Highlights from the chapter on Food (Ch 9, p. 76) from Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny

 

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I have listed a few of the most useful items for dealing with a currently on going nuclear crisis at the top: Please cross reference with NWSS to verify accuracy of information.

1. “Cooking difficulties can be minimized by having a grain-grinding device, a bucket stove with a few pounds of dry wood or newspapers for fuel, and the know-how to make a "fireless cooker" by using available insulating materials such as extra clothing.” p. 90 See pages 79-83 for tutorials.

2. “Under crisis conditions, all meat should be cooked until it is extremely well done - cooked long past the time when it loses the last of its pink color. To be sure that the center of each piece of meat is raised to boiling temperature, the meat should be cut into pieces that are less than 1/2-inch thick before cooking. This precaution also reduces cooking time and saves fuel.” p. 77

Dept of health info on reheating food, FDA

3. When cooking whole kernel wheat simmer it for several hours to avoid tongue and digestive problems. p. 78

4. You can get Vitamin C from sprouting seeds that are then boiled for 2 minutes. “The deadly curses of scurvy, vitamin A deficiencies, and pellagra can be prevented by eating ...plants, seeds, and sprouted seeds.” see p. 85 for details

5. Pairing grains with beans helps absorption of some vitamins and the forming of proteins p. 88

6. BASIC RATIONS: whole kernel hard wheat, beans, nonfat milk powder, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, multi –vitamin pills. p. 89. Please cross reference with lists of radiation protective food (such as foods recommended for chemotherapy patients).

 

Main points:

In the event of a nuclear attack food would mainly be essential to survival for the aged, sick, infants and small children.
Things of more importance for the average adult would be: shelter, air, and water.

Staple foods to learn to prepare: whole grain wheat and corn, and beans.
The source of nutrition advice for NWSS is the publication Maintaining Nutritional Adequacy During a Prolonged Food Crisis (1979).
Some of the recipes were also field tested by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

At the beginning of the Food chapter there is a description of how the American food system in general would suffer during a nuclear crisis.

MEAT TO AVOID
Precautions when eating meat: There is information indicating that only very healthy animals in a low fallout area should be eaten.
“The thyroid gland, kidneys, and liver especially should not be eaten.” Eating a sick animal could cause severe death or illness due to toxins and bacteria. p. 76

“Under crisis conditions, all meat should be cooked until it is extremely well done - cooked long past the time when it loses the last of its pink color. To be sure that the center of each piece of meat is raised to boiling temperature, the meat should be cut into pieces that are less than 1/2-inch thick before cooking. This precaution also reduces cooking time and saves fuel.” p. 77

There is a discussion about breeding stock. p. 77

Living on basic plant foods: There is information on stored grains, beans and vegetables, and the challenges of getting them distributed to famine areas. Radioactive strontium and cesium in contaminated soil would be the biggest risk in the years after an attack.

Living off of the land would be difficult due to wild creatures dying from gamma radiation etc.

Food for shelter occupants: There is a description of how little food a normal adult needs to survive a few weeks.
The author of NWSS states that high protein foods would require more water consumption than carbohydrates.
p. 77

GRAINS

Processing of grains and soybeans: p. 78
When cooking whole kernel wheat - simmer it for several hours to avoid tongue and digestive problems.
There is a description of how to make an improvised grain mill using cut lengths of pipe. When grinding grain - wear gloves or wrap hands in cloth to avoid injury.
There is a long description of large-scale grain grinding machines.

“Unlike wheat and corn, the kernels of barley, grain sorghums, and oats have rough, fibrous hulls that must be removed from the digestible parts to produce an acceptable food. Moistening the grain will toughen such hulls and make them easier to remove.”
There is a description of the best ways to remove hulls (grind and then let them float to the top of water in a pan.)
You can also use a sieve made out of a window screen.

FUEL

People need hot food for comfort and morale when under stress.
There are several pages of instructions for making bucket stoves with illustrations p. 79 – 83
A fireless cooker basically uses newspaper insulation to keep a pot of boiling hot food heated long enough to cook the food without using a lot of fuel. p. 83

COOKING GRAIN ALONE

There is a technique for cooking grains in a way that conserves water: temporarily remove the pot from the fire when adding the grain. This reduces lumping. For hot cereal you can cook it for 5 minutes, and then put it in a fireless cooker for 4-5 hrs, or just cook it normally for 20 mins. p. 85

GRAIN AND BEANS TOGETHER

There is a recipe that recommends pounding or grinding the beans into a fine meal to conserve fuel and pot space.

