Get Cookin'

Recently I’ve been reading books about food. I’ve read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (reviewed below), The Food Rules by the same author, and am a good way into The End of Food by Paul Roberts. These books are examinations of how we eat, what we eat, and how our food is produced.

One of the things that has struck me through this reading is that the food industry has continuously tried to ‘add value’ to foods so that they can charge more for their product. That’s fine as far as it goes, but with the advent of fast food, microwavable meals, and all the toaster or oven ready foods out there, there has been a disturbing cultural change in our society: No-one knows how to cook!

So what does that mean for a prepper? It may well mean that having stored wheat or flour, that person might not know how to turn it into bread. They might not know how to safely prepare and cook a chicken. They might have a years worth of food, but can they do anything more than open cans?

It might not seem like the most earth shattering of problems, but let’s look at it. Sooner or later in a big enough crisis, even the most prepared prepper is going to be out of canned/prepackaged/premade food. At that point, they need to be able to convert raw foods into edible meals. Without the skills to butcher, can and cook those straight from the garden, field or forest products, how successful are they likely to be? At best, you will wind up wasting a lot of food while preparing barely palatable meals. At worst, you might starve in the midst of plenty, make someone sick with parasites, or even kill someone with food poisoning.

Not only are the nutritional aspects important, there is the very important aspect of the emotional and psychological aspects of food. We all understand the concept of comfort food and how it can be used to buoy us up in an emotional crisis. There is also the aspect of long term morale in a family or even a larger group. Eating bad food day in and day out will have a negative effect on morale, and will in turn affect your group’s cohesiveness and ability to accomplish other tasks.

Thankfully, the solution is simple. Just learn to cook. You needn’t become a Cordon Bleu chef, just a competent cook. Learn the basics of cooking baking, canning and butchering, and you’re well on your way. As you learn to master basics, you can experiment with more elaborate meals. Make a point when learning to use the same foods as those you’ve stored so that you are familiar with the ingredients you’ll have available.

There are benefits right now to doing this. You’ll likely be eating a lot less prepared and restaurant meals and more home cooked meals which can be healthier and save you money. But most importantly, you’ll have a skill that enhances the prospects of survival for yourself and others. Surviving doesn’t have to be about trying to quell the rumblings of your belly with a cold can of beans while you fight off despair, it can be about fresh bread, good meals and good morale.

It’s just common sense.