Bugs, Worms, and Weeds - What to Eat When the Cupboard is Bare

BUGS, WORMS, AND WEEDS - WHAT TO EAT WHEN THE CUPBOARD IS BARE

Bugs as Food

Do the Zetas eat bugs? They did in their past!

ZetaTalk: Early Zeta, written Dec 15, 1995.: Early Zeta was a transplant. The worlds we were placed upon had not sustained a life form complex enough to be considered a base for intelligence. Early Zeta therefore was placed, full grown and conscious, on Zeta worlds. Thus transplanted, Early Zeta multiplied to the extent our worlds could support a population, much as humans have upon the Earth. Early Zeta differed from our present form primarily in brain size and mental capacities. Early Zeta was also stockier, shorter, had large flat feet and in appearance was something of a low brow, with the head jutting out the back rather than rounding. Our large eyes were an adaptation to our worlds, dim by your standards, so Early Zeta was a bit blind on his new home, not a problem as the only danger Early Zeta faced was from others of his kind. Our worlds do not contain carnivorous, nor even herbivorous animals - just plants and bugs.

Eating bugs is a much overlooked source of protein and fat. Many recipes exist.

Insects as Human Food,
from Ohio State Fact Sheet on Entomology: The eating of insects has yet to become a day-to-day activity for most people in the United States and Europe in spite of the superior nutritional content of edible insects compared to other animals. Other cultures around the world have made insects a main ingredient in their diets, providing an excellent source of protein. Insects are an inexpensive substitute for meat in many developing countries. In Mexico, grasshoppers and other edible insects are sold by the pound in village markets and are fried before being eaten. Many are sold in cans as fried grasshoppers, chocolate covered ants, etc. Tortillas are served with red and white agave worms in many Mexico city restaurants. Columbian citizens enjoy eating a variety of insects such as termites, palm grubs and ants. Ants are ground up and used as a spread on breads. Popular insects eaten in the Philippines are June beetles, grasshoppers, ants, mole crickets, water beetles, katydids, locusts and dragonfly larvae. They can be fried, broiled or sauteed with vegetables.

In parts of Africa, ants, termites, beetle grubs, caterpillars and grasshoppers are eaten. Some insects such as termites are eaten raw soon after catching, while others are baked or fried before eating. The giant waterbug roasted and eaten whole is a favorite food in Asia. It is easily collected around lights at night around bodies of water. Sago grubs are popular for cooks in Papua New Guinea, most often boiled or roasted over an open fire. Other edible insects eaten in this country include larvae of moths, wasps, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, adult grasshoppers, cicadas, stick insects, moths and crickets.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/bugfood/yf813.htm: The natives of Algeria would collect large numbers of desert locusts to use as food. They were a valuable resource for the poor population. The locusts were cooked in salt water and dried in the sun. Not only were they collected for personal use, but the locusts were traded in the markets as well. Australian natives, known as Aborigines, have eaten many different insects throughout history. Hundreds of Aborigines would come together at the Bogong mountains to feast on Bogong moths. These moths would gather in large numbers on the cave floors and in rock crevices. They were harvested, cooked in sand and stirred in hot ashes. This would burn off the wings and legs. The moths were then sifted through a net to remove their heads before they were eaten by the Aborigines. Some of the moths were ground into paste and made into cakes. Another important insect in the Aboriginal diet was the witchety grub. This was a moth larva that lived in the roots of the acacia bush, also known as the witchety bush. The grubs were eaten raw or cooked in ashes. Cooked grubs supposedly taste like almonds. The grubs were a valued food source in the Australian desert, especially to women and children. Some of the insects eaten by the Aborigines were very sweet. The natives would dig into the ground looking for the nests of honeypot ants. The workers of these ants collect honeydew and feed it to other worker ants, which would become storage containers for the sweet liquid. The "storage" workers could be found in the nests.

The Japanese have used insects as human food since ancient times. The practice probably started in the Japanese Alps, where many aquatic insects are captured and eaten. Thousands of years ago, this region had a large human population but a shortage of animal protein. Since the area had an abundance of aquatic insects, this food source became very important for human survival. The Japanese still use insects in many recipes. If you were to go to a restaurant in Tokyo, you might have the opportunity to sample some of these insect-based dishes
* hachi-no-ko - boiled wasp larvae
* zaza-mushi - aquatic insect larvae
* inago - fried rice-field grasshoppers
* semi - fried cicada
* sangi - fried silk moth pupae
Most of these insects are caught wild except for silk moth pupae. They are by-products of the silk industry. Silk moths are raised in mass for their ability to produce silk. The larvae, the young silk moths, produce the silk. Once they pupate, they can no longer produce silk and are then used as food.

