Preparedness for vegans

Here is an interesting link that matches up emergency preparedness with vegans. Vegans at special risk due to lack of vegan protein in a short to midterm emergency.
Some decent lists as well as specialty info.

http://www.vegparadise.com/survival.html

If you were starving to death and I offered you some rabbit meat, would you really turn it down?

Being vegan is a luxury of a modern world. In a survival situation all humans are omnivores.
If you are vegan then store a lot of dried tofu, whole grains and various dried veggies.
Bill

And vitamins. I don't know about others, but Vitamin B12 is only found in animal products: fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk. True vegans don't eat any of that stuff.

A deficiency of B12 causes anemia and reduced cognitive function, which can evolve into dementia- and Alzheimer's-like symptoms.

But I've got to agree with billym.

Sue

CityBoy,
Hope your not asking me... If God didn't mean for animals to be eaten, why did he make them so tasty?

The issue for a vegan, should you happen to have one in your survival pod (think teenager or worse, son in law), would be could their stomachs take to processing meat, or would you end up with a "belly achin' vegan" a day or two later, rather than just a hungry vagen today?

I know who would take the blame for this in my household!

I found this at the bookstore today:
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Wild-Plants-North-American/dp/0806974885

Might be the one and only book I pack in my BOB.

How disappointing and mean-spirited of so many of you. (I'm not a vegetarian - just surprised at some of the responses; this seems to be an emerging attitude here, and I hope it stops.)

If someone wants to not eat meat, what's it to you? It's certainly far less of a drain on the world's resources. And it's not just a modern phenomenon, nor a "luxury".

Anyway, dried legumes, tofu, grains are all good ideas. They'll store longer than meat. Even for those who eat meat, probably not a bad idea to keep a good stock of all of these at hand.

It's nothing to me. If someone chooses to starve to death rather than eat meat it will actually help me out, because I'll eat them.

I completely agree. I'm not a vegetarian either, but I think instead of criticizing people for such a choice, we should offer constructive advice. Not, "you will starve unless you eat this rabbit", but saying that food isn't a immediate concern in most survival situations. Sheltering your body, getting a supply of clean water, and signaling for help are the first major concerns of survival. Food comes later. This is the same for everybody, omnivore, carnivore, vegetarian, vegan and cannibal alike.

However, I think most people on this forum store a supply of food in their homes. Why should we expect other people to change their diets during an emergency, to conform to our norm? Why can't we offer advice particular to their situation? People should store food that they eat, and will eat. Not food we think they should eat, for whatever reason. If a vegetarian offered you a block of tofu they stored in their pantry, will you refuse it and starve?

If I were a vegan and starving, I might easily find myself eating any meat available. However, I also think vegans might have trouble if their diet changes quickly. Moreover, it's their choice to eat meat or not, IMO. If they choose to starve, that is their choice. They'll know it when faced with it.

I think the difficulty for a vegan if they are faced with a need to change is that they might not be prepared to do so. I have a few things in my BOB for catching animals, should I ever need to. Kind of tough to test out a snare trap in NYC, and your choice of prey is limited to mostly things I do not want to eat. If push comes to shove, we'll see if I am willing to choose to change my diet to strangled rat.

Nevertheless, a vegan's best bet is to prepare and store some food. I might suggest a good store of dried fruits and vegetables, like: http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/mainhome.html.
The TVP would work for protein. Rice stored can last almost indefinitely, if not cooked or found by other life forms. Some things that would allow some hunting would also be a good idea, if the vegan should decide otherwise when desperate, but your opinion may differ.

Oh come on. You have to think about the worst case scenario. Food is a major freakin concern if you can't or don't get rescued. Even I'll be sacrificing my principles. I don't consider rats and maggots to be an option for my every day menu, but if I'm hungry enough, goddamnit I'm going to eat rats and maggots.

