quest for food-scenario

[justin_baker]

Try harvesting stuff like cat tails and thistle. They are plentiful and nobody goes after them.

[Sourdough]

As far as family goes, neighbors and the like they're all welcome here, but they gotta pull their own weight. If they're old or feeble then we'll find a way to provide for them, but otherwise you either learn the ways, provide input, and go along with the plan or your fired. No unemployment, no welfare, just the horse you rode in on. Oopps! too late, we ate your horse yesterday, now GTFO or we'll eat you..

Hell, almost nobody really PULLS their own weight now, they are so out of shape, Lazy, and entitled to a certain quality of life, by virtue of being in America.

I think most people will just sit around and complain, whine, and basically do nothing. I really think most people will keep going back to the same store expecting/hoping it is open and full of food, just like a mouse when you move the cheese.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

Hell, almost nobody really PULLS their own weight now, they are so out of shape, Lazy, and entitled to a certain quality of life, by virtue of being in America.

I think most people will just sit around and complain, whine, and basically do nothing. I really think most people will keep going back to the same store expecting/hoping it is open and full of food, just like a mouse when you move the cheese.

That's the only thing keeping civilization going now, pure momentum, nothing else. No one knows how to do anything else. The ones trying to fix things will only disrupt that momentum and it all will collapse.

Have a nice day

[SARKY]

In the urban areas. First there will be the food riots, which will cull part of the herd. Then will come the house raids where people will do home invasions to take food from others. Then the starvation time and during and after that the disease die off. Most city dwellers don't understand where meat actually comes from. Living in Oakland I can tell you that i've had more game trying to enter my home then i did when i lived in the coutry.
I've got almost a years worth of food stored. With that are also seeds for my garden plus I can hunt, trap, and fish.

[2dumb2kwit]

In the urban areas. First there will be the food riots, which will cull part of the herd. Then will come the house raids where people will do home invasions to take food from others. Then the starvation time and during and after that the disease die off. Most city dwellers don't understand where meat actually comes from. Living in Oakland I can tell you that i've had more game trying to enter my home then i did when i lived in the coutry.
I've got almost a years worth of food stored. With that are also seeds for my garden plus I can hunt, trap, and fish.

You bring up a point that I have thought about. If it gets really, really bad, then the urban areas will do just what you said. At that point, the city herd will be culled, and most of the "survivalist" will have headed out to the bush. As others have said, hunters and fisherman will be fighting for resources. In my mind, that leaves a fairly empty city, that is full of resources, that people there (the few that are left) won't recognise, or know what to do with. I'm thinking that after a period of time....the cities may be the place to go.

[Winnie]

Being realistic about things, I think the worst that would probably happen is food rationing similar to that during both wars in this country.
Now I'm perfectly capable of living on not a lot of food and making it fairly interesting. A lot of people are not and this would, I'm absolutely certain cause food riots regardless. The problems would emerge between the disaster/emergency or whatever hapening and the government getting into gear to take over distribution of supplies to the public.
I think I've mentioned before, preparedness just isn't in the British psyche anymore. I have kept my preps to myself because I know I would be ridiculed and viewed with great suspicion.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

Being realistic about things, I think the worst that would probably happen is food rationing similar to that during both wars in this country.
Now I'm perfectly capable of living on not a lot of food and making it fairly interesting. A lot of people are not and this would, I'm absolutely certain cause food riots regardless. The problems would emerge between the disaster/emergency or whatever hapening and the government getting into gear to take over distribution of supplies to the public.
I think I've mentioned before, preparedness just isn't in the British psyche anymore. I have kept my preps to myself because I know I would be ridiculed and viewed with great suspicion.

This is exactly what I think will happen with the addition of more restrictive laws and registration of people. To get food you will have to acceopt this. This is how people will survive but they will be subjscts of a totalitarian world government. They will determine who lives and who dies, a decision I will be retaining for myself.