People from West Africa have been known to feast on termites, crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, palm weevil larvae, and compost beetle larvae. Termites are collected by placing a bowl of water under a light source. The termites are attracted to the light and will then fall into the water. If large numbers of termites are gathered, they are sold at local markets. People of all ages eat the winged reproductive termites, but the queen termites are considered a delicacy and are only eaten by adults. The termites are roasted over a fire or hot coals or fried in a pot. After cooking, the wings are removed and salt is added to taste. In some parts of Nigeria, the Cirina forda Westwood larva is reported to be the most important and widely eaten insect. This insect, often called Kanni, is a caterpillar that is collected from the sheabutter tree. It is boiled and dried in the sun before it is eaten. Kanni is widely used as an ingredient in vegetable soup in this region. A very large edible insect is the palm weevil larva. It can be four inches long and more than two inches wide. The mature larvae are fleshy and grublike with a high fat content. These insects are collected from the trunks of palm trees. They are fried in a pot or frying pan. They are reported to be very delicious. The compost beetle larvae are even larger than the palm weevil larvae. They live in garbage or manure piles or swampy areas. The end of the abdomen, which contains the guts, is removed before the larvae are washed and fried. Some people refuse to eat this insect because it is found in such dirty places.

And more …

National Wildlife Federation
Based on the book, Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects
December 1998: ... dragonflies are delicious. In Bali, an island in the Pacific Ocean. But why, you may ask, would anyone eat insects? Because the little flying buggers make a high-protein meal. And they're free for the catching! People in Bali go "fly fishing" with strips of palmwood. First they dip the strips in sticky sap. Next, they run through the rice fields, waving their sticky sticks. Dragonflies hit the sticks and get glued. Then the people fry the insects in coconut oil and eat them like candy. ... Indonesian children ... usually eat taro and yams, potato-like tubers. The tubers have lots of vitamins and carbohydrates but not much protein. So for a high protein snack, these kids hunt stinkbugs. They look for the bugs along forest trails. There, big kids climb trees to catch them. The big kids then hand the bugs down to younger children. To cook their catch, the kids stuff the bugs into bags made of leaves. Then they toss the bags into a fire. How do the bugs taste? One American said, "They were better than some worms I've tried." People in Indonesia eat other creepy crawlies as well, including the grubs .... They say they're chewy and taste like bacon.

People in Botswana (a country in southern Africa) eat mopane worms for the same reason that people in the United States eat hamburger - to get lots of protein. But mopane worms have three times as much protein as beef. The worms are really caterpillars of one of the largest moths in the world. Here's a tip: Don't eat the caterpillars when they're young and little. They're yucky then. Wait until they've fattened up on the leaves of mopane trees. The next step is to squeeze the guts out of the caterpillars. ... The guts are filled with a yellow-green slimy mess that smells like ground-up leaves. Then the caterpillars are boiled in salt water ... and spread out to dry. Dried worms last for many months. The worms taste like beef bits with a woody flavor. Many insects are good-tasting and high in protein. Honey ants, for example, are sweet treats. Fried grasshoppers and crickets taste something like fried shrimp. Fried mealworms taste like pretzels that were once alive. And leaf-footed bugs are fruity. Insects are also easy to find and free for the taking. Does this mean you should eat every insect you can catch? Well, no - some of them taste really bad, and some can make you sick.

So how to know if a bug is edible, or the kind that will make you sick?

http://www.survival.com/bug.htm: Bees and wasps are OK eaten after a good boiling. The poison is basically a protein which disassembles at boiling temperatures. The stinger softens. Pounding them before boiling is effective. Bee and Wasp larvae are delicious! Avoid insects which carry disease, are poisonous, have fine hairs, bright colors, or eight or more legs. One of the most dangerous insects is in the cantharidin family (blister beetles). I doubt that you will run into those unless you pop over to the Mediterranean just to munch bugs. When in doubt about a bug do the insect safety test. And follow these time tested rules.
Always try to cook insects.
Never eat bugs you find dead.
Don't eat bugs that bite back!
If it smells really bad, don't eat it!

