Sub-arctic Food Plants

The subarctic region has few food plants. Most of them give a fairly low output, energywise. It's fish and game that are the major sources of food there. Here I show you three plants that has a fairly good output. If you have a woman or two ( ;-) ) gathering these plants for several hours of the day I think you could at least achieve almost the needed calorie intake, at least combined.

















Cloudberry

You can not eat too many of these berries, but they contain a fair amount of sugar and vitamin C. They also store quite well. The Saami hid these for the winter under overhanging waterfalls. I love the taste of these and snack or gather them whenever they are available. The actual colour is more yellow than on the photo.

















Angelica

Viking era candy. All the plant is edible. Very spicy and too much flavour to eat alone in my opinion. Very good boiled with meat or fish. It's not so abundant and can be difficult to find in quantity. Also contains vitamin C.

















Alpine Bistort

The whole plant is edible. The seeds taste a little nutty, but are hardly worthwhile collecting and processing (winnowing). Quickly fried in the coals, the roots which can be of quite decent size, taste almost like french fries.

Glacier Lilly

Today my daughters and I walked about in a burn area looking for some early morrells. While we struck out on the shrooms we did see lots of glacier lillys. I havested a few to show ya'll. I noted that the bulbs that had no flower or the flower had not yet opened were much better and firmer than the ones that had flowers. There were tens of thousands of these ready for the harvest. I've read where a couple of hundred pounds of these were harvested by abo's. They are sweet and nutty tasting.

Some Lessons in Dressing Birds

It took all day, two of my brothers and I cleaned and ate nine birds today. One female black grouse, three ptarmigans, four teals and one hazel grouse. All shot by my brother Laje.

A few observations on preparing birds:

• Don't use flames for singing off the remaining feathers, use coals. The flames will put a foul taste on the skin.
• Do empty the stommach right in front by the neck or it too will taint the taste of the flesh.
• To make sure the skin becomes all crisp and down free, warm up the skin until it becomes hard and brown. Scrape off the remaining charred down and feathers with a knife.

Below Laje is plucking the black grouse.

Squirrel Hunt

Was out hunting red squirrels with two of my brothers today. Will not say anything about what weapons we were planning on using. ;) We saw no squirrels this time and no other game either. We did however find some more of the common polypody (Polypodium vulgare). It commonly grows in the moss on rocks.














We also found a few patches of hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum repandum), but as we had neither anything to carry them in, nor the time to make any containers so they are still available to anyone who decides to pick them. They grow in spruce forests and are exceptionally good eating. Strange seeing them in this time of year, when we should have had lots of snow.














Although we didn't see any game, we found the den of a probably hibernating badger and it's poo hole. Forgot to take any photos, but I will do it another time. We did however see a dog, seemingly not with it's owner present, the race is called "Finsk Spets".

Wild Food

Fish

Fish is and was, contrary to common belief, a staple for most primitive people, often more so than the big ungulates. Especially lake fish is confined to a limited environment and is because of that a much more reliable food source than for instance the reindeer, whose pattern of travel may vary to a great degree year over year. Getting close enough to catch them is also an issue, while the fish is easy to lure into your traps and nets by exploiting their quite limited intelligence.

In my area there are very few fish species. Mainly trout (Salmo trutta), but also arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and/or the common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) in some lakes. These are some of the most widely distributed anyway, so even if my experience is to a great deal limited to these species, the knowledge will be useful in a lot of places. Many of the methods can also be used for other species as well, maybe even in the sea for all I know.

The Trout

Fishing for trout in substantial quantities is difficult because of their solitary nature. At one time of they year, they are however exceptionally easy. When the trout runs on the rivers or streams to spawn in the autumn they can easily be caught, even with the hands. Photo shows lots of small trout caught in a few hours. The dark skin comes from living in a lake heavily influenced by bog water.

The most common method of hand fishing is called “tickeling”. Being rather basic animals, the trout believes that it is hidden whenever it can't see anything. Consequently, you can quite often spot the tail of the trout under a log or a rock. But anyway, chances are that you will see where the fish swims away from you and into hiding. By gently stroking the trout from the tail and forwards it will stand still, because it actually likes it. That affection is likely to come to an abrupt halt when you suddenly grab it by the gills and throws it ashore. Fish in hiding can also be speared, by for example probing under a bank.

