Economic or societal collapses have happened repeatedly throughout history and will continue to happen in the future. When these events occur, people are often forced to revert to preparing and eating pioneer foods that we would have eaten in the past.
The reason being that these foods are simple to prepare and meant for a time when we did not have a power grid available to us.
I have compiled a list of some of these pioneer foods that you need to become aware of before we are faced with a grid down event.
Hard Tack
Hard tack is a biscuit made from three ingredients, flour, water, and salt.
It was used throughout the civil war and aboard ships during long voyages.
The great thing about hard tack is that it will last for many years if stored correctly and is easy to make.
To make hard tack, simply mix two cups of flour with about half a cup of water in which you have dissolved ½ teaspoon of salt. The dough should be stiff but not too dry.
Roll out the dough to about ½” thick and cut into 2” x 2” squares. Poke holes in the dough with a fork to prevent bubbling and allow for even cooking then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 or so minutes.
The hard tack is done when it is hard and dry.
Store in a cool dry place in an airtight container.
Pemmican
Pemmican was used by the indigenous populations of North America well before European contact. It is nutritionally dense, portable, and shelf-stable, which made it ideal for use by explorers and the military.
The makeup of pemmican is dried meat ground into a powder which is mixed with animal fat and berries.
To make pemmican, dry one pound of lean red meat which has all the fat trimmed off. Grind this meat into a powder. If you are adding dried berries, grind half a cup of berries into a powder as well.
You can use almost any type of dried berries in your pemmican. Personally, I like to add this special type of berry that’s illegal to cultivate but perfectly fine to forage.
Mix these two ingredients together along with any seasonings you want to include. Add a cup of rendered fat to the powder and mix well. Press the mixture into a pan to a uniform thickness and allow it to cool.
Cut the pemmican into bars and store in a cool dry place in an airtight container.
Jerky and Smoked Meats
Without power to refrigerate our food we need off-grid methods of meat preservation.
Two such methods are smoking or drying the meat into jerky. Smoking meat dries it while also adding compounds like aldehydes and phenols which have properties which are antimicrobial and antioxidant.
The combination of drying and these compounds inhibit microbial growth which increases the shelf life.
Cold smoking is done at lower temperatures and is paired with salting or curing because the meat is not cooked, while hot smoking cooks the meat to a safe temperature.
Jerky is made by simply drying the meat without smoke which creates an environment within the meat that is hostile to the survival of bacteria.
Humans have smoked and dried meat in order to preserve it for thousands of years and it still remains an effective and easy method of meat preservation.
Honey
Honey has an indefinite shelf life and is available in nature. It is a great natural source of sugar that our bodies will crave when our easy access to sugars is cut off.
Keeping several jars of honey in your food preps is a great way to guarantee that you will have access to the best form of sugar possible after a collapse.
You can also take up beekeeping getting an almost unlimited supply of honey!
Like many items on this list, honey has been in use by humans for thousands of years. Not only is it a natural sweetener with antioxidants, but it is also effective for sore throats and coughs as well as being effective in promoting healing of wounds.
Salted Meats
For thousands of years, we have been salting meat to preserve it in the absence of refrigeration. Salting meat through dry salting, brining, or using curing salts, draws out moisture and creates an environment which is hostile to the growth of bacteria.
Related: How to Make Your Own Salt for SHTF
This is a time-tested meat preservation method and one that we should all be familiar with in case we end up in a grid down situation.
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables have a low moisture content which makes them last longer than other vegetables or fruits without refrigeration.
Potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, radishes, yams, and sweet potatoes are all examples of common root vegetables. Throughout history, these were stored in underground cellars called root cellars.
By storing these vegetables below the ground, they stay cool and out of sunlight which means they will last throughout the winter.
If you want to keep the root vegetables from your garden fresh for months, learn here how to build a cheap root cellar in your backyard. In times of crisis, you will be thankful to have this on your property.