Insects or spiders for dinner should always be fresh, as they deteriorate rapidly after being killed.
Cooking in some manner kills any bacteria that might be on or in them.
The insects can be purged in various ways.
Meal worms for instance can be fed corn meal the day before they are eaten, as their digestive tracks then contain .. corn meal!

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/bugfood/bugfood2.htm from the book Entertaining with Insects: Insects are best if cooked while alive. In contrast to beef, lamb, and poultry, postmortem changes rapidly render insects unpalatable. Mealworms need to be changed to bran meal or corn meal or starved for 24 hours, to purge their guts. To separate mealworms from any attached food, waste material, or other debris, place a handful of them in a colander and gently toss. Remove any dead worms, and wash the remaining live insects under cool water. Place the worms on paper towels and pat dry. The mealworms are ready to be cooked. You may want to remove the legs, wings, and ovipositor of Crickets after dry roasting them. Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 1-2 hours, until the insects can be easily crushed with a spoon.

Earthworms

Earthworms are an excellent source of protein, reportedly 82% protein.
Earthworms are also high in Omega 3 oil, the essential oil of ocean going fish, which reduces risk of heart disease.
In short, they are an excellent food source!
Where earthworms are noted for building soil from compost heaps, earthworms don't suffer from fungus, bacterial, or viral infections, multiply rapidly, and don't make noise or run off!
How does one go about growing earthworms for food, a process called vermiculture.
The worm to use is the red wriggler, as they take to compost piles and being handled.
We at the Troubled Times nonprofit tried our hand at earthworm growing, trying the monster night crawlers, so much more protein per worm.
We found all the night crawlers died out, and refused to be domesticated.
Red wrigglers, on the other hand, thrived.
All kinds of vegetative trash will be turned into soil by these industrious little wrigglers.
But there are some items that will make them sick.

Mother Earth News, June/July 2000
http://www.motherearthnews.com/: Sort out citrus rinds, avacado pits, and onions. ... Lawn grass and leaves will be the mainstay of your earthworms diet. In addition to vegetable and fruit scraps, you can add egg shells, tea bags, and coffee grounds. Do not use meat scrap or fat. ... For bin-based vermiculture, it is generally recommended that folks use red wigglers (Eisenia foetida). Worms reproduce rapidly, a pair will produce an egg capsule weekly containing up to 20 eggs. These eggs will lie dormant until the proper temperature and moisture conditions allow them to hatch - normally within two or three weeks. Within eight to 12 weeks of hatching the new worms are themselves ready to reproduce. ... The worms tend to remain most active near the pile's surface, where they are continuouly lured by newly applied organic material. ... If the worm pile is built too high, the weight of the organic material will speed decomposition, boosting the pile's internal temperature to levels dangerously above the worm's ideal 70 degrees F. ... Soils high in clay or organic material lack the grit, or small pieces of soil material, necessary for worm digestion. .. you can try mixing the sand into your soil.

More about that little bit of grit or sand the worms need for digestion later, when it comes time to clean their little bodies for the soup pot.
The grit is the hardest thing to remove.
But before we leave the subject of growing those little wrigglers, there's lots to be learned.
We at the Troubled Times nonprofit made lots of mistakes, and learned from them, so I'd like to share your experience.
First off, forget dirt.
It would seem like worms would need dirt to live in, as they zip down into the dirt to escape predators and to keep cool in Summer of warm in Winter, but if you have a domesticated compost pile and are trying to raise a mess of wrigglers for dinner, you don't need dirt!
Our second mistake was in not removing the egg casts, as this is a natural population control mechanism for earthworms.
Too many eggs casts, too many worms, so they stop laying eggs.
In a closed system, where they can't escape the egg casts, this will eventually mean the population die of old age, with no new wormlets coming up to replace the oldsters.
That's what happened to us.
Darryl Jones, of Australia, was a Troubled Times member at the time, and made his living in vermiculture.
He advised:

Harvesting
/food/tfood04m.htm: The secret to worm farming is simple. You have to extract worm all the time. When you leave cast behind the mechanism for cocoon burst and egg creation is switched off.

The goal of Darryl's business was earthworms for food for livestock and fish, and also for liquid fertilizer made by watering the worm beds.
He sold worm beds to greenhouses for the liquid fertilizer and to dairy farms where cow manure was converted back to become cow feed!

