Survive- The Economic Collapse
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Store what you eat and eat what you store. This should encompass the previous two rules but also prevent waste.
Nutrition
The basic principal of long-term survival is good nutrition. Not only will it allow you, your family, and the other inhabitants of your SAB to satisfy your hunger but, above all, you will preserve your health, reinforce your immune system, and gain physical and mental strength. Nutrition refers to the process by which a living being transforms foodstuffs in order to ensure its own functioning. It includes anything of nutritional value, that is, anything the ingestion of which is necessary for survival, good health, and growth. There exist many different nutrients divided in two main categories: macronutrients and micronutrients.
Macronutrients. A living organism draws its energy from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Energy is measured in calories. The digestive system is a group of organs that ensure the extraction of energy from the digestive system, which transforms carbohydrates into glucose, proteins into amino acids, and fats into fatty acids. Each of these transformations is divided into several functional blocks. For example, the transformation into glucose occurs through 1) digestion, 2) hormonal regulation, and 3) use and storage in the liver, fatty tissues, or muscles. Carbohydrates are found in foods such as vegetables, rice, pasta, or bread. They are necessary for the body, and their concentration in the blood must be maintained at a relatively high level because the brain entirely depends upon them. On average, the adult brain requires a daily input of 130 grams. In practice, this amount is surpassed by a large margin: the average being 220 g to 330 g for men and 180 g to 230 g for women. The excess is stored in the form of fat. Fatty matter, or lipids, are found in vegetable oils or animal fat and make up, in the ideal case, 20 percent of one’s daily intake in nutrients. Proteins, whether of animal origin (meat, fish, eggs, etc.) or vegetable origin (legumes, soybeans, cereals, etc.), are an essential component of the body and perform a great number of roles. For example, a single hair is composed of keratin, which is a protein: combined with another protein, collagen, it is responsible for making your skin strong, healthy, and elastic. An ideal human diet should not surpass the 35-percent level in protein.
Micronutrients Micronutrients such as minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, iodine, zinc, iron, manganese, etc.) and vitamins provide necessary components for the proper functioning of human metabolism. A person deprived of them will develop illness and deficiencies that will weaken his body. The essential vitamins are: A, C (ascorbic acid), B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B12, D, E, K, and various forms of carotene. In short, you will not acquire the physical condition and mental concentration necessary to survive by eating potato chips and drinking sugary soft drinks!
For good nutrition, here are some basic rules that you can start applying now:
Eat principally the fruits and vegetables of your region that are in season. Inform yourself about what grows at your latitude and in your region each month: besides being less expensive and coming from nearby, this will provide the best nutritional quality, for it is picked at the perfect stage of ripeness and will not have spent time in a refrigerated truck, ship, or airplane. Thus, you will assure yourself the best source of macro- and micronutrients each day.
Eat a little of everything rather than a single type of food. Variety permits better nutrition and favors a regular passage of food through the system, which is important for preserving healthy intestinal microorganisms and efficient digestion, as well as for avoiding constipation, which can cause medical complications.
Eat cereals (wheat, corn, rice, etc.) in moderation, legumes (lentils, green beans, peas) in sufficient amounts, along with a few nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts) and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, etc.).
Use herbs and aromatic plants according to taste (rosemary, thyme, basil, sage, etc.).
Eat a few dairy products, but not in excess; favor fresh, unprocessed milk.
Eat fresh ocean fish and seafood if you are near the coast, or freshwater fish if you are close to lakes and rivers.
Eat meat and eggs.
If you are a vegetarian, replace meat with mushrooms and legumes.
Use a variety of oils, if you can (vegetable, olive, sunflower, walnut, tarragon, linseed), with a preference for olive oil, especially for cooking.
Use salt (iodized) and spices, but not to excess.
Avoid refined sugar, sweets, and sugared drinks in general.
Avoid pre-cooked, processed foods.
Avoid products to which you are allergic, even slightly. Don’t forget that you may have to consume products in a different context from what prevails today: no more hospitals!
Stocking Food
Once you have understood what constitutes good nutrition, you will have to stock up on what allows you to have enough healthy food for a period of time. Imagine that your garden does not produce enough to feed everybody—if the grains you planted don’t grow, if the harvest rots, or a parasite destroys it. Stocking additional food will be useful to you in such cases. And until you have established a regular little farm in your SAB, your food supply will be your only reserve.
Let us start by calculating how much food you will have to store. You must start by making a list of what one person consumes in a month, based on the needed calories. In the appendices, you will find a typical list that you can modify as you wish based on your calorific intake (not everybody needs the same amount—we are of different sizes and have different metabolisms). Another source of useful information is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons), who advise their followers to learn nutritional self-sufficiency and how to stock food for three or even up to 12 months. Their websites give great advice on this subject. Once you have determined your needs, you just multiply the sum by the number of persons and the number of months you think you may have to hold out and start building up your reserve. Among the foods on the list, some merit special mention:
Rice is one of the best foods to keep in stock. It doesn’t take up much space, contains a lot of vitamins, and is very rich in nutritional elements. Stock brown rice, if possible, and if you want to vary the taste, vary the types: Indian, American, Chinese, Italian, etc. A priori, you must reckon on two to six pounds per adult per month. Rice can be stored for five to 10 years according to type, but I’ve tasted much older rice, and it was just fine. Buy a lot more in order to feed refugees or for exchange.
