Maintaining Nutritional Adequacy during a Prolonged Food Crisis

As I am enjoying another sick day in bed courtesy of some beastly mutant virus, I’ve got time to scroll through the dozens of pages of potential blog topics.  And so I came across one for Maintaining Nutritional Adequacy during a Prolonged Food Crisis.  The address was posted some time ago, maybe even a year or more, by someone (perhaps one of the two most prolific commenters on this blog—Unknown or Anonymous).  Sorry I can’t give more credit than that—the search function on the blog doesn’t include the comments.

One of the authors of Maintaining Nutritional Adequacy is none other than Cresson Kearny, who penned another page-turning prepper classic, Nuclear War Survival Skills.  The other author is Kay B. Franz, assistant professor of food science and nutrition at Brigham Young University.  The manual is aimed at those making the decisions of who is fed what in the wake of a long-term crisis stemming from nuclear war.  Of course, the same principles can be applied universally regardless of the reason for food shortages.

There are a lot of things to love about this book, which is why I will be printing a copy when I gather the energy to walk down to the printer.  At just over 100 pages, it won’t occupy much space on the shelf.  Do I think everyone needs a copy?  Initially, I thought no, but as I pored through page by page, I realized there’s too much good stuff in here.  Because numerous pages focus on to the nutritional needs of infants, young children, and pregnant and lactating women, those with young families would benefit most from a hard copy.  The chief nutritionist and medical persons for the group will also want a copy, as will anyone gathering reference materials for the community.  (Another reason I love it is that it basically confirms the principles I promote here.  Of course, I guess it’s a little disturbing, too, since it’s a government publication.  Ouch.  Gonna have to think on that more.)

Recommendations are provided for allowing for food loss due to pilfering, shipping, spillage, and spoilage, generally at the level of 10-15%.  It seems a bit excessive to me, but at the same time totally reasonable to plan for such problems.  This figure also includes food wasted due to burning and food remnants on plates and cooking utensils.  Of course, not allowing for waste will encourage people to be much more careful with their food.  Perhaps the individuals responsible for planning the family’s food stores will take this information into account, without letting the rest of the family know.

A few pages are devoted to complementary proteins like wheat and milk or beans and rice, but go into much greater detail about various combinations than any other prepping source I’ve encountered.  Also emphasized is the importance of consuming these complementary protein combinations in the same meal.  Recent research (I remember reading it but didn’t note the source) indicated that these complementary proteins did not need to be consumed within the same meal, only within the same day.  I would guess that research was conducted on people or animals who were already well-nourished.  If people are living on the edge of adequate protein and other nutrition, making sure they consume complementary proteins within the same meal seems a wiser path.

Most interesting to me are the data on how long it would be before the average American begins to show signs of deficiencies of the various vitamins and minerals.  I think that will merit its own article.

One chapter covered observations made by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN (yeah, I know, UN).  We already know these:  1. Food must be acceptable to the population that it is proposed to feed; 2. Processing of the foods provided must be locally possible (even if you share your wheat or corn with people, how many can process it into something they will eat?); 3.  The food must be able to be cooked with local equipment and fuel supplies.  While people can be taught to use what’s available, in the event of a nuclear disaster (or pandemic, or ?) it may be a few weeks before people could gather for such instruction.  I wouldn’t plan on the internet being available in any usable form.  And finally, as I’ve preached ad nauseum, Americans are accustomed to one of the most varied diets in the world.  The transition to survival rations will be difficult.

Five ration plans from the FAO ranging from minimal nutrition and calories to ideal are included.  Note that their bare-bones ration for starving Africans was 1500 calories per day.

Chapter 5 presents data on the nutrient levels of survival rations provided by a single food, i.e., if a person is eating only wheat, or only rice, or only beans.  In many regions of the country, only a single crop is grown, so this information can help people see what nutrients they will be deficient in consuming such a restricted diet.  Also mentioned, and something that had never occurred to me, is that while the Irish were sustained on over seven pounds of potatoes per person per day, that’s a transition that would take others a long time to make.  Our stomachs don’t have the physical capacity.  Children especially would be at risk.  With high protein diets, such as those heavy on beans, more water must be consumed to prevent dehydration and kidney damage from the excessive urea produced.  And then there’s this gem for those spending time in fallout shelters—you want an extremely low fiber diet to reduce waste as much as possible.  That definitely never occurred to me.

Because I’m a bit suspicious of soybeans grown in this country with the widespread use of Roundup, I haven’t researched them at all.  Apparently it is difficult for Americans with no experience to prepare them as food for their families.  If I still lived in soybean country, I might research how to cook soybeans—for my neighbors.  Soybeans are a lot higher in protein than other beans.

Then the authors get a little crazy and venture beyond a diet depending on a single food mentioned above to a diet with a 4:1 ratio of grains (whole wheat, rice, or corn) to beans.  The authors indicate that in a situation where legume stores are inadequate for the group, healthy, non-pregnant or lactating adults may get by with an 8:1 ratio.  In the case of rice, because it is lower in protein, that ratio shouldn’t go beyond 5:1.

Appendix C presents data on the nutritional advantages of sprouting whole grains and legumes.

Appendix D details how to make an expedient grain grinder. (As this manual was written in 1979, would I be correct in assuming that they are referring to a metal pipe and not PVC?  And for you engineering types, would PVC pipe work?)  Several expedient methods for cooking grains and beans are also shared.  Most readers here are likely quite familiar with them.

Appendix E outlines how to make a potassium iodide solution to protect the under-40 crowd from radioactive iodine fallout.  It's much cheaper than buying the tablets and the horrendously offensive odor and taste can be more easily hidden. Amazon sells both a liquid solution (about 500 doses in a 2-oz bottle) as well as potassium iodide crystals that can quickly be made into a solution.  As I already have a bit for my family, I could just bypass this supply altogether.  However, being able to make this solution and then put it in a bit of bread covered with butter will make administering the potassium iodide to young children much easier.  Not to mention that it would be a very inexpensive way of fostering good will with the young families in the neighborhood.  Buy the liquid if you think time is short and you want the convenience.  Buy the crystals if you think we’ve got some time before the fireworks begin or you need to economize.

But wait!  There’s more!

Appendix F addresses water purification, starting with the basics of boiling, chlorination, etc., because initially people will be in more immediate danger from pathogens contaminating the water than from the radioactivity.  And then it shows how to make an expedient water filter that will not only remove radioactive iodine, but as a special bonus also radioactive cesium and strontium!  Win!  And it covers the safest sources for obtaining the least contaminated water to start with.

References:

Maintaining Nutritional Adequacy during a Prolonged Food Crisis 

Links to related posts:

Nuclear War Survival Skills