Vital Earth
/food/tfood04a.htm: Our modular above ground system allows for easy harvesting of Earthworms and cast, additional modules can be added at any time.
* Each pit will produce approximately 20 litres of liquid cast per day that can be further diluted 50:1 giving a useable liquid fertilizer of 1000 liters per day.
* Solid casts have been shown to have 6 times more available nitrogen than feed material, 7 times more phosphorus, 2 times more calcium and magnesium, and a neutral pH
* Alternatively if the application of the pit is for maximum Earthworm production, then a kilo of worms (approximately 4000) per day can be raised and harvested.
* The control valve, filter, and misting system ensures correct moisture levels, and inbuilt liquid cast filter provides a solid free liquid fertilizer, the optional tarpaulin cover is useful in extreme heat, rain or wind but normally is not required.

The method used in these worm beds was to add fresh compost and turn frequently, not overheat or freeze, optimally at 70 degrees, harvest the worms frequently, water the beds and collect the liquid draining out of the beds as liquid fertilizer, if desired, and eventually harvest the casts themselves as a food source for livestock.

Casts are hard, soil colored nubbins about the size of a bean, usually left on the surface.
Worm beds thus produce worms as protein, cast as livestock feed, and liquid fertilizer.
I might add, the compost pile can then be dug into the garden, helping the garden grow.
New beds are started by adding egg casts to these beds.

We at the Troubled Times nonprofit tested the worth of the liquid drainage from the worm beds, in our hydroponic lab.
What we found was that it grew plants hydroponically equally as well as the commercial nutrient solution!
I can personally attest to this, as I was down there counting flower blossoms, leaves on sprouts, and testing the nitrogen and potash levels.

So now that we've raised those red wrigglers, and are harvesting them, how does one go about eating them?
The myth is that if you drop earthworms into cold water, they will purge themselves, and be cleaned.
We found that after an hour they were still swimming around down there, had not drown, and mostly had not purged themselves.
Certainly, the grit, pieces of sand in their digestive tracks, was still there, and produced that sand in the teeth feeling when eaten.
What we found worked was finely chopping the worms and then rinsing them. This got rid of the grit, and whatever they were in the process of digesting.

Earthworms seemed to have no taste, so whatever dish one added the to prevailed as the dominant taste.
My favorite story from the times when we ate whatever the worm chef dished up was the chicken soup story.
A neighbor had just fixed the roof, and we asked him to taste test some 'chicken soup'.
He downed the bowl, pronounced it good but added he thought it needed more chicken.
Then seeing our eyes glued to his face as he emptied the bowl, he said 'this ain't one of them worm recipes, is it?'
Oops, too late! But we were all none of the worse for wear, after taste testing various worm recipes.
The best were those where one could not see the actual worm shape, but where chopped worm was added to soup or stews.

How does one get worms for the vermiculture beds after the pole shift?
Today you can order a mess of red wrigglers, through the mail, but after the shift will have to extract them from the soil.
This can be done by simply turning over some soil and grabbing them, or putting coffee grounds or some other tasty item on top of the soil to attract them, but can also be done by a process called grunting.

Grunting
/food/tfood04r.htm: The setup does not have to be all that fancy. A farmer friend of mine showed me how just by stomping a shovel into the ground and then sort of drumming on the side of the shovel handle with his outstretched fingers. I have done it on a small scale with a trowel in my garden. It does help to have worms in the soil though. If there aren't any they won't show up.

Weeds

Purslane, also known as pigweed, is remarkably tasty.
I was weeding it out of my garden until I learned what it was!
Delicious, slightly sweet, more tasty than lettuce.
It is technically a succulent, thus has a puffy stem and leaves.
The juicy stems of Purslane are high in Vitamin C, but there's more …

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/weedsdiseases/a/purslane.htm: Purslane just happens to contain alpha-linolenic acid, one of the highly sought-after Omega-3 fatty acids. Why pay money for fish oil when you can grow your own Omega-3 fatty acids as part of your edible landscaping? Especially when it takes little effort to grow purslane, since it does grow like a weed. In order to preserve purslane's juiciness for eating, harvest this delight of your edible landscaping in the morning or evening, when you won't have to compete with intense sunlight. Purslane can either be used raw in salads or sauteed as a side dish. In addition to the crispy texture you would expect from a succulent, purslane also has an interesting peppery flavor.