Wheat is another basic foodstuff. You must plan on 20 to 50 pounds of it per person per month in all its forms. These include whole-wheat pasta, which takes up little space and can be kept a very long time (up to at least 30 years, in contrast to flour which can only be kept for three). Pasta is also ideal for exchange. Whole wheat can be kept a long time, but it must be ground, which means you must have a portable mill. Without a mill, you can eat your wheat whole by letting it soak in water for 36 hours and then boiling it.
Maize can be kept for up to 10 years in the form of grain, which is far longer than in ground form (polenta, etc.). You must stock five pounds per person per month.
Legumes (lentils, soybeans, beans, peas, green beans) are an excellent source of protein. Stock at least six pounds per person per month (more if you are a vegetarian).
Oats are a useful cereal to complement wheat. Stock about two pounds per person per month. It lasts about three to five years in the form of oatmeal or rolled oats.
Fats and oils are used in cooking and provide a good selection of vitamins. Butter, peanut butter, and mayonnaise are examples of fats. As for oils, think about olive oil, but also stock sunflower oil, vegetable oil, flax oil, etc. Do not let oil cook for too long. Stock a minimum of one liter per person per month. It can usually be stored for about four years.
Milk, in condensed form or as a powder, can be kept up to five years, and you must stock two pounds per person per month. Do not buy pasteurized milk, which cannot be kept as long, unless you consume it frequently and thus circulate your stock rapidly.
Preserved meat and fish are a highly prized source of proteins and fats (especially fish conserved in olive oil, etc.). Stock two kilos from each category per person per month.
Salt is important as a condiment, but also for preserving food. You should stock very large quantities. Think about how much salt you think you will need and then stock at least five times as much. No, make it 10 times that much. Salt is cheap in times of peace and calm, but quickly becomes impossible to find in a crisis. It is not for nothing that the word “salary” comes from the Latin word for salt. Salt is valuable in hard times since it can only be found on the edge of salt marshes or in mines. The good news is that salt can be stored indefinitely. It may be worth your trouble to inform yourself about natural salt deposits close to your SAB. At the very least, figure on two pounds of iodized salt per person per month. Also store enough coarse salt for preserving meat and buy a salt lick, which will be appreciated by a number of animals.
Sugar is one foodstuff that is very difficult to make on your own, so it can be worth the trouble to stock a large quantity. However, using sugar is not very advisable in a world without dentists, and it is better to use honey, molasses, maple syrup, or unrefined sugar such as the brown variety. Sugar can especially help you make preserves, and will be a valuable exchange item.
Meals ready-to-eat (MREs) are essentially dehydrated rations designed to take up little space and be stored for long periods. Easy to find in travel and mountain-climbing shops, such rations are very useful. Stock at least three-months worth.
High-calories foods such as nuts and their derivatives, like peanut butter, will come in handy.
Nutritional supplements will provide you with vitamins and other essential elements that you may be lacking. Ask a nutritional specialist or simply look at the composition of each of the foods you consume and compare the result to a diagram of a recommended daily intake. Determine what is missing. Get the necessary supplements at a drug store and multiply the dosage by the number of people and the time you may be in need.
If you have special needs, now is the time to prepare for them. Might babies be around? Stock the necessary baby food (as well as diapers, medications, etc.). Do you intend to lodge elderly parents in your SAB? Think about getting the things they like and need.
Finally, remember to stock your favorite “comfort foods,” those that will give you a lift at difficult moments. If you’re crazy about Nutella or chocolate, buy and store a lot of it! If your peccadillo is duck foie gras with whortleberry jam, stock up! If you like a certain type of tea or brand of coffee, get lots! In short, the idea is not to survive on bread and water. You must also know how to live! And if you like rice and green beans, so much the better.
How to Store Food
When I was at university, a friend who had done his military service as a cook in the Italian Army told me that in 1980 he was still using boxes of preserves stamped with the fascist seal of the late 1930s; apparently, no one died of food poisoning! If you preserve and store your food properly, you can considerably prolong its edibility. Many foods can be conserved for over 30 years. A dry environment free of mildew and kept at a constant temperature no higher than 68 °F (20 °C) is perfect for storing cereals, rice, and preserves (jars or cans) for years; and despite a drop in nutritional value and a slight change in the taste, the foods remain edible.