You can also use spears, clubs or whatever to take out the fish. The club works best with a run and hit tactic. By running into a river and bashing at everything that moves you can kill or stun a few fish. Leave the river alone for a few hours and repeat the procedure.

Spearing with a torch is very, very efficient. The light calms and attracts the fish. But the torch has to burn brightly, without being made with either fat, birch bark, pitch or fat wood as a component, chances are the fish will not be mesmerised. When spearing fish, aiming at the neck makes for the surest kill, but be aware of that the light bends in the water. Sneak the spear slowly towards the aiming point of the fish (through water if needed) and thrust in an explosive movement. The spear is usually held in the right hand while you hold the torch with the left. Put your hand far up the spear to get most control and force. Pin the fish to the bottom until you manage to grab it with your hand to bring it on shore. With this method you can easily spear dozens in a short time.

If you have a net, chasing (by throwing rocks) the fish into the net or seine-netting a pool can give you hundreds at a time. Alternatively, block the passage of the water with a wall, leaving only a little opening where you set your landing net you can get quite a few fish too. Then start scaring the fish from above and into the only available exit, which is your net. Where the fish run on the exit river of a lake this can be used as a permanent installation, emptied every day. A related method is the fish basket, where the funnel inside guides the fish into the basket, but their limited intelligence make them unable to find the exit. This trap can be used in conjunction with a wall in an upstream run. Below is a crude basket trap.

Not all trout spawn in rivers or streams, some spawn in the lakes and all the fish in a lake doesn't spawn each year, particularly in lakes with bigger fish. Because of that, setting nets on strategic locations around the lake can bring a good catch. Such locations are usually inlets, outside of peninsulas or river out or intakes.

The same goes for spring. But particularly newly ice-cleared river intakes are sought by the winter-lean trout, seeking food brought by the flooding rivers or streams. Setting a net there overnight will often yield a good catch.

Summer is a poor season for fishing. The water is too hot for much movement and the brightness reveal your nets to the fish. Instead of using nets at this time of year, this is the time when the hook and line represents the best available alternative. For a more industrious approach; baited long-lines.

The fish move less in winter, but can still be caught with hook and line. In the winter the fish is found in deeper portions of the lake, but as spring approaches they move closer to shore. Netting under the ice is somewhat efficient on trout, but far more so on the next species described.

Arctic Char

Of these three species, the one I have the least experience with. It is a social fish, running in shoals. It is mostly pelagic and quite hard to catch in summer time, especially on lower altitude lakes where it goes deeper than the trout. Below: Small arctic char caught in ice fishing.

In late autumn (November approximately) the char goes into shore to spawn and is then to be found in very large shoals and is easily caught with nets. If there is ice you can either put nets under the ice, fish with bait or spear the fish like the Inuits sometimes do. The char is quite easy to catch under the whole period with ice.

Common Whitefish

This fish also moves about in shoals and due to a small mouth almost impossible to use hook and line on. Nets are about the only good option for this specie. A few places it runs in slow flowing rivers, but for a great part it spawns in the lake itself. In summer it is usually found in the deeper portions of the lake, but some can be caught in the shallows too. The fish spawns in late October and November, by setting nets outside peninsulas at that time you can catch lots and lots of this fat fish. If the ice is firm, you can also set nets under the ice, which can provide you with whitefish throughout the winter. How to set nets under the ice will be described in a seperate article as the procedure is quite complicated. The spring is also a reasonably good time to catch this fish in nets, but the fish is, as everything else, leaner then.

Dressing the Fish (illustrations will be edited in as they become available)

Start the cut by inserting the tip of the knife in the anus. Cut up all the way until you reach a harder structure almost at the throat. Rip up the tongue and gills from underneath the gill cover. Stick a finger into the throat and rip the pectoral fins off and the entire digestive system with it. Optionally you can scrape out the “kidneys”, a blackish substance sticking to the back from the inside commonly believed to be blood. If you are to fry the fish, skinning or scaling the whitefish is recommended. Of the organs, all can be eaten, including the roe and sperm. Photo is of me, dressing a few trout in front of the lavvo.