Stinging Nettle is another weed in my area, and I know it well having been stung by brushing against it many times as a child.
The sting eases after about 20 minutes, but in the meantime, pretty awful. Akin to wasp and bee stings.
However, once steamed as a vegetable or put into soups, it is reportedly delicious!
I must say, I avoided trying this, having been traumatized in childhood, but starvation would drive me there, I'm sure.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html: I pick in quantity, steam them, freeze them, put them in soups, stews, and other dishes. Clean and chop nettles wearing rubber gloves. Once you've cooked them a little, the stingers are deactivated, and the plant becomes wonderfully edible. Nettles have a bad reputation as an unpleasant-tasting survival food in some circles. That's because people don't know how to prepare them. They often boil them, which is awful. Nettle leaves are good simmered in soups 5-10 minutes, but my favorite method is the waterless steaming method. I enjoy nettles as a vegetable side-dish with rice and beans. Sometimes I make creamed nettles-much more satisfying than creamed spinach. Because nettles have the richest, hardiest taste of any green, I often combine them with lighter ingredients, such as celery, zucchini, lemon juice, or tomato sauce.

I also dry nettles for winter use and tea. It doesn't taste like a normal tea-not bitter, spicy, minty or lemony. It's more like a strong stock of a rich, deep, green plant essence, and it's one of the most nourishing drinks of all. Whenever I feel run down, tired, or even irritable, I think of making myself some. As food, this tonic is good for rebuilding the system of chronically ill people. Nineteenth century literature is full of so-called constitutionally weak people, who usually die on the last page. In Russia, they were given freshly squeezed nettle juice-a tonic loaded with iron and other nutrients-for iron-deficiency anemia. This often worked. Many of the benefits are due to the plant's very high levels of minerals, especially, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, manganese, silica, iodine, silicon, sodium, and sulfur. They're a good source of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and B complex vitamins. Nettles also have high levels of easily absorbable amino acids. They're ten percent protein, more than any other vegetable.

Dandelion is another completely edible weed.
Dandelions are high in magnesium, calcium, potassium, and Vitamins A and C.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they rank among the top four green vegetables in overall nutritional value.
It was imported to America as a food, but escaped the settlers' gardens and took over our lawns!

From the book, Honey from a Weed /food/tfood17f.htm: Pick when they are tender enough to eat as a salad, cook in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes and drain. This takes away some of the bitterness. Blossoms are good prepared like squash blossoms or elderberry flowers but are best known for making wine. If the roots are dug in early spring when the crowns are harvested they make a good vegetable. They should be peeled, for the outer skin is very bitter. Boil, then drain, then cook and season like carrots.

Ever hear of Dandelion wine?
The following recipe suggests adding citrus juice and spices for flavor, and adding sugar to increase the alcohol content, but at its base it is using fermented dandelion flowers.
As with all bread making or wine making, yeast is necessary, but yeast spores are in the air all the time.
This is why mold develops on your walls. The spores are in the air.

http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/dandelionwine.htm: Wash the dandelion blossoms well. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for an hour. Strain. Cool. While still warm (but not hot), stir in the yeast. Let stand overnight and pour into bottles. Allow uncorked bottles to set in a darkened place for three weeks. Then cork and store bottles in a cool place. Makes about 4 quarts.

That warning about leaving the bottle uncorked is important.
I used to make wine in my basement, from sugar and grape juice, on the cheap.
I made the mistake of capping the bottles once, and had an explosion in the basement.
Glass and grape juice everywhere!
The fermentation produces gas!

Prickly Pear cactus is another edible weed, if one lives in desert areas.

Prickly Pear
/food/tfood17e.htm: Prickly pear cactus is easy-to-grow and drought resistant. The plants thrive is sunny arid regions but can't tolerate snow and frost or extremely wet environments. It is not isolated to the Arizona deserts as it is found throughout the United States on the plains as far east as Nebraska and grows along the Atlantic coast. Throughout Los Angels it is so common that it is often regarded as a weed. It can produce food year-round. The pads, fruits, seeds and flowers are all edible and can be prepared in a variety of ways. Cactus are about 90% water and the easiest way to obtain water from cactus is to peel the fruit or young pads and eat them raw. A glue-like liquid can be obtained if you mash and press the pulp. Diced Pads can be used to thicken soups and stew. The fruit tastes like watermelon. The seeds can be dried and made into flour. Peeled pads can be baked like squash or pickled. The peeled pads can also be sliced thin (like green beans) and boiled. The fruit ripens in summer and can be used to make drinks, pies, jam, jellies, ice cream and other desert items. Prickly pear planted around perimeter of your yard provides a steady supply of food, and serves as a natural fence through which most animal and human intruders won't penetrate.

