ZetaTalk: Starvation
Note: written Dec, 2002

In many parts of the world, diet is restricted to what the community can grow for themselves, or catch, or kill in the forests or grasslands. There may be berries in the summer, but not in winter, fresh vegetables in the summer, in season, but only dried roots in the winter, essentially dehydrated for preservation. Meat may arrive only occasionally, after a successful hunt, and be cause for celebration. Where the community is close to fishing, rivers or lakes or perhaps the seashore, a steady diet of fish can be expected in some manner. Modern man has grown accustomed to the super market, where fresh produce from around the world is in abundance, available. If not fresh, he has come to expect frozen foods of great variety, or dried, so that his diet is without seasons and can span the world. Bored with simply doing away with the seasons, modern man experiments with recipes from different cultures - Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian. What will this modern man find he has to EAT, after the shift, when the super markets are looted and no new distributions on the way? We will address this by population type, as the results vary:

• Those in the cities, who have lost of never had experience with gardening and herdskeeping, or fishing in the wild which requires skill, will have the rudest shock. First, they will be isolated in their cities by the destruction around them, such that they cannot easily travel to the country side. Second, food will run out in the cities, such that the starving survivors look about them, and even at each other, hungrily. Most will starve, getting weaker and sicker until death overtakes them. Those who give in to the urge to cannibalize will soon die also, simply because the food source will run out. Thus, growing food in the cities is not a valid subject, as such an activity won't exist.

• Those in the suburbs, who have land about them and are perhaps conjoining the countryside, will at first deplete their personal stores, the local food markets, and then begin roaming into the countryside. The family pets will get killed and roasted, and that fat so much desired to be shed will be used just to keep the body going for many months. Eventually, suburban families will need to learn to forage, turning over logs in the woods to look for grubs and worms, and attempting to fish in streams or rivers. Catching small mammals such as rats, which eat just about anything, will also be a food source children may catch, in their desperation, and may even eat raw if the parents are dulled by madness. Earthworms can eat sewage, and rotting material, but this is not a voluminous production, so should not be expected to feed a community from their own sewage. Thus, survival in the suburbs, or growing food, will become a foraging practice by those able.

• Those in the country, who farm, or are familiar with gardening and hunting practices, will take a different tack from the start. The farmer with cattle will soon find that his cattle are getting thin, staggering about from hunger, and will eat the herd to thin it out. Thus, the farmers in the area will finally conclude that certain animals are more useful than others, in the Aftertime. Chickens eat bugs, forage for themselves, and come home to lay their eggs if given a safe and private roost. Ducks likewise eat whatever grows in or around ponds, which will be numerous in the drizzle, and don't require a dry spot to roost. Goats, which eat anything, and pigs which root in the ground for whatever might be edible, can likewise be kept within limits if the surrounding country can sustain them. Some vegetation will struggle along, weeds which are hardy, and plants that grow in the gloom or dim light normally. If the group had not researched and anticipated this environment, but find themselves without seed or seedlings for dim light gardens, then they will be chewing on weeds for an alternative to grubs and whatever they can catch to roast over a small evening fire. Farmers are naturally resourceful, being at the lower rungs of the ladder in all supposedly civilized cultures, and will adapt. If a particular weed grows well, proves to be edible, the farmer will husband this, grow it, protect it from wildlife, and sell it. Thus, growing food in the country is possible, depending upon the adaptability of the farmers in the area.

• Coastal survivors will have access to harvest from the oceans. Fish will flourish in the oceans, so survival communities on coastlines should relay upon this are a first resource. Those communities may tire of fish, so experiment with seaweed recipes for variety, and go inland to trade with other communities who will value dried or preserved fish. Inland, fish in the native ponds and riverways will likewise survive, but not in numbers greater than the environment can sustain. What do these fish eat? Algae, duck weed, bugs that live on slime in the waterways. All this is dependent somewhat on sunlight, as the base is vegetation in the waterways. Thus, native fish may actually be in reduced numbers if in gloomy areas, and be considered a prize when caught. For those farmers turning to aquaculture, where plants can be grown in human sewage, and then fed to the fish or livestock, this will prove to be a renewable resource that adds to the food banks. Here again, the key is light, as to turn sewage into food, one needs plants that require at least some light.

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