[gryffynklm]

Keeping our preparations quiet is very important. Like Sarky and others have said after food riots there will likely be home invasions to take your preparations. No matter how prepared I am, I or my wife will be in line with the others for food distribution if the government starts doing that. It wouldn't take long for your neighbors to notice they haven't seen you there. They will put two an two together and figure you have food and are a target.

[Winnie]

Keeping our preparations quiet is very important. Like Sarky and others have said after food riots there will likely be home invasions to take your preparations. No matter how prepared I am, I or my wife will be in line with the others for food distribution if the government starts doing that. It wouldn't take long for your neighbors to notice they haven't seen you there. They will put two an two together and figure you have food and are a target.

Yup, totally agree. It makes sense to get in line. The reason you mention and your own preps and stores will last longer if supplemented with govt rations. I see nothing wrong in that.

[rwc1969]

Hell, almost nobody really PULLS their own weight now, they are so out of shape, Lazy, and entitled to a certain quality of life, by virtue of being in America....

That's true, even myself. I could live off the land right now and don't really need to buy any food whatsoever. But, I'm lazy. It's much easier just going to the fridge and pulling out a nice prterhouse, all fat laden, put it on the electric stove, with some canola oil, whip up some instant taters and canned green beans and I'm set.

No mosquitos, deer flies, blood, guts, dragging a dead body thru the woods, canning, it, drying it, etc,etc.

The amercan/ western way of life has spread to all corners of the world now. people in other countries have grown depend on the western world for sustenance. Rather than practicing safe sex, and looking for ways to improve their situation they just keep breeding like rabbits and waiting for the next shipment of rice, etc.

Regardless of who's fit or deserving of life, people will be the biggest factor in whether or not we make it thru such a scenario. Whether or not we can manage ourselves as a group will be the determining factor.

Being able to find food and resources won't be the problem, but being able to work with or avoid the masses will be the real issue. It will be pure chaos, and unrelenting sociological hell on earth.

[Rick]

Holy crap! This thread is running pretty high on the doom meter. Why does everyone think there will be home invasions? Do you intend to go out and invade other people's homes? No? I doubt the overwhelming majority of folks will either. I'm sure there will be a few but that will probably be short lived when they meet up with the right folks. I saw all kinds of armed folks after Katrina with very bold signs that said "You loot we shoot". That's neighbors pulling together in a real life disaster...food and clean water shortage and all.

And why are we so out of shape that we aren't pulling our own weight? I see tons of young men and women protecting our front and back door. Tough as nails folks. Military, cops, firemen, first responders. Sure there are few pot bellies in the mix but by and large they seem pretty fit and pulling their weight to me.

I don't see any difference in folks today than they were in the 1940's when WWII broke out. Or the Great Dust Bowl or the Great Recession. Or any other time in history. You can find pictures of fat porkers during any time in our history and you can find plenty of pictures of hard workers right now.

Whatever happens, assuming some survive, I'm confident that we will band together and begin the effort of putting the pieces back together. We always have.

[Rick]

Gees - I just have to follow up on this. You need to think strongly on all the times in history in which food shortages, serious starvation food shortages, have occurred. There is very little documentation in the history books about mass riots or home invasions. And there have been hundreds of famines. Here's some reading for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines

If you think about the scenario then a lack of rioting really makes a lot of sense. Starving people don't have the energy to riot. You might see some very early sacking of stores but that will be short lived. Then it will just be people slowly starving to death.

What you will see are opportunists price gouging on food. Here in the U.S. that very scenario occurred during the famine of 1816 when the price of oats rose a full 8 fold virtually shutting down the economy (horses needed oats).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

[rwc1969]

...and what do you think the folks who don't have money to buy the overpriced food, medicine and such will do? Starve?

There's a lot more folks without in the US than with and when push comes to shove they're not going to go off and quietly starve to death leaving the rest of us to our huge stores of food and supplies.

[rwc1969]

We had a three day power outage and there was looting and stuff going on all over. It wasn't publicized much, because the govt. and media knew that by letting people see the truth would only compound the problem further.

