A while ago I remember reading on a message board somebody jokingly bringing up how the thing people should be hording for any potential apocalyptic event wasn’t gold, bullets, or batteries. Instead the idea was to horde spices since spices would be the absolute last thing people would think of to save and spices in ground form were cheap, compact, and long-lasting (while ground spices are given a four year shelf life, they can still be consumed long after that just at a lowered potency). Not only do they add some nutritional value and spice up unappetizing food sure to be all you have to eat, they can also be used for trading or selling and would be highly-sought after because nobody would have easy access to them.
Storage was considered in three ways, the small prefilled spice bags you can get at the store (easy to open, convenient to carry, not exposed to air ensuring longer shelf-life), filling sealed tupperware containers with spices (reusable, lets you carry a lot of spice in a relatively small package, most bang for your buck) and filling 80 gallon steel drums full of spice (expensive, heavy, completely impractical, but hey you’re the king of spice!)
Let’s say this is true, and there’s somehow an apocalyptic event where you can somehow survive long