When the pioneers were moving out West, they didn’t have any grocery stores, supermarkets, or restaurants they could stop by to resupply themselves as they went.
Instead, they had to stockpile on foods that wouldn’t spoil and carry them on their wagons, as well as live off of the land to resupply themselves that way.
And even once the pioneers did find a plot of land that they would build their homes on, they still had to grow their own food and forage. Refrigeration, canning, and other strategies to preserve food didn’t exist back then either.
A few months ago, I got the bright idea to prepare and eat meals exactly as the pioneers did for 100 days straight.
Here’s how it went.
Why Eat Like a Pioneer?
Why did I choose to eat like a pioneer for one hundred days? Simple: I realized that in the event of a major grid down disaster scenario, chances are good that we’ll have to eat very similarly to how the pioneers did.
Specifically, we would have to eat meals from food that we could gain from foraging and living off the land, and we would have to place an emphasis on long lasting meals that do not require preservation.
I’m a firm believer in practicing your survival and disaster preparedness skills before you find yourself in such a survival or disaster scenario.
For instance, you should practice building a fire until you get proficient with it so a true survival situation is never the first time you have to build a fire.
All the same, I believe in practicing preparing and eating meals like you may have to after a major grid down disaster where we no longer have access to power to cook food or grocery stores to resupply ourselves. That’s why I decided to give the pioneer diet a shot.
What Did the Pioneers Eat?
You’re probably wondering: what did the pioneers eat in the first place?
Bread
Most pioneers made their bread using the salt-rising technique, where the dough was mixed in a kettle while natural bacteria would make the dough rise.
They could then bake the dough over fires at night. Try to make your own salt-rising bread for the pioneer technique.
Cornmeal
Cornmeal was a very versatile ingredient that could be used to make a variety of meals, including cornbread, corn pudding, and porridge.
It was a readily available and economical source of nutrition for early settlers and pioneers, particularly in regions where corn was a staple crop.
Related: The Survival Crop Every Prepper Should Consider Growing
The pioneers obtained cornmeal by grinding corn, which was a common and essential crop throughout North America. After settling somewhere, they would cultivate corn in their fields and then harvest the mature cobs.
The corn kernels were then removed from the cobs and dried. The dried corn kernels were then ground into a coarse powder or meal using various tools such as hand mills or grindstones.
Dried Fruits and Vegetables
Pioneers would store and transport their fruits and vegetables after drying them. To dry fruits and vegetables, pioneers would often sun-dry or air-dry them.
They would slice the fruits and vegetables thinly and lay them out in the sun to remove moisture. Once dried, the fruits and vegetables could be stored for a longer period without spoiling.
This provided the pioneers with a source of vitamins and nutrients during times when fresh produce was more scarce.
Squash
Squash can be found naturally in the wild and doesn’t go bad very easily.
That’s why it was a big part of the pilgrims’ diet when they landed on the eastern coast of North America, and it also served the pioneers well as they were moving out west.
Meat
Meat was a big part of the pioneer diet. Most pioneers would get their meat from hunting for wild game. They would then preserve the meat either with salt curing or smoke curing.
For the pioneer diet, make sure to use unprocessed meat (either from a store or from last fall’s hunting season, if you have meat leftover). Common prey of the pioneers included elk, deer, antelope, wild boar, bear, rabbits, and squirrels.
It’s also worth noting that the pioneers would preserve the fat from the animals they killed to use as lard, which they would then use similarly to how we use olive oil today.
Eggs
Eggs became a staple part of the pioneer diet after they got chickens and settled down somewhere. While some pioneers did bring chickens with them, the chickens could not lay eggs in the bumpy conditions.
When the chickens laid eggs, the pioneers used this ingenious method to preserve them and make them last for years.
Beans
The pioneers would grow beans after settling somewhere.
Even while traveling, they would pack dried beans into their wagons to use as an additional source of protein with their meat.
The pioneers couldn’t be picky about what they ate.
Besides the above, they also foraged for a variety of meals along the way, including mushrooms, herbs, berries, and any other fruits, vegetables, and edibles they could find. Combining meats and vegetables together into soups and stews was also a major staple.
The Results
Switching exclusively to the pioneer diet for a hundred days was challenging, and I admit there were a few times here and there that I ‘cheated.’ When I got invited to a friend’s Saturday BBQ, for instance, I’m not going to lie that I broke from the diet to partake in ribs and cheeseburgers.
But overall, I stuck to the diet very closely for that hundred day period. And the best thing that came out of it was my family and I proved to ourselves that we could eat self-sufficiently.
On top of that, it felt great knowing that we were eating purely natural foods. While I admit processed foods from the grocery stores and restaurants taste great, we all know it’s not as healthy for us. I did notice a general increase in my energy levels and mental clarity throughout the diet.
Related: How to Grow a Food Garden Completely Hidden in Plain Sight
Some of the best benefits we experienced were:
- Eating a wholesome diet everyday was great for us both physically and mentally.