Sourdough
Access to yeast is going to be a problem in an off-grid environment. If you want to bake bread after the collapse, you will need a leaven for the bread. The good news is that a sourdough starter is easy to make and the leaven for making sourdough bread. Sourdough bread has been around for centuries, and the practice of baking sourdough bread is still being practiced today.
All you need is a sourdough starter, flour, salt, and water to bake sourdough bread, and it will be a welcome source of carbs after the collapse of civilization.
When the grid fails, we are going to need to adjust our expectations around the foods we eat. Looking back to what the pioneers ate is an effective way to prepare mentally and physically to survive in a grid down environment.
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 this book. 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 Expensive Items That Used to Be Cheap
How to Build the Oven That Cooks Without Fire, Fuel, Smell, or Smoke (Video)
The Worst Places to Be When an EMP Hits
Thanks! How do you make a sourdough starter?
You could probably Google it.
Youtube it.
I dehydrated 24 eggs and ground into powder. 2tbsp egg to 1 tbsp water. It fits in a pint jar.
I plan on making more.
The method I’m familiar with is that you make basic dough, make it quite wet, like batter, divide it into samples, put the samples in small jars, and set out he jars to catch yeasts that are present in the air. Some yeasts will be good in flavor and smell, while others will not. Use the one or ones that you like to make your bread, and keep that culture going by keeping it cool and feeding it regularly with more dough. Leaven is all around us, but one needs to catch a good type.
Youtube:Easiest Sourdough Starter! No Measuring! No Discards!
What collapse? Is that when trump destroys this country and his minions go nuts on everyone?
As Roosevelt once said, “The buck stops here”. Ever since then the American people have blamed the TOP person in charge regardless of who it was or what they might have done. As in the military, all personnel follow the chain of command. But, any good commander, will take responsibility for their sub-ordinates, regardless of what they have done. Example: the Watergate incident. Nixon was informed after it happened, and since he now knew about it, he was held responsible.
Personally, I don’t believe or trust ANY Political parties, none of them can be completely trusted anymore.
The propaganda machine, has turned the people against themselves and the government. Nobody knows the real truth about anything anymore, leaving the people to ASSUME the worst.
This propaganda machine has gotten extremely good at blinding and confusing, the simpleminded, and the rest of us have gotten lazy, and started believing all the rumors people are saying, whether they are true or not.
Since the Clinton s, this machine has grown into a real monster, to a point where nothing can be trusted . All forms of News & blogs, you might want to take it with a grain of Salt. This past election, is a prime example… There were four Independents, including Robert Kennedy… But, there wasn’t any debate, among them in the media, to see if anyone could of been a better choose.
So, I would recommend stopping the blame game, and believing everything you here. If you have the slightest doubt, then try doing your own research….
I voted Trump and I want to be prepared to help my neighbors as much as possible. This site is about sharing ways to be prepared not to bash the people you obviously know nothing about. If I see you hungry, I will feed you.
Hardtack can be crushed and ground back into flour for fresh baking as well. Salted meats: how do you store enough salt if you don’t live near the coast where you can make your own? Do so by storing compact, compressed white salt, 50lb salt blocks from your feed store. You can chip and grind as needed.
Funny. If there is a collapse it won’t be because of Biden or Harris or the Left. It will rest solely on the shoulders of your leader Trump. Enjoy.
Blame them all collectively. Unless an attack by foreign aggressors, every administration who has overspent our budget, given millions away and meddled in the affairs of other governments causing our own citizens to do without is to blame. The IMF recently issued a formal warning to the USA that its current rate of spending is unsustainable, that didn’t just happen.
very nice informations
The collapse could be an EMP, CME, how about the terrorist they caught trying to use drones with explosives attached to blow up electrical grids. Anything COULD happen and most here would probably survive. Of course there are the souls who don’t think anything could happen and blame Trump. Only the Lord knows what’s to come.