ONLY GRAIN AND BEAN DIETS

“A diet consisting solely of wheat, corn, or rice, and salt has most of the essential nutrients. The critical deficiencies would be vitamins A, C, and D. “

CHART OF SOYBEANS, BEANS AND PEANUTS in terms of nutritional value p. 85
CHART OF WHOLE WHEAT PLUS RED BEANS OR SOYBEANS p. 86

WAYS TO GET VITAMINS
VITAMIN C deficiency causes scurvy. “Unlike vitamin C tablets, pure vitamin C crystals do not deteriorate.“
It is suggested to eat sprouted seeds (not just the sprouts)
Captain James Cook used unfermented beer made from dried, sprouted barley to prevent scurvy.
“If a little over an ounce (about 30 grams) of dry beans or dry wheat is sprouted until the sprouts are a little longer than the seeds, the sprouted seeds will supply 10 to 15 mg of vitamin C. Such sprouting, if done at normal room temperature, requires about 48 hours. To prevent sickness and to make sprouted beans more digestible, the sprouted seeds should be boiled in water for not longer than 2 minutes. Longer cooking will destroy too much vitamin C.” p. 86
“Sprouting seeds also increases their content of riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid. Sprouted beans are more digestible than raw, unsprouted beans, but not as easily digested or nourishing as are sprouted beans that have been boiled or sautéed for a couple of minutes. “ p. 87

VITAMIN A “Milk, butter, and margarine are common vitamin A sources that would not be available to most survivors. If these were no longer available, yellow corn, carrots, and green, leafy vegetables (including dandelion greens) would be the best sources. If these foods were not obtainable, the next best source would be sprouted whole-kernel wheat or other grains if seeds could be sprouted for three days in the light, so that the sprouts are green. Although better than no source, sprouting is not a very satisfactory way to meet vitamin A requirements.”

VITAMIN D is needed to absorb calcium, and a deficiency would cause rickets.
“Vitamin D can be formed in the body if the skin is exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.” cautiously. Consult a medical physician.

NIACIN AND CALCIUM
“Niacin deficiency causes pellagra, a disease that results in weakness, a rash on skin exposed to the sun, severe diarrhea, and mental deterioration.”

“The Mexicans' freedom from pellagra is mainly due to their traditional method of soaking and boiling their dried corn in a lime-water solution.”
There is a treatment described to give an alkali treatment to corn so that the niacin is readily available to the body. p. 88

VITAMIN B12 AND ANIMAL PROTEIN
“This could be provided by about 1.4 ounces (38 g) of lean meat, 0.7 ounce (20 g) of nonfat dry milk, or one medium-sized egg.”
Pairing grains and beans is also mentioned.

IRON is needed to prevent anemia
Sources: cooking in iron pots, placing iron non-galvanized nails in vinegar for 2-4 weeks until the iron floats to the surface. Placing iron nails in an apple for a few days before eating it (per NWSS).

FOOD PRESERVES p. 88 and 89 – There is a long description of what type of food storage would be needed on a large, national scale.

BASIC RATIONS p. 89: whole kernel hard wheat, beans, nonfat milk powder, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, multi –vitamin pills.
“Cooking difficulties can be minimized by having a grain-grinding device, a bucket stove with a few pounds of dry wood or newspapers for fuel, and the know-how to make a "fireless cooker" by using available insulating materials such as extra clothing.” p. 90

There is a detailed description of how to store foods and make baby food on p. 90 – 91

Storage of foods continues on p. 92

Ways to kills insects in grain is described on page 92

Seeds are discussed on page 93 and 94
Concluding remarks and a bullet point summary.

The author of the RCIP website is not a medical physician and does not dispense medical or nutrition advice.

Citation:

Kearny, Cresson (1987). Nuclear War Survival Skills. Retrieved from http://www.oism.org/nwss

 

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References:

Kearny, Cresson (1987). Nuclear War Survival Skills. Retrieved from http://www.oism.org/nwss

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