Kudzu is another surprise.
Having lived in the South, I can attest to what a pest Kudzu is.
The vine covers and eventually kills trees, covers abandoned houses so they disappear from view.
It was brought to the US for errosion control, and soon became a pest.
What to do with Kudzu? EAT it!

Encarta Encyclopedia: Kudzu, common name of a vine native to China and Japan. The flowers, borne on long racemes, are large and purple. The fruit is a flat, papery pod covered with a tawny down. Kudzu plants are grown from root cuttings. They produce long, lateral runners that generate roots at intervals. Kudzu produces edible roots, and the stems yield a fiber called ko-hemp. Since the introduction of kudzu into the United States in 1876, it has become important as a source of hay and forage and for its use in controlling soil erosion. Kudzu is well adapted to the southern United States. In northern regions, other legumes, such as clover and alfalfa, grow more plentifully. As a hay plant, the viny nature of kudzu makes it difficult to harvest, but as pasturage, kudzu is valuable for its high protein and vitamin A and D content. Because of the binding capacity of its long runners, kudzu is valuable in reducing soil erosion. In some places, however, it has spread into forest borders, drainage ditches, and other places, and many farmers and foresters consider it a weed.

The tubers of Kuzu can be dug and eaten like potato.

Eating Kudzu
http://www.pathcom.com/~bioplus/root.htm: From ancient times to the present days, the root of Kudzu has been commonly used in Far Eastern culture as a food, a rich source of starch. Starch derived from Kudzu Root contains a high amount of iron, a fair portion of calcium and phosphorus, and a little sodium. Interestingly, it has more calories per gram than honey.

The leaves are fodder for livestock but heck, why not as a salad green for humans!
A Troubled Times member gave it a try, and found them delicious!

/food/tfood17m.htm: I tasted Kudzu today. It has a normal leafy green flavor and could easily be used as a salad item. No after-taste, no bitterness, your basic lettuce substitute. I was pleasantly surprised!

There are even grasses that are edible, for humans.
Lemon grass is tropical and used in Tai or Vietnamese dishes, but cannot tolerate frost.
A cold tolerant grass is Scurvy Grass.
Formerly the fresh herb was used on sea-voyages as a preventative of Scurvy,
a fatal illness caused by lack of Vitamin C.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/scurvy35.html: Abundant on the shores in Scotland, growing inland along some of its rivers and Highland mountains and not uncommon in stony, muddy and sandy soils in England and Ireland, also in the Arctic Circle, sea-coasts of Northern and Western Europe and to high elevations in the great European mountain chains.

Cattails are entirely edible:

/food/tfood17i.htm: The Paiute eat cattail seeds. A friend of mine and I were scratching our heads about how they separated the seeds from so much fluff. Finally we just lit a pile of fluff which of course disappeared with a poof and continued adding a little at a time until what was left was some nice toasty seeds. Tasty but tiny. In addition to edible cattail seeds, spring buds on underground stems and young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked like asparagus. Cores of the young leaves can be cooked in the same way. Cook female flowers which are green and low on the stalks like corn on the cob. Starchy cores of underground stems in winter can also be ground into flour.

The list of weeds that are edible goes on and on, and includes Violets, which can be used as a green salad or cooked and eaten like spinach, Plantain, which is very high in Vitamin A, Lambsquarters, Lichens, Puffballs, Burdock roots and Chickweed, among many many others.

Still hungry?
How about some snails, snakes, frogs, or bone soup?
Snails are not necessarily yuck food, as certain snails are a pricey culinary delight - Escargot.
The preparation of fresh snail is an arduous task

http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/NAP/00-188.htm#_Toc508430523: The first stage in preparing snails for human consumption is to purge them on wheat bran or corn meal; rolled oats can also be used. These products have been found to be the most effective purging agents as the high percentage of roughage contained within them will hasten the process of ridding the digestive system of any soil or other food stuffs. The snails need to be purged for a period of three days followed by two days of starvation to completely clean out the snails digestive system. A misting system should be timed just before dark to encourage the snails to commence feeding. The misting also delivers moisture for the snails to drink.