For starters, don’t go too fast. Since you will have to rotate foods as a function of their expiry date, and your budget will perhaps not allow you to buy three month’s or a year’s worth of food at once for yourself and your family, go about it gradually. Start by establishing a reserve of three months and rotate it. Use the FIFO (First in, First out) method to rotate your reserves. Then, little by little, as determined by your means and tastes, begin accumulating more. A good method is to buy a tiny bit of food for your stock each time you go shopping. Another solution is to make a precise list and wait for discount sales to acquire what you lack. You can also buy in bulk to get a better price. I got myself listed as a grocer with a food warehouse and thus benefit from warehouse pricing. Another good process is what is called the “copy-canning,” which means that, when you buy your weekly or monthly groceries, you buy twice the amount (or what you can afford), which you will store away.
As for actual storing, install shelves in a dry room that remains at a constant temperature (a cellar, barn, loft, or store room). Ideally, the food should be protected from light and be kept in cans or other closed and labeled plastic or metal containers. Ensure the food is protected from rodents and moths by putting the most fragile foods (cereals, rice, etc.) into special air-tight food containers, and make regular inspections for any traces of infestation. Close tightly the rooms where you keep your food and, if you can, prevent theft with padlocks, chains, etc. Besides rodents and thieves, you must also keep your stock from being confiscated by the biggest thief of them all—the authorities! In a time of crisis, it is possible that the authorities will try to requisition all stocked food to distribute or sell. This is your food stock. If you want to give it away as charity or share it, this is your choice; confiscation is not only unjust, but can leave you at risk of going hungry. This is exactly how the Soviet government proceeded in southern Russia and Ukraine in the early 1930s, causing the death of millions of peasants as a result. If you are concerned about this, stock your food discreetly, do not always buy from the same store, pay in cash, and do not talk too much about your project. To prevent burglary, you should also hide your stocks in more than one place: under beds, behind bookcases, in old freezers (which you can bury), in an old camper, etc. Don’t laugh! Take the possible whims of a totalitarian and confiscatory state very seriously. It has already happened, and it can happen again.
A good sort of practice is to train yourself by buying a month’s worth of food and, during this month, eating nothing more than what you have bought. Note what you lack and what you have left over, as well as what you dislike. Thus, you will acquire experience in the preparation and cooking of meals made from the food you have stocked; you will also understand your mistakes and what can be improved. Take note of how you feel. If you feel sluggish, tired, or are in a bad mood, this is likely because what you bought is not nutritionally balanced; you need to work on your list some more. Don’t underestimate the impact of food on your mood and physical and mental abilities. You’ll need to be at your best when times are tough.
Make Your Own Preserves
You can also preserve food yourself that you have bought fresh or harvested. This is the best option anyway, and the only one that can guarantee a long-term survival capacity. Preserving usually involves slowing the oxidation of fats (which cause food to become rancid); preventing the development of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms; and fighting the ravages of animals, especially insects and rodents. Food preservation should take into account all biotic factors (microorganisms, animals, germination, etc.) that can cause deterioration. For example, dried fruit, walnuts, and hazelnuts, as well as grains and legumes (green beans, lentils, etc.), can be stockpiled in a cool, dry place (barn, loft, etc.) without suffering damage, and thus be preserved. Certain fleshy fruits, such as apples or pears, can be kept for several months in a fruit cellar (a cool, dark, and well-aired place maintained at a constant temperature).
There are several ways to prepare food for conservation:
Vacuum-packing. You must use a device that sucks the air out of a plastic sack into which the food has been placed. This allows the food to be kept fresh for a certain time (several months).
Dehydration (drying, in the sun or in an oven). Fruits (prunes, apricots, figs, dates) are cut in sectio
ns and dried, or else dried whole.
Canning permits the preservation of foods in air-tight containers for a long period, and without any other particular conditions. In a cellar or cabinet protected from light and heat, canned goods keep for a long time. The process relies on sterilization at between 239 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (115 and 122 degrees Celsius).
Preserves are made by mixing foodstuffs (usually fruits) with an ample portion of sugar and boiling them for a few minutes (to keep the taste of the fruit: 750 grams of sugar for one kilogram of fruit). The jars should be sterilized by boiling before being filled to the brim; and it must be closed when still hot in order to drive out the remaining air, which prevents moisture from forming.
Cold storage allows one to slow or even stop the proliferation and action of microorganisms and to preserve the food for a rather long time. Refrigeration—lowering the ambient temperature to between 39 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit (3 and 8 degrees Celsius)—permits conservation for four to 10 days; this should be distinguished from freezing (between 32 degrees Fahrenheit and ˗4 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 and -4 degrees Celsius), which allows longer conservation (between three and 12 months) and deep freezing, which keeps foods at below ˗4 degrees Fahrenheit or -20 degrees Celsius for several years. These techniques require either a refrigerator/freezer (and thus electrical energy) or a natural environment at these temperatures (e.g., mountains in the winter or arctic regions).
There are also chemical-preservation techniques—with alcohol or salt (salt curing or pickling), smoking, acidity (vinegar), oil, sugar, fat, etc.
To make your own preserves, you will have to equip yourself with pots, seals, tanks, and containers made out of plastic or metal. A vacuum machine can also be useful. Practice making preserves, and never eat a preserve that smells bad or comes from a container that looks swollen, in order to avoid botulism and food poisoning.