Cooking fish will be handled in a later article. This article series will be temporarily discontinued until I have enough photographic material to post the remaining articles (Mammals, cooking, shellfish, seaweeds, lichens etc...).

A Break From Christmas

When I was out getting the elm for my bow yesterday there was a few other discoveries worth mentioning. I forgot my camera, so the only photo is staged.

I saw two ospreys (Pandion haliaetus). They frequent that area, scouring the river for salmon and trout. Quite majestetic birds.

For the first time I found great burdock (Arctium lappa). The seeds were destroyed, but now I know where to go to find them for replanting at home, where they are not found. Another plant (fern) I found is the Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare). It's root is very sweet in taste and can be eaten raw like candy. In addition to it's sweetness it has a slight licorice taste. Photo below.

Wild Food

Fungi

Hardly a big nutritive element in the primitivist's diet, the fungi still is interesting because of it's flavour and it's value as a variation. Some can be eaten raw, but mostly they are eaten cooked in stews due to their bulk qualities. They can level out a little of either bland or slightly foul taste. Most fungi preserve well after drying in thin slices on a string as long as they are stored in a dry environment. Far from all types of edible fungi will be covered here. Only the most easily recognisable and those who are frequently found in the Norwegian wilds are included. Do consult a good mushroom manual before picking and eating fungi. Don't trust my information blindly.

Boletus

This family has very meaty mushrooms, excellent for stews with their bulk and texture. They a network of tubes under the cap, which is the certain identification of the Boletus genus. Only a few species are poisonous and they can be identified by their red stems. The young specimens are usually the best ones. Older ones become limp and highly insect infested. On the photo are several species of edible boletus.














Chantarells

The “true” chantarelle is the most easily identifiable one, but some of the less conspicuous ones are far more common. Their taste is quite sharp and slightly peppery. They don't get as infested with insects and usually have a longer season than the Boletus. Photo: A day's catch, the ptarmigan is my brother's. In the plastic box are two species of chantarelle.














Russula

Members of the Russula genus are usually brightly toned, but the colours differ from specie to specie. Some of the edible ones can look a little like fluesopp. One of the clear differences are however lack of a ring on the stem. To test whether it is an edible Russula, take a small bit of the cap and taste it. If it tastes good and mild the specie is edible. If foul or sharp in taste, spit it out as it is either poisonous or non-edible.

Lactarius

Some species of this genus are easily identifiable due to the orange “sap”, which become green about an hour after making a cut in the mushroom. They taste sharply, but good. Not tried them myself yet, but they abound in the forests.

Hydnum repandum

This mushroom has an even stronger taste than the chantarell, but I wouldn't describe the taste as peppery. It is easily identifiable by it's bleak cap with spikes underneath.

Albatrellus ovinus

Though this specie isn't said to be much in the kitchen (have yet to test this), it is easily identifiable with it's off-white cap and pores underneath. They are often quite large and grow in great quantity amongst spruce.

Used Norwegian books for detailed information, but was cross-referenced with information from MushroomExpert.Com.

Next Wednesday: Fish

Wild Food

Birds

Getting a bird

All birds are edible, catching them is another matter. You can deadfalls, snares, nets etc. The key of catching them is to establish their habits. Waterfowl is always close to water, ptarmigan feeds on birch in the winter, the capercaillie love juniper berries etc... Although all birds have habits, some has less easily identifiable and predictable habits. And not all habits are particulary useful, especially with primitive traps and weapons. For instance: The wood cock migrate on certain age old patterns, but they fly so fast and are so small that they are practically impossible to hit with anything but a shotgun.

Attracting the birds is also an option. Waterfowl, often being vegetarian, can be attracted with something as simple as common bread, while scavengers can be attracted by carrion. But invite them on places they feel safe, which for birds in general is in open spaces, opposite of most mammals. Ducks need to be presented with things in the water, as they are reluctant to move out of the water. Scavenger birds, like ravens, can more easily spot the carcass if it is in the open and they will feel more safe there, from hungry mammals lurking in the forest.