1. remove the membrane if any, over the opening of the shell
2. soak the live snails in enough water to cover them completely.
3. add ½ a cup of salt or ¼ cup of vinegar for every 50 snails.
4. soak the snails in this solution for 4 hours.
5. change the water several times during the 4 hour period.
6. rinse the snails under running water.
7. put snails into cold water and bring to the boil.
8. boil the snails for eight minutes
9. plunge the snails into cold water and drain.
10. with a cocktail fork or some other similar shaped implement remove the snail from the shell.

Snake is also edible, and tastes, I've been told, just like chicken.
From a Troubled Times member:

../food/tfood40a.htm: Most people who eat snakes prefer larger ones which can be butchered by removing the rib eye tenderloin along the spine which will be without bones. It will separate by being pulled away from the spine, usually intact. The balance of the carcass will be exceptionally boney and probably best used for fodder for the crawfish ponds.

Oh, that reminds me! Crawfish is also edible, and can be raised in crawfish ponds. They eat just about anything.
Again, from a Troubled Times member:

../food/tfood03s.htm: In Australia crawfish are called Yabbies. They are scavengers and mud dwellers and the hardest part in raising them is keeping them from migrating. They can be raised in indoor tanks. They grow really fast, but when growing the big ones tend to eat the little ones. They practically ate everything I gave them, dinner leftovers, etc.

Frog legs are another restaurant delicacy.
From another Troubled Times member:

/food/tfood40b.htm: In Asia, frog meat is considered a delicacy, and personally, I prefer frog meat to chicken meat. In Asia, we didn't have to raise them, there were plenty of them in the rural area or in the wet rice fields. Up here in Canada, a friend of mine built a fairly large outdoor fish pond complete with water plants to make his pond as natural as he could. He caught a bull frog in the wild and put the frog in the pond, and after the second winter passed the bull frog survived. During the winter, the bull frog hibernated. One catches them at night with a flash light. Just shine the light into the frog's face and catch them by hand. Frog skin can be very toxic. There was a case here in Canada where a youngster caught a toad and licked the toad's skin and this youngster was in a coma for several days. To prepare frogs, one should remove the head and the skin, just keep the legs and the torso. Deep fried or in soup, either way they are delicious.

Bones are an excellent calcium source, and bones are softened when boiled in soups.

From the A Book About a Thousand Things /food/tfood30a.htm: What softens the bones in canned fish? The bones in canned fish are softened by heat. Canned foods are processed after the containers are sealed. Processing is heating for a certain period at temperatures sufficiently high to kill all organisms that may cause spoilage. It is this heating that softens the bones in canned salmon, sardines, kippered herring and similar fish products.

Are we supposed to eat bugs and worms and such?
We are technically omnivores, so the answer is yes.
To quote from the book The Recipe for Living Without Disease
by Aajonus Vonderplanitz, author of The Primal Diet.

It is true that most humans cannot properly digest the leaves, stalks, and roots of whole raw vegetables, including seaweeds and dried algae. A human is not an herbivore. Out intestines are 2 ½ times shorter than most herbivores. We have only one stomach, while herbivores have 2-4 stomachs. Herbivores have nearly 60,000 times more enzymes than we have to disassemble cellulose to obtain the fat and proteins from vegetation and grain. Vegetable fiber passes through an herbivore's digestive system in about 48 hours. In our digestive tracts, vegetables complete their journey in 24 hours. Our gastrointestinal tract is not like that of birds. Birds can eat a lot of grain and digest it with their gizzards. We do not have a gizzard.

Our intestinal shape is like some primates who mainly eat fruit. However, when humans eat a lot of fruit they incur hearlth problems such as osteoporosis, tooth degeneration, diabetes, and hyperactivity. Our digestive juices are most similar to carnivores. In their stomachs, the hydrochloric acid concentration is 15 times greater than in humans so that they digest meat in 10 hours, which accommodates their very short intestines. Raw meat and other raw animal products digest easily and efficiently in our much longer digestive tract within 16 hours. Lastly, there is the omnivore, such as the pig, who eats everything. Our digestive tract is similar in size and action to a pig's.

