mouse and rattraps are the Victor brand found at most hardware and grocery stores. There are two choices, the old-fashioned type with the metal bait area and the ones with the yellow plastic bait pad. The latter ones rely on a substance that's imprinted into the plastic itself to attract the rodent and don't require bait. These work okay when fresh, but they quickly lose their attractant, even when stored new within their original plastic. Even so, I like these the best, and use them successfully, even with no bait or commercial attractant left on the yellow pad. The answer to my success is easy if you think like a rodent. I place the loaded traps with the yellow pad nearest the wall, preferably right after or before a tunnel of some kind, such as a board propped up against the wall. Rodents are creatures of habit and love cruising along walls in the dead of night. If the wall also features some protective cover, such as our board example, all the better. The yellow bait pad has a large surface area and traps the rodent as it scurries across the trap, no bait needed.

  Follow Robbie's instructions to make your own deadfall trap using everyday stuff around the house. Use caution with this trap as it can smash fingers and kill pets as well as rodents. To learn how to cook your critter, head to the Crucially Creative Cooking chapter.

  In the strictest sense, stored emergency food should be treated as rations, not regular meals. Its main focus is to provide the survivor with sugar in order to minimize catabolism and dehydration and increase survival time.

  At minimum, have a two- to four-week supply of stored food on hand for possible emergencies. This food should be easy to access, portable, require no cooking, and meet all of your nutritional needs. Don't forget to store food at the office and in vehicles as well.

  If the power goes out, eat the food in the refrigerator first, and then the freezer. In a well-stocked, well-insulated freezer, foods will usually still have ice crystals in their centers—meaning they are safe to eat—for at least two days.

  There are three macronutrients in foods: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. All contain different amounts of calories, or stored energy, and "burn" or metabolize at varying rates within the body. Stored foods should contain all three macronutrients when possible for maximum nutrition and energy.

  Of the three macronutrients, proteins require the most water from the body to metabolize. Avoid proteins and salty foods when water supplies are scarce.

  Along with the nutritional content in quality food, salt and fats (cooking oils, etc.) are required for life. Fats are difficult to store for long periods of time but salt will store indefinitely.

  Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of calories you burn at rest doing no physical activity. Physiological factors that increase BMR are being male, young, tall, and muscular. Doing any physical activity whatsoever will increase the amount of calories you burn, as will certain illnesses and being in cold weather without adequate clothing or shelter.

  Several factors will determine what your family chooses to store for food. These include the family's preference for what they like to eat, the supposed duration of the emergency, the age and health of family members, your home's unique storage environment, family finances, and pets.

  Warning! Don't take food storage for granted. Forced low-calorie diets of semistarvation will have far-reaching psychological and physiological effects. Leave living-off-the-land mythologies to Hollywood.

  Be discreet about your food storage program and its location. It's no one's business but your family's.

  There are several types of prepared foods that can be successfully stored. The more common options are canned goods, dried or dehydrated, freeze-dried, whole grains or legumes packed in buckets, and MREs (meals ready to eat). All have their pros and cons in preparation, cost, palatability, storage life, and nutrition.

  Basic rules of food storage: Store what you eat, rotate what you store, store your food in the best possible conditions for maximum storage life using food-grade containers, and keep things simple.

  In general, canned foods are great for food storage plans as they are widely available, durable and portable, cheap, easy to open with no preparation or cooking required, and store well for up to two years.

  How much food to store is dependent upon the intention and needs of each family. Keeping track of consumed food is helpful for purchasing larger quantities. As an example, a family wishing to store six months of food can estimate the amount of food required to purchase by keeping track of all food eaten within a one month period and multiplying by six.

  For maximum storage life, foods should be stored in a cool, dry, dark location in food-grade, oxygen-free containers. The containers should also keep stored foods protected from rodents and insect infestations. All food should be dated and faithfully rotated.

  When purchasing bulk grains or legumes, buy only from reputable dealers who quickly sell large volumes of quality product. The more they sell, the fresh
er the product will be and the less likely it will have an insect problem.

  Insects, and their larva and eggs, can be destroyed with sufficient heat or cold. Keep food storage areas clean to avoid attracting pest problems in the first place.

  Some molds in foods produce dangerous mycotoxins that are toxic to humans. These toxins make their way deep into foods, last for long periods of time, and are not destroyed by heat.

  Warning! All "wet foods" such as canned goods, whether home-canned or commercially canned, that are bulging, leaking, smell bad, or squirt fluid when you open them should be safely discarded out of the reach of children and animals. Deadly bacterias such as botulism can quickly kill your loved ones. If in doubt, throw it out!

  The easiest way to prevent decreased nutritional content and spoiled food is to faithfully rotate your stored food using the "FIFO" method, first in, first out.

  15

  SAVVY yet SIMPLE Significant Substitute SANITATION

  "And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee."

  —Deuteronomy 23:13

  Improper sanitation is directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide every year. Some slum settlements today in Africa require up to 150 people to share a single toilet, forcing many to defecate in plastic bags, known as "flying toilets," which are thrown on the roadside. Disease from improper sanitation has at times proved just as deadly as the wars which provoked the situation. During the American Civil War, more than 70,000 soldiers died from dysentery. The same plight killed more soldiers than bullets during the Spanish-American War. Currently, more than 2.6 billion people live without proper toilets or drains, leaving ample opportunity for disease. Should an act of devastation take out your town or city's sanitation system, an alternative means for dealing with human waste should rank high on your list of survival priorities.