- Cost savings; trust me that sticking purely to foods from the list I provided above saves you a lot of money instead of eating out.
Mastering the art of cooking meals from scratch was a fun challenge. We came up with many different kinds of soups and chili’s and that was a blast.- In that same vein, learning firsthand how to preserve different foods was a badly needed life skill that I was grateful to finally develop.
Mastering the art of cooking meals from scratch was a fun challenge. We came up with many different kinds of soups and chili’s and that was a blast.Like I mentioned above, switching to this diet was challenging as well. While learning the preservation techniques was very beneficial, it took up a lot of time. It wasn’t until we embarked on this diet that my family and I finally realized just how much time and effort the pioneers spent that revolved entirely around their food preparation.
A lot of our meals were also very basic. Meats, beans, eggs, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, among a few other food items were on the menu everyday with little variation. If you’re used to eating pastas, pizzas, burgers, noodles, and burritos whenever you want, the pioneer diet will make your taste buds crave your favorite meals.
But trust me that sticking to the pioneer diet is still well worth it. You’re not going to have access to a lot of your favorite meals after a grid down disaster, and switching to the pioneer diet just for a month or more will prove to you that you can survive with simpler meals.
Was the challenge worth it?
Overall, absolutely! If for nothing else, the pioneer diet is actually a lot healthier than most of what we commonly eat today, and embarking on it will help prove to you that you can prepare meals totally self-sufficiently.
If you’re intrigued by the idea of living off the land like a true pioneer, then you’ll want to get your hands on the Wilderness Long-Term Survival Guide. This isn’t your typical survival manual; it’s a comprehensive guide that dives into the forgotten wisdom of our ancestors who didn’t just survive in the wild – they thrived there.
Much like my 100-day pioneer diet experiment, this book teaches you how to prepare for uncertain times and learn from those who made the wilderness their home.
You may also like:
11 Things the Pioneers Carried With Them on the Oregon Trail (Video)
Read This Before You Store Anything in a 5-Gallon Bucket
How to Remove Radioactive Particles From Water in Case of a Nuclear Fallout
The pioneers were tough people for sure. Most of us
would miss our Twinkies and Hot Pockets.
Some things else to consider;
It don’t matter these prepper sites, computer stored prepping hints or books. Most people will not be able to follow a simple recipe as they have eaten all their survival food in a few days, than stretching out their food supplies in divided portions. Maybe some former military vets will survive longer than the unprepared.
Many even seasoned preppers will have SHTF shock syndrome that may or may not cause them to unplanned response to the big SHTF.
Yes we have some stored food and maybe some seeds to grow a garden. Depending on your climate, the snow country has a limited growing season. Many rats, mice, raccoons, coyotes will be attacking the garden. We may not get another chance to start another garden in time for the snow and cold weather coming.
There is reality that gardens are always thought of during the warm weather. What happens when like farmers some crops will get destroyed by acts of God rain, tornadoes, hurricanes besides the pests.
Trying to hunt what ever animal is left maybe a nightmare as other hunters enter the competition for food your looking to bag for dinner.
It will become a nightmare until things do calm down. What will the existing government become a tyranny of FEMA camps confiscating the preppers stored food for the unprepared in those camps. Will people be able to defend their food sources against whatever is left of the loyal military of say a person like the current president and vice president in charge?
It will be interesting during those hard times like they were in the great depression era.
God will have a second coming on his terms of when, not on when we think the end is near.
Most people, when reading your article, will think about how important it would be to have this knowledge in the event of SHTF. I think maybe 10% will actually follow through, as you suggest, and start learning the skills BEFORE an emergency arises. NOT a good scenario, is it?
It’s been my experience most times a person doesn’t want to show incompetence so they don’t want to learn from you and fail. Nowadays with computers, and everything is an app, there’s instant solutions. That’s not true with building a fire or fishing or foraging. It does take practice, when someone will do it with me and they get a fire started to look on their face is priceless.
There will be a school of hard knocks, trial and error for most of the surviving population that have not gone to the supposed FEMA camps provided by the United Nations. Who may finally stand in triumph from the useful idiots who helped disarm the American gun owners.
We still may have big problems with the illegals not purged out of our country. The young Chinese nationals will be the final wave of attack, unless the current American citizens unite to plan on purging the undesirable illegals now taking over abandoned homes in the city and elsewhere in the American interior.
Many of your fellow Turn Coat Americans voted for Bidenomics and we see what we got. It won’t be any different when the food sources become precious to defend. Even your fellow neighbor may attack you for their starving kids, what will you do?
You only have whatever ammo to fend off the hoards of hungry walking dead zombies.
People in the rural country will be a little safe but eventually they will need to resupply. No one will get totally out of the mess.
Eventually civilization will be restored but at what point will it comeback to?
When you see the war torn world usually the middle east and America’s urban campers full of disease and drugs, you will wish God will becoming soon to comfort you.
