I remember reading an autobiography of a guy who survived the great famine in Ukraine in '33 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor). Can't remember his name (something something-stky, if that helps).

Basically, he describes families exchanging first elderly relatives and later children, as "help" at the desolate farms. No helper was every visible, the families suddenly had meat for several weeks and neither family ever asked for their elderly relatives or kids back.

Also, people escaping cities to find work or food in the countryside disappeared every so often and the whole villages held a feast the next day.

In the appendix there was some statistics. Almost three thousand people were condemned in court for cannibalism after the famine.

It was a pretty good book, although I think the protagonist was one heck of a stoic eight-year-old orphan.

-jh

I believe I'll take starvation over eating my or another's kin. Kind of takes the humanity out of being human.

"Short of Throwing stones from your backyard what forms of Gathering The means to support your nutrition have you stockpiled?"

Realistically?

Seeds
Spading fork
Hoe
Rake
Shovel
Fruit trees and shrubs
Urine for nitrogen
Ground bones for phosphorus
Ashes for potassium

I live in a fairly rural area where 80% of the people hunt. I would predict that all 'loose' game from house cats to deer/elk would disappear within six months. The mighty local hunters would collect the best cuts and waste the rest. Anyone with a cow or goat or chicken would do best to keep it in the house, or sleep in the barn with a gun.

Eat the relatives you don't like first.

John Steinbeck (from Travels with Charley): "If I were hungry, I would happily hunt anything that runs or crawls or flies, even relatives, and tear them down with my teeth."

Sue

LOL!!

Cody Lundin has a few pages about cannibalism in his book "When All Hell Breaks Loose." Sad sad stuff and hopefully nothing any of us will ever have to face.