[Rick]

I agree there will be store looting and said as much. What won't happen is ongoing rampages. There is no historical precedence for it. And they will certainly go off and quietly starve to death. There is no option. Once your body starts to digest itself there is little energy for anything but basic survival; breathing, etc. That's why you see starving folks laying around. They have to.

Unless you have access to ongoing food sources you won't have the strength to rape, pillage and plunder. And if you have access to ongoing food sources you have little need to do any of it.

[SARKY]

Holy crap! This thread is running pretty high on the doom meter. Why does everyone think there will be home invasions? Do you intend to go out and invade other people's homes? No? I doubt the overwhelming majority of folks will either. I'm sure there will be a few but that will probably be short lived when they meet up with the right folks. I saw all kinds of armed folks after Katrina with very bold signs that said "You loot we shoot". That's neighbors pulling together in a real life disaster...food and clean water shortage and all.

And why are we so out of shape that we aren't pulling our own weight? I see tons of young men and women protecting our front and back door. Tough as nails folks. Military, cops, firemen, first responders. Sure there are few pot bellies in the mix but by and large they seem pretty fit and pulling their weight to me.

I don't see any difference in folks today than they were in the 1940's when WWII broke out. Or the Great Dust Bowl or the Great Recession. Or any other time in history. You can find pictures of fat porkers during any time in our history and you can find plenty of pictures of hard workers right now.

Whatever happens, assuming some survive, I'm confident that we will band together and begin the effort of putting the pieces back together. We always have.

Rick, there is a great deal of difference between people today and people of my grandparents generation!
1: People today are lazy. When the dust bowl etc. happened, people were self sufficient
2: people today can't (as in don't know how) to do many of the things people knew how to do 30, 40, 50 years ago.
3: people today are so self absorbed, "it's all about ME!" . What the hell happened to WE!
4: Good people will band together..... as will bad people.
5: it will be much easier for these lazy schmucks to steal from you then to fend for themselves.

[SARKY]

You bring up a point that I have thought about. If it gets really, really bad, then the urban areas will do just what you said. At that point, the city herd will be culled, and most of the "survivalist" will have headed out to the bush. As others have said, hunters and fisherman will be fighting for resources. In my mind, that leaves a fairly empty city, that is full of resources, that people there (the few that are left) won't recognise, or know what to do with. I'm thinking that after a period of time....the cities may be the place to go.

I can't agree with you and yet I can't totally disagree with you. The big problem I see in an urban enviroment is clean drinkable water. If it gets that bad there will be no one to run the municipal districts (ie. running water). So where will you find enough water to drink, bath with, cook with and water your urban garden? Hauling water is not an option as the time and caloric expenditure will be enormous.

[Rick]

I addressed that in another thread. I don't see the difference. You are looking at farmer's in the Dust Bowl and comparing them to some town kid sitting in front of a Wii console. There were plenty of Fatsos during the Dust Bowl era. Google Sig Klein's Fat Men's Shop. It's a men's store for fat guys in 1930's New York. Guys like Teddy Roosevelt, John Adams, Jr or Taft sure weren't fit as fiddles. I don't see the difference. People are people.

[Rick]

On the water issue....Look for the lowest faucet in any high rise. There will probably be some water left in the piping. All the water heaters will have some water in them. All the toilet tanks. Easy pickins for city water.

[SARKY]

I agree there will be store looting and said as much. What won't happen is ongoing rampages. There is no historical precedence for it. And they will certainly go off and quietly starve to death. There is no option. Once your body starts to digest itself there is little energy for anything but basic survival; breathing, etc. That's why you see starving folks laying around. They have to.

Unless you have access to ongoing food sources you won't have the strength to rape, pillage and plunder. And if you have access to ongoing food sources you have little need to do any of it.

There can't be an historical precedence for this as we have never had a population so ill suited to survival before nor have we ever had such population density before. All the ills will occur well before peoples bodies start consuming it's selves. People today are not used to discomfort, and react badly/poorly to it.