Of course. People do what they need to do. In the event of a disaster, worst case scenario, could I eat one of my roommates? I don't know. I don't even like to think about it. I'm certainly not preparing for it in any way. If it ever came up, it would only be during the situation. I think it's the same way for vegans and vegetarians. We can't pressure them into preparing to eat meat, anymore than we could pressure someone into preparing to eat their neighbors. If you want to prepare for the worst case when you might have to eat someone, well personally I think that's crazy. And for other people, they may consider it crazy to consider eating meat, except as a last resort. I'm not going to criticize them for it. It just shows the importance of preparing as well as you can so you're not forced into such decisions. Preparation is key. Store chili and steaks so you don't have to eat rats, maggots, or neighbors. Store rice, legumes, nuts, and fruit so you don't have to eat chili or steak. This isn't to say the worst case won't come up, but isn't that why we prepare? To try and prevent worst case scenarios?

Scientists try to prevent worst case scenarios. I just try to survive them.

Seems to me that when the lights go out for an extended time, its the meat, poultry, and fish that will spoil first. Nuts, seeds, and grains may be all that's left. It's much easier to store nutritious protein rich whole plant foods than meat or fish.

Getting back to the original post, I thought the website was informative. It covers a lot of basic stuff. Stuff you should have, things you should do, concerns about insurance, important papers, having a BOB. You actually have to scroll down quite a ways until you actually get to the information on vegan survival food. I thought the websites recommendation to focus on vegan protein made sense. It seems that in an emergency the hardest food item to come across would be a non-animal form of protein. Fruit, veggies, mushrooms, every other non-animal product could probably be found in anyones pantry. I also liked that it gave sources to vegan specific instant meals.

Good article. Thanks for posting it, capsu78.

I would think that a useful ability to have in a survival situation is to be able to stomach just about any kind of food source. Vegans, vegetarians, and folks with numerous food allergies would be, in my opinion, a liability if food variety was scarce. After awhile, vegans and vegetarians can't digest meat without getting really sick.

And from what I learned while reading "Ada Blackjack," fresh, raw meat has loads of vitamin C, and can heal/ward off scurvy. One of the explorers died horribly from scurvy, not starvation, while in the Arctic.

I agree about the stomach problems. Haitians that we intercepted were to be fed what the crew ate, per the Geneva Convention. We found out VERY quickly that that policy would kill our prisoners before we could repatriate them. We had to serve them the "beans & rice" that they were accustomed to.

Get a sense of humor or grow a thicker skin, good grief. The replies aren't mean-spirited, and if you take them that way, too bad for you.

I keep a stock of legumes on hand, however, they are for equal distribution. Vegans might get hungry if they "bug in" at my house. Our rule with our kids (and anyone else) is that you always have 2 choices at our table - take it or leave it.

Youse guys are looking at vegetarians in the wrong light.

My sister is vegetarian. I get to eat all the pot roast, the roast chicken, the steak, the pork chops, etc. She gets the beans, rice, and root vegetables. This is not a problem for me.

Sue

Preparing Vegans?

I think it's all in the marinade...

To Serve Man

Thats funny Misanthrope : )

BTW, where did you find that picture of Amy Winehouse with short hair???

I respect the willingness of vegans to endure hardship for their beliefs. Certainly a vegan is going to have more difficulty staying well fed in a long-term situation.

My understanding is that simple black beans and rice are a fairly complete protein source. Both black beans and rice are cheap in bulk and they store well long term. I have, even though I'm not a vegan, lived for considerable lengths of time on just this. Add a few sliced onions and a bottle of Tabasco and you have a decent meal.

Once cooked it can be reheated or refried for second and any left over can become the base for a soup.

There are other options I'm sure but if the problem can be worked around with so simple an adjustment in diet I don't think vegetarians or vegans would have too much of a problem as long as they prepare ahead and work hard to maintain a balanced diet.

I would add a bottle of multi-vitamins just to round everything out.

Vegans are going to face some issues that us omnivores don't but I don't see any major issues that can't be worked around.