Vegetarians or meat eaters - survival after TSHTF?

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

I have a sudden craving for a walnut whip...

[JohnB]

I have a sudden craving for a walnut whip...

Do sudden cravings mean you're pregnant?

[biffvernon]

Squirrels?

[GlynG]

Squirrels could be a problem but they could be trapped/shot and eaten.

[lurker]

Human flesh

It tastes like chicken apparently

[JavaScriptDonkey]

There were 40 million people in the UK around 1900 before the wholesale oilification of agriculture. I've no idea what the food import/export figures were for the time but I'd hazard a guess that we were just about self sufficient.

With modern resistant varieties, even with horse drawn machines and a massive labour requirement, would we be all that far from growing enough to feed ourselves?

Not sure what we'd plant in the 2nd year though unless Monsanto keep churning out seeds.

[UndercoverElephant]

There were 40 million people in the UK around 1900 before the wholesale oilification of agriculture. I've no idea what the food import/export figures were for the time but I'd hazard a guess that we were just about self sufficient.

We were nowhere near self-sufficient. What is the point in being self-sufficient when you live on a small island but you are the most powerful nation on the planet and control the largest empire and trade network that has ever existed?

[kenneal - lagger]

Human flesh

It tastes like chicken apparently

Our younger daughter asked us, in her childhood, " If pigs are pork and cows are beef, what is people meat called?"

Over the years I have come across many vegetarians who have strange ideas about eating. I have been asked if I get constipated just eating meat! I had to reply that we usually eat meat and at least two veg, and on Sunday sometimes three or four veg. We even eat vegetarian meals on occasion! One of the few meals I ever cook is a Greek style bean based meal. I'm also surprised at the rubbish some veggies eat. I know a few who seem to live on Pot Noodles and baked beans!

In future we will eat much less meat as it will become more expensive as the energy subsidy from oil is lost from farming. I say more expensive as I noticed the other day that the label on our fillet steak, which is priced and packaged at the abattoir, said it cost over £47 per kilo!! No wonder we never eat it. Junk food will go the same way but I'm not sure what many people will eat then, given that many junk food eaters can't cook. The national curriculum has a lot to answer for.

[postie]

What do history, anthropology and zoology teach us?

That humans only very very rarely ever eat other humans... and even then only in extreme circumstances of famine, if you discount the occasional small tribe that practices cannibalism, or the occasional religious cult. Even with famine, many humans wont eat humans.

As for the first part of your question, about meat-eaters, I think it's just short hand for omnivores. I describe myself as a meat-eater.. though I eat all sorts of stuff that isn't meat.

[rue_d_etropal]

I made the comment about growing nuts in UK, with the knowledge that there was good work being done in Devon, an important part of the Transition projects down there. But the weather in Devon and Cornwall is a lot better(usually) than the rest of the UK, and I would not expect to see such successes in growing nuts elsewhere. Similar experiments have been done with growing tea in Cornwall, but that has taken years to get to the stage where a brew can now be made.
One salvation in short term might be temperatures going up as a result of climate change, but it is also predicted that UK temperatures might actually go down.
No-one has mentioned Permaculture, as I think the ideas created by this movement are probably the best way forward, and that means a mixture of animal and veg/fruit farming.
One of my daughters is a partial vegetarian. It makes it very difficult when she visits, especially as she is not very keen on some basic vegetables. Like a lot of vegetarians, she has turned to some animal based products when her health tells her she needs certain elements not available in a purely veg diet. Many vegetarians eat fish, and even though in UK the coast is not far away, there is getting less fish available, and without drastic action it will not be sustainable. Maybe seagulls know more, which is why they are declining in numbers on coast, but increasing in numbers in cities where the food supply is easier.
Humans have a choice when it comes to what we we, certainly in the West, but other animals go for what is available and what is easiest to find. I have noticee how squirrels outside my house have changed over a short time to taking nuts from ground, burying them for the winter, to being more dependant on bird feaders, and some prefering the peanuts in containers, and others prefering the fatballs, both designed and intended for the birds. Maybe this is a good thing as when the supply of easy food goes down the population of grey squirrels will go down. Suspect they will just adapt to eating something else.
Adaption is the key, and the more varied the diet, not only are we healthier but also better prepared to eat what is available.
The current health scares for certain veg foodstuffs such as bean sprouts won't be doing the veg movement much good. At least most people don't eat meat uncooked.

[UndercoverElephant]

There were 40 million people in the UK around 1900 before the wholesale oilification of agriculture. I've no idea what the food import/export figures were for the time but I'd hazard a guess that we were just about self sufficient.

We were nowhere near self-sufficient. What is the point in being self-sufficient when you live on a small island but you are the most powerful nation on the planet and control the largest empire and trade network that has ever existed?

http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClic ... &tabid=387

UK food self-sufficiency.

Pre-1750 Around 100% of temperate produce,
1750-1830s 90-100% except for poor harvests
1870s Around 60%
1914 Around 40%
1930s 30-40%
1950s 40-50%
1980s 60-70%
2000s 60%

(Source: DEFRA)

[featherstick]

I
And that reference to middle class, I wasn't going to add that yet, but I see the vegetarian movement as largely white middle class, and therefore mainly people who can afford to chose. .

Yes, all those white middle class Hindus and Jains and Rastafarians...

[Lord Beria3]

I actually find it odd this idea that veggies have a better chance in the future. Have you ever seen the diet of the average Middle Ages person in Europe? Its all meat, ale and basic veg like potatoe.

When we go back to a agrarian society where heavy labour is typical, having a meat-based diet will be essential.

[energy-village]

Our younger daughter asked us, in her childhood, " If pigs are pork and cows are beef, what is people meat called?"

Very good!

I've heard it referred to as "man beef" - though there's probably an official word for it.

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

Our younger daughter asked us, in her childhood, " If pigs are pork and cows are beef, what is people meat called?"

Very good!

I've heard it referred to as "man beef" - though there's probably an official word for it.

Long Pig.

Man beef is a sexual term methinks, along the lines of hot beef injection.