Hunting birds with primitive weapon is a challenge. More than mammals, birds are not so conserned with being spotted as they have an easy escape route: The air. Locating the birds is often the easy part, getting close enough to put an arrow through their heart is far more difficult. Everything from sneaking to attracting them or simply sit down and wait along a known migratory rout can be tried.

When birds fly up they often exspose them self totally and the speed as at the minimum at this time. By moving around in a relatively open landscape, preferably with flocking birds like the ptarmigan, if you throw a throwing stick just above the birds right after they have taken off the chances are pretty good that you may bag one or two. Compared to losing an arrow, losing a stick isn't of much consern anyway as they are readily replacable.

Ducks and geese molt in a period of the summer. Then they are unable to fly and can be caught easily on the ground. They are however much harder to find at this time, as they are very well aware of their vulnerability.

Dressing the bird

Fish eating birds and geese should be dressed right away, they will go rancid and sour quite quickly after being killed. Other birds can hang for a few days, but it is no requirement. Black grouse, capercaillie and particulary ptarmigan can, in cold weather, hang literally for months without taking damage.

The bird used as an example here was an omnivorous duck (shot by my brother) and thereby had to be dressed right away.














The initial cuts are done encircling the anus to get out the guts without spilling stommach contents on the flesh. If you spill any, wash the inside well afterwards. To get your hands properly into the bird, you may have to cut a little further up the soft part of the belly.














Photo (below): Pulling out the guts.














I usually pull out the guts, heart, stommach and liver and whatever else I grab hold of. The rest I leave in the bird. Everything but the guts and the contents of the stommach is eaten. Though, if you are brave enough, I suppose that isn't out of the question either.














Plucking the bird is eased by the aid of warm water. Pull with the feather direction. Don't take too many feathers at once or you will more than likely rip the skin. Small birds are easier to skin, but you will lose much of the fat sticking to the skin, a resource that may be imperative to your survival.














After the bird is properly plucked, dry it properly off on the outside and singe off the remaining feathers and down over hot coals.














I don't eat birds raw, I do not however know of any reasons not to. Cooking will be addressed in a later article.

Remember that the bones and feathers of birds have many uses too.

Next Wednesday: Fungi

Wild Food

Important food plants

The plants I have included here have been chosen for their potential of a great return on the investment it poses to harvest them. An other requirement is that they are fairly common in the northern temperate-subarctic region of Norway. Even within these criteria, this is far from an exhaustive list, but it is meant to give you an idea of where to start.

Vegetables

Subsisting on vegetables in the boreal forest is virtually impossible. At times it can provide a good variation in the diet however. So it is worth exploring, but not as crucial to survival as meat.

Reedmace/Cattail (Typha latifolia)
This plant is found over a rather limited area in Norway, even if it more than likely could thrive in most of the lowlands and lower highlands all over the country. The reason of it's limited range is probably that it haven't had enough time since the ice age to spread. Where it is found however, it is often in large stands and has a starch production per area quite close to potato! Needless to say, this is probably one of the most interesting food plants found in the northern region and whole tribes of Native Americans depended on it. I haven't tried all of these plants yet. Those I have not I mostly take my information from pfaf.org. All soft parts of this plant is edible and delicious, even the green cobs. The leaves are also very strong and good for cordage, but that is a different story.

The rhizomes are fibrous with a slightly fire proof skin on. To cook them, just throw them on the coals and leave them for some minutes and the starch will be very sweet and can be sucked out of the fibres it sticks too.

Same goes with the stem base, but it must lay on the coals substantially longer. The texture is almost like Chinese Water Chestnut and the taste even better I would say. It can also be cleaned and cooked in a pot.

I have yet to try the cobs, shoots and the pollen, but they are all said to be good and exceptionally nutritious.

Cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
Many references I have seen states that the root of this plant must be cooked several times to remove it's bitterness. If you are intent on eating all of the root, then you have to. But I am not interested in eating the bitter, fibrous outer shell. This shell is very thick on cow parsley, but if you remove it before cooking you have a soft and palatable vegetable. Considere

d the sheer abundance of this plant at times, I have no problem being this picky. The leaves are very foul tasting, I think. But some people mix slight amounts of it in salads.

Nettle (Urtica sp.)
Nettle is very common, but as most vegetables, primarily in places disturbed by humans. It is extremely nutritious and very tasty. The young leaves can be eaten almost raw, but as they get older they need more cooking to remove the bitter taste. The calorie value is, despite appearances, quite high.