After the pole shift survivors will often have to eat their food raw.
So much the better, as cooking often destroys nutrients, especially vitamins.
Quoting again from the book The Recipe for Living Without Disease

Research throughout the world shows that heat-treatment of food alters, damages, or destroys many vitamins at standard pasteurization temperatures from 140 to 161 F. All enzymes are destroyed at prolonged artificial temperatures from 122 F. The loss of mineral utilization due to cauterization is significant. Stockholm University in cooperation with Sweden's National Food Administration showed that cooking carbohydrate-rich foods, such as bread, cake, biscuits, crisps, donuts and French fries, produces high quantities of acrylamides. The British Food Standards Agency confirmed the Swedish findings that acrylamides cause gene mutations leading to a range of cancers in rats, including breast, uterine, adrenal and scrotum cancers. The British study revealed levels of acrylamides 1,280 times higher than international safety limits.

And studies have shown that heating animal fat, as over the barbecue, generates carcinogens.
But don't we need to cook food in order to kill the germs and parasites?
Studies have shown that kids on farms, who are exposed to what nature provides, have stronger immune systems than city kids.
Quoting again from the book The Recipe for Living Without Disease

Many tribes ate primarily unsalted raw [food] from the beginning. They did not wash their hands or sterilize their food before eating. Every form of natural bacteria, including salmonella and E. Coli were eaten with their food. From the time babies are born, they put everything in their mouths, dirt and microbes. It is believed that babies build immunity through small benign doses of bacteria, allergens, and pathogens.

But some food needs to be cooked to be safe, for instance any food with parasites such as tricina.

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun99/929555302.Mi.r.html: Pork starts out with a bad reputation:
a) Pork is labeled as "unclean" in some religions.
b) Pork was one of the first foods with a scientifically identified foodborne pathogen. Over 150 years ago, trichina, a nematode, was identified as the cause of death of a woman in Germany

And E Coli, though a native in our intestinal tracs, can kill if found in large quantities in our food.
The real culprit here is a toxin produced by E Coli.
As with Botulism, it is not the germ, but the presence of the toxin it produces while growing and eating and reproducing that is the threat to human health and life.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_g.htm: An estimated 73,000 cases of infection and 61 deaths occur in the United States each year. Infection often leads to bloody diarrhea, and occasionally to kidney failure. Most illness has been associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. Although most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, this strain produces a powerful toxin and can cause severe illness. E. coli was first recognized as a cause of illness in 1982 during an outbreak of severe bloody diarrhea; the outbreak was traced to contaminated hamburgers. Meat can become contaminated during slaughter, and organisms can be thoroughly mixed into beef when it is ground.

And the Zetas advice?
Considering the situation we will find ourselves in, planning to eat bugs, anticipating this, is a wise move.

ZetaTalk: Crop Failure, written July 15, 1995.: Except for those few who have prepared, humans surviving the cataclysms will find themselves without food. In the cities this will happen quickly, as fresh or frozen foods will spoil due to total power failure, and canned and dried goods will only go so far. Then what? Rural areas, where one would presume to find gardens put in and livestock in abundance, will not be much better off. The drought and irregular weather will have taken their toll, to say nothing of the cataclysms themselves. How long will a hungry farmer hand grain to his livestock? He will eat the grain himself and the livestock, and when he gets hungry enough will eat his last breeding pair and his seed stock. Gone. Should the reader think that planting and harvesting will go on as before, they should realize that the gloom that follows a cataclysm is devastating to vegetation. If vegetation survives the droughts that precede the cataclysms and the hail and firestorms and high winds that occur during the cataclysms then it must next survive an almost continual deluge and lack of sunlight. In the meantime, humans starve.

In fact, the Zetas specifically recommend eating bugs and grubs!

ZetaTalk: Crop Adjustments, written July 15, 1995: Food stuffs that will do quite nicely on the gloomy light supplied by the Sun are mushrooms, earthworms, and various insects that feed on dead tissue. After the cataclysms bugs will be in abundance, as dead tissue from both plants and animals is everywhere. This trend can be taken advantage of, as distasteful as that concept might be to humans who have never eaten a bug. Larva, grown in humus, can be turned into pureed and creamed soups, puddings, or omelets by skilled cooks. Those eating the fare would never guess that the base was not cream, milk, and eggs.