Chapter 6Food
Chapter 6 · Basic skills · 8 min read

Food: eating without getting sick

Food is the lowest priority for short-term survival. A healthy adult can live for weeks without eating, but poisoning from the wrong plant or spoiled food can kill you in hours or leave you incapacitated, with vomiting and diarrhea that dehydrate you. This chapter teaches you to set your priorities, to decide which food in your refrigerator is still safe after a blackout, to preserve food without refrigeration, and, as a last resort, to recognize what can and cannot be eaten in the wild.

The essentials · if you only have a minute
  • Water and shelter first. You can live for weeks without food; do not risk eating something questionable.
  • If you have little water, eat little: digestion uses water, especially protein.
  • Blackout: closed refrigerator = 4 hours safe. Full freezer = 48 hours; half full = 24 hours.
  • Throw out perishables that have spent more than 2 hours above 40 °F (4 °C). Never taste to "see if it's good." When in doubt, throw it out.
  • Eat what is in the refrigerator first, then the freezer, and the pantry last.
  • Never eat wild mushrooms. No home test detects deadly mushrooms.
  • If you are not 100% sure you can identify a plant, do not eat it. The universal edibility test is a last resort and has limits.

In this chapter

6.1The real priority of food1 min read0/46.2Food safety after a blackout3 min read0/46.3Preserving food without refrigeration1 min read6.4The universal edibility test (FM 21-76)2 min read0/86.5Insects1 min read0/66.6Fishing and traps: the basics1 min read0/106.7Common mistakes1 min read0/7
Chapter sources (1)
  1. 1.Food Safety During Power Outage (tablas de alimentos) — FoodSafety.gov / USDA FSIS — https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/ food-safety-during-power-outage 2.Food Safety During Emergencies — FoodSafety.gov — https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/emergency/index.html 3.FM 21-76 Survival, cap. 8 (Food Procurement) y cap. 9 (Survival Use of Plants) — Departamento del Ejército de EE.UU. 4.Plants, Pets and People: toxins you might encounter — Bexar County Master Gardeners (Texas A&M AgriLife) — https://bexarmg.org/ 2024/03/21/plants-pets-and-people/ 5.Toxic Plants of Texas — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension — https://rangeplants.tamu.edu/ 6.Don't Fear the Reaping (nopal) — Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, UT Austin — https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/native-plants/ dont-fear-reaping 7.Native Plant Database (Diospyros texana, Mahonia trifoliolata) — Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/ 8.Poison Help (1-800-222-1222) — HRSA — https://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov 9.ASPCA Animal Poison Control — https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control 10.Fishing licenses — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — https://tpwd.texas.gov