Best hope the 2024 presidential election is not stolen again the current lunatics running the show for another term will definitely destroy America to no return or reset before Bidenomics occurred.
White pioneers in Texas raised corn and hogs, Mexican pioneers raised corn, beans, squash, goats, and cattle. German pioneers were sophisticated farmers, my Scots-Irish ancestors mostly raised hell.
The first parents settling in America, in today’s standards usually fair well. It is the second and third generations that usually become complacent in the modern world, not just in America.
So it is nice to look back at our ancestors they could do it, some didn’t. But also does not guarantee you will be a good pioneer of this current century.
If Rick A Hale is on here today, the answer to your question, where to learn sign language? YouTube has many different people teaching sign. Dr. Bill at ASL University starts from alphabet to advanced through hundreds of videos. Many people are doing videos and they are accurate. There’s a book that’s kind of the standard is called the joy of signing. That is still the go to. I have bought probably a dozen of that book at half-price book stores. If you can get someone to learn along with you, it makes it much easier. You get to where you can sign fairly well but don’t understand it when it’s signed at you. You have to do both.
I know how to start a fire and build a shelter. I’ve cooked on open fire outside while working in the yard. have a dehydrator for veggies fruit meat. my main problem I didn’t learn to grow a garden like my dad did. just expected him to live forever. not sure I could purify water except by boiling it. might can make traps for rabbits or squirrels. now sure on a trap for fish.
No traps for fish. Use a trot line or limb lines tied to overhanging branches on creeks, rivers, etc.
Remember True immigration is bringing all you have with family for a new start with no help
today most cannot live like a pioneer , because the have no clue what one is , only that the fast food , grocery store , 7-11 , liquor store , drug store , or many other s are always there
reality is it takes sacrafice , endurance , self motivation , self will , the ability to due with out for a long time and eat what you can get , not what you like
most would die
most would give up
most would not be able to stay the course
survival takes a different kind of mentality
and the truth is many died in the process and life was old age as is today
we are in the time of the church age , where God has bless you with much , Thankfulness is the most important key
Let us God close the open southern border before we have another September 11 attack again. We have our own poor homeless and homeless veterans here, Americans first, not last.
Some one is posting in here using my prepper name Red Ant.
I do not spell my prepper name with upper caps.
This post and person is a FAKE…..
EVERYONE BEWARE OF FAKES USING YOUR NAME.
I AN SURE IT IS A VERY WEAK LOW LIFE SCUM BAG, DOING THIS.
WARNING ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️
stay sharp
No one has any exclusive right to any names posted or used on any website. Unless you can copyright that particular name and say so in the posting comment section.
Okay fair game with, no respect to anyone.
Cool…
Chuck.
I don’t think it is Raven doing this.
This is a person, that is a weak person.
Possibly a woke sissy soy boy.
I do not post about anyone on there spelling,
I just bitch at those ass holes that complain about others on how they spell.
This person “did not think” before it tried to imitate me. It was a dead give away on what was posted.
Trying to make me look bad.
Very weak soy boy, still on his mom’s tit…..
Watch out for FAKES, Chuck
Keep up the hell rasing.
stay sharp
Ever since the trolls found this website, they have each prepper against each other.
Liberals tend to like to mess up good things in life.
The Jan 6th political prisoners who were minding their own business got put in prison. While the Antifa an BLM rioters who burned, looted and murdered people across our nation for supposedly George Floyd are walking free.
Yes these types are here on this and other websites causing trouble.
God help us!
It could be you or red ant causing the hype you see here.
The internet can be good or evil by what is in that persons heart as they post here.
Raven
I been posting here for a good long time.
You know I don’t play that way.
I know there are weak ass people on here that are just crappy people that bring evil to the site, weather it’s with in or out side the site.
That is how we know who is and who isn’t.
I sure know the difference between the two.
In my heart is what I post on here. Go back and read my post, if you want to know what’s in my heart.
Funny you would say something like this in your post.
The original take on the above article is to inspire us to keep an open mind on what we can do to feed ourselves in these tough times we find.
The old time pioneers ate what was available to them. Today with our food chain shortages make some recipes hard to fix for dinner.
There are meat shortages going in America, China has bought up some big name meat processors to weaken our food chain supplies.
Not all of us in the suburbs can keep a cow or steer for food. Not everyone will be moving to the country. Many are having a hard time with Bidenomics looming over us. We are living paycheck to paycheck.
Your are right that folks in the suburbs can’t keep a steer but you can plant fruit trees and soft fruits, annual and perrenial vegetables, establish fungi logs and keep chickens and rabbits.
I wish you and you family good health and luck.
It could you guys causing all the trouble here.
Thankyou for this article. The more people who read it and become more aware that they need to learn to cook basic foods the better for all of us. People easily get into debt, become overweight and ill because they won’t take responsibility. If a pepper isn’t prepared to do this challenge then they are just playing..