Dandelion (Taraxacum offenciale)
The leaves of the dandelion is a quite good in salads. I only eat the young ones though. Older leaves are too bitter for my taste. I am quite ashamed of not yet having tried the root yet, mostly due to being scared of the alleged bitterness. But this is definitely a root worth trying, considering it's extreme abundance and quite sizeable root.

Orpine (Sedum telephium)

The leaves are edible, either raw or cooked. Haven't tried them personally though. What I have tried is to eat the raw root. Quite good, like raw potato, but it is probably even better cooked. Cooking vegetables help you take advantage of starches that would otherwise be indigestible.

Silverweed (Potentilla anserina)
Common root vegetable, which I of some reason have yet to try.

Alpine bistort (Polygonum viviparum)
I have personally eaten the seeds and the root raw. The seeds are small, but easy to gather and high in calories. The root is small, but tastes very good and is probably even better when cooked.

Common plantain (Plantago major)
The seeds are small, but nutritious and easy to gather.

Common reed (Phragmites australis)

Never tried it, as it is doesn't exist in the region where I come from. The roots and shoots and seeds are edible and rich in calories. The green stems can be ground up and the sugar extracted by boiling or melting. Definitely a plant worth closer attention it seems.

Burdock (Arctium sp.)
This specie doesn't grow anywhere I have ventured, but the root is said to be very good eating.

Berries

In the autumn there is an abundance of berries in the boreal forest and the mountains. Despite appearances, it may provide quite a large portion of the daily calorie intake at that time of year. Some berries are more worthwhile than others, but for the sake of variation I snack on them all.

Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus)
Very good tasting berry, maybe not very rich in calories, but it has at least 10 times the vitamin C of orange.

Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
Not a personal favourite of mine, opposite of many of my countrymen. When it has been dried, the peculiar taste milden if dried. It is said to have bigger calorie percentage than most berries.

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)
One of the most tasty of berries. And since the bear loves it that much, it is more than likely one of the most calorie rich ones as well.

Bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)
Quite tasty, but in my opinion not as tasty as the common bilberry. Probably has a reasonable calorie content.

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Tastes a little like cowberry. It grows in the mountains.

Alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina)
Less substantial than bearberry, but of similar taste. Grows in the mountains.

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)
More than likely not much nutrition in these berries. But they are very juicy. When in the mountains I often grab a handful, chew out the liquid and spit out the tart skins. They grow in the forest as well as in the mountains.

Cranberries (Oxycoccus sp.)
Good after the frost and all the way until spring. Hard to gather a lot of them, so it is mostly for the taste of it.

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)
This is a berry I can't stand eating more than one or two of. Nothing more to say about it really.

Wild rose (Rosa sp.)
Fleshy, good tasting fruit. But you need to remove the irritating hairs inside the fruit prior to eating it. A messy process that make this berry hardly worthwhile.

Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus)

These berries are only found in the very south of the boreal region. They are very good, but in my opinion raspberries are better.

Raspberries (Rubus idaeus)
My favourite berry. Very sweet, but gathering any quantity takes considerably long time.

Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
A very sweet berry, but also hard to gather in worthwhile quantity.

Nuts

Hazel (Corylus Avellana)
These are the most widespread of the nuts, but are still confined to the warmer areas. The crops can be heavy and the tasty fruits are definitely worth harvesting.

Oak (Quercus sp.)

I have not tried these nuts as oak is only found on the very edge of the zone written about here. The nuts have to be leached to be edible because of the great amounts of tannin found in them naturally.

Digging stick

The digging stick is the primitive gatherer's primary tool. It doesn't need to be much, any stout and pointed stick will do. While a shovel has two functions, breaking up the soil and hauling it out of the hole, the digging stick only breaks up the soil. The hands serve for hauling out the broken soil. The advantages of the digging stick is in it's simplicity and precision. While digging a ditch is easier with a shovel, digging up a single root is more easily accomplished with a digging stick. On the photo below I am digging up cow parsley.

