# Can a person really live off of shoe leather or belts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480 "2002-09-15T01:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Patrol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@Cat\_Patrol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Patrol)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/1 "2002-09-15T01:45:32Z")
We’ve all seen the cartoons about the starving person being forced to eat their belts or their shoe leather. Is this possible? Can a person really derive calories and energy from this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Costermonger\_means\_barrow\_boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Costermonger\_means\_barrow\_boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Costermonger_means_barrow_boy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/2 "2002-09-15T02:05:24Z")
Yes, Charles Chaplin proved you can eat shoes. He did for his film \*The Gold Rush (1925) \*. Eating shoes is also mentioned in _White Fang_ by Jack London. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/3 "2002-09-15T03:01:03Z")
It should be pointed out that since the end of the nineteenth century, commercially produced leather is tanned and processed using chemicals that would make it highly poisonous to eat. Eating leather was a cliche’ even by London’s time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/4 "2002-09-15T03:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Costermonger means barrow boy \* > \*\*Yes, Charles Chaplin proved you can eat shoes. He did for his film \*The Gold Rush (1925) \*. > \*\* Hardly a good example; the shoe Chaplin ate was made out of licorice. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/5 "2002-09-15T05:07:01Z")
WHAT?! We’ve had licorice shoes for over 75 years and this is the first anybody’s seen fit to let me know? for shame. jb ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/6 "2002-09-15T12:52:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Lumpy said: commercially produced leather is tanned and processed using chemicals that would make it highly poisonous to eat. Do you have a cite for that, or know what chemicals are used in the modern tanning process ? I’d expect you could get rid of _most_ by repeated boiling and water changes. ---
**Author:** ![Helm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Helm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/7 "2002-09-15T19:30:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jb\_farley \* > \*\*WHAT?! We’ve had licorice shoes for over 75 years and this is the first anybody’s seen fit to let me know? > > for shame. > > jb \*\* Nobody likes to discuss that because since the end of the nineteenth century, commercially produced licorice is tanned and processed using chemicals that would make it highly poisonous to eat. However, with respect to Jack London’s times in Alaska, I’d bet a lot of shoes were simple rawhide, stretched, dried, and coated with beeswax. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/8 "2002-09-15T20:03:37Z")
I think I’d have to be pretty damn hungry to consider eating my shoes or belt! Mind you thats nothing compared to [this guy](http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9806/11/fringe.mr.eat.everything/) **Eat my shorts!** ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/9 "2002-09-15T20:18:28Z")
It’s been done quite a few times in extreme situations. One thoroughly documented case - Lewis and Clark’s expedition nearly starved in the Rocky Mountains (In those days, Elk and Deer preferred to be in the now-populated valleys during wintertime) and they supped on a horse head, and various leather items like moccosins. Bleh. I’m sure salt improves the flavor, wouldn’t you agree? ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/10 "2002-09-15T20:57:12Z")
that’s not our **Mangetout** , is it? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/11 "2002-09-16T00:15:42Z")
I subbed a history class in a junior high, and they had to watch a documentary about the Donner party that got caught in the winter storms while crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains into California. It specifically mentioned them eating leather after the normal food and the animals. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/13 "2003-02-25T22:26:10Z")
What about eating cotton? How much energy can you derive from cellulose, which I see is just a polymer of glucose? When your shoes & belt are gone, is it time to eat your underwear? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/14 "2003-02-26T00:19:45Z")
Humans lack an enzyme necessary to digest cellulose. If you are down to paper and underwear, you’d best ferment it for several days, or have a cow spit on it. Bacteria and cow saliva both contain enzymes that can convert cellulose into edible sugars. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/15 "2003-02-26T00:55:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jb\_farley \* > \*\*that’s not our **Mangetout** , is it? \*\* Mais non. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/16 "2003-02-26T01:09:24Z")
What is it with bumping old threads at the moment? Stop it! Think of the hamsters! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/17 "2003-02-26T01:50:00Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Costermonger means barrow boy_ > > Yes, Charles Chaplin proved you can eat shoes. He did for his film The Gold Rush (1925) . > > _RealityChuck says:_ Hardly a good example; the shoe Chaplin ate was made out of licorice. Chaplin may have cheated, but Werner Herzog [didn’t](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0081746) ---
**Author:** ![viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/viking)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/18 "2003-02-26T02:01:24Z")
The question foremost in my mind is whether these guys survivied because of eating their shoes, or despite it. The outdoor ed books I’ve read suggest you can go a month without eating before you die of starvation, so that’s usually a low priority in the lost-in-the-woods scenarios they’re preparing the reader for… ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/19 "2003-02-26T03:28:10Z")
The time limit of a month is dependent on weather conditions, surely… if it’s really cold you’ll burn energy a lot faster. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-really-live-off-of-shoe-leather-or-belts/128480/21 "2003-02-26T15:36:00Z")
But by going to all that effort you have denied us the pleasure of protesting loudly that we had just DONE this topic, and anyone who wasn’t a total neophyte would KNOW to do a search first. It’s like we’ve been CHEATED somehow. In the future, please try to fit in LESS well, you’ll fit in better for it Oh yes, and welcome to SDMB-GQ -where rationality is optional. 😛