Next Wednesday: Birds

Wild Food

Nutrition

The body does, in addition to energy, require a lot of different other substances to function. Though this may initially seem like a deal breaker for living a life in the wild, it isn't. After all, that is what the body is designed for. If avoid the nutritional faults outlined here, chances are you will have an a lot healthier diet than most people today do.

Water

Though this isn't normally considered as nutrition, it is a major element of the body's composition and need to be given some attention as well. Drinking a lot of water is important to keep healthy. And that is equally true in winter, opposite common belief. How much you need to drink is variable to activity. Many say that drinking when you are thirsty too late and that your body is heavily dehydrated already. That may be so, but I trust that the body tells me when I need to drink more. To compensate , I drink a little more than I feel like when I drink.

If the water is likely to have a lot bacteria, which it rarely does in Norway, you should boil the water before drinking it. To this date, I have yet to boil water for drinking. Charcoal can supposedly filter out heavy metals and other dangerous substances, but do not take my word for it as I have never done it myself.

Vitamin C

To stay healthy, you need vitamin C. Lack of vitamin C, when well progressed, will ultimately result in scurvy. A condition causing loss of teeth and various other unfortunate consequences. Vitamin C is fortunately quite common in nature. It is found in many green plants, such as nettle and in great quantities in many berries, such as cloudberry. But what do you do in winter? Luckily, the organs of animals carry a lot of this vitamin. Not only mammals, but fish and fowl too. (Johansson 1991)

It is worth noticing that vitamin C is very intolerant of heat. That means that the food needs to be eaten raw, including meats and organs. Some people would rather drink pine needle tea, which also contains this vitamin. But if there are no pine, or you don't like pine tea (like me), then you don't have a choice in wintertime.

The trichina worm and other parasites

Getting parasites is a very serious matter. To a hunter-gatherer, life will often be sustained at the margins of energy surplus. A parasite will literally zap your energy and also deprive you of important trace elements. Tapeworms and other common internal parasites can be expelled by ingesting tansy (Chrysanthemum vulgare). Do however use this plant with caution, it is toxic to a degree. (Mabey 2001)

The trichina worm is a particularly dangerous parasite. It is harboured in muscular tissue of carnivores and omnivores. Of that reason: Never eat raw or poorly cooked meat of an animal that occasionally eats other animals. To be safe the meat needs to be heated to the temperature of 62C or until clear juices run from the meat. (Wikipedia)

Rodents (including hares) should not be consumed raw, because of the danger of tularaemia. If a hare looks ill, leave it alone. Better safe than sorry.

Salt and ionide

Two composites that are often of limited availability, especially in areas far from the sea, are salt and iodine. Plants contain little salt. Too little to sustain humans with enough without input of pure salt. If you have a high degree of vegetables in your diet you will need to have a way of getting salt. Salt is usually unevenly spread out. This is the reason why salt was a major trade commodity in southern areas already a long time ago. Herbivores accumulate salt through their diet. Consequently, by eating a lot of meat, you are probably getting enough salt. (Tulloch 2004)

There are many areas of this world with deficiency of iodine. Iodine is found in sea water, so the deficiencies are rarer there. How well this need is covered by eating meat I don't know, but I have heard nothing about inland Inuits and Siberian reindeer herders having goitre. A disease commonly caused by iodine deficiency. Icelandic lichens contains iodine, but in very small amounts according to unconfirmed rumours. In a primitive lifeway, especially if your diet is high in vegetables, it is probably wise to spend a longer period foraging and fishing by the sea.

Carbohydrates and fat

Except from the stomach contents of herbivores, there are little easily available carbohydrates in the northern areas. The further south you get, the more you have available to you. But no matter where you are in the temperate zone, there will not be much to find in winter. A consideration in this regard is protein poisoning, you need to eat quite a lot of either fat or carbohydrates or you will in essence starve. (Goring 2006, Kochanski 1988) The only solution left then, is fat. There is no point in even consuming lean animals as your energy level will still go down. Hares and other rodents are particularly lean as a rule. To avoid poisoning when subsisting primarily on these animals you need to boil the whole animal, intestines and all. (Kochanski 1988) Whether it is really necessary to throw away the skin, I am not sure of. I would assume though, that if you take off the skin but throw the little fat there is on the skin into the pot you would be fine.

Next Wednesday: Important food plants

Litterature:

Kochanski, M. (1988), Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival. Edmonton, Lone Pine Publishing.
Johansson, T. (1994), Mat. Forntida Teknik. Issue 2, 2006, pp. 41-47.
Mabey, R. (2001), Food for Free. London, Collins.
Tulloch, A. (2004), Salt. Bulletin of Primitive Technology. Issue #28, Fall 2004.
Goring, S. (2006) The Reality of Food in the Bush (Part 2). Bushcraft. Issue 2, Summer 2006, pp. 18-21.

Wild Food

This is part of a series that will be published every Wednesday. Again, until I run out of something to write about. The first parts will be quite theoretic.

Wild Food Economics

Economics is a part of every person's life, regardless if you live in the wild or in the modern money economy. For a private economy to be healthy, you have to be spending less resources than you are generating. The main difference between the modern system and when you are living in the wild is that the modern system is based on money, while for a person craving to be self-sufficient, it is all about energy. If you through a long period of time have a lower intake of energy than you are spending, you will die.

Energy Efficiency

How long time you need to go before dying of starvation is dependant on your level of activity. If you are in a lot of activity you need proportionally more food to be able to survive. In extreme cases, it may in fact be impossible to consume enough food to recuperate that same day. You may have to rest for a day or two and, through that time, consume more food than you really need to rebuild the reserves. Expending as little as possible on any activity can be vital in a pressed food situation. The Art of Nothing as proposed by Elpel (1995) is a mindset quite unfamiliar to the modern industrious worker. When there is nothing else to do, the moral is to rest and consequently spend as little energy as possible on activities that doesn't bring food.

While harvesting food the main goal (away from nutritional demands) should also be to expend as little energy as you can. What gives highest output of gathering, fishing and hunting/trapping will vary from environment to environment. The economic concept of alternative investment is valid here too. Although you can subsist on foods with lower input to output ration energy wise there are two reasons why you should always choose the easiest food source:

• Tomorrow is never certain. If you can build up a stockpile of food or put on some body fat, that will make tomorrow a day of food security.

• Food gathering is rarely the most exciting activity imaginable, leisure time will always be more desirable.

This way of thinking does not serve to bring any species to extinction. Because, as the specie become more scarce, there will always be easier food sources available. Though, this is only true as long as a technological innovation, that make harvesting easier, doesn't happen.

Investments

What is the easiest food will also change on the base of what tools you have available and your level of skill in procuring specific types of food. In a short term survival situation, the most desirable food may be unattainable due to lack of tools to accomplish this. As an example is a fishing net. Making a fishing net require a lot of investment in time and energy. But when it is finished you have a reliable way of getting lots of desirable food: fish. As your situation progresses into long term survival, the food requiring little tools and skill to gather, like vegetables and clams will become less and less important. That is because they generally offer less energy than trapping and fishing versus time and energy expended. Because of this, it is also important to be aware of what you are putting your effort into. If there is something that is meant to be expendable, like throwing or digging sticks often are, there is no reason to make them anything more than serviceable. If a tool require lots of effort to make, but is meant to last only a short time, it may not be worth making.

This brings us over on traps. A trap (nets are really traps too) often require little effort to make and leave you free to attend other business, such a setting more traps. Hunting is normally not a worthwhile activity and hunting tools will most of the time either be for protection or exploiting opportunities that may present themselves.

Protein Poisoning

Although protein poisoning mostly a nutritional problem, it carries some relevance to the economics of food. Rodents often provide easy meat for a primitivist. The problem is that rodents' flesh is normally very lean, containing virtually no fat. Without consuming quite substantial amounts of fat or carbohydrates with the meat, that will result in a type of poisoning that can kill as quickly as any starvation. (Goring 2006, Kochanski 1988)

Next Wednesday: Nutrition

Litterature:
Kochanski, M. (1988), Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival. Edmonton, Lone Pine Publishing.
Elpel, T. J. (1995) The Art of Nothing. Bulletin of Primitive Technology. Issue #10, Fall 1995.
Goring, S (2006) The Reality of Food in the Bush (Part 2). Bushcraft. Issue 2, Summer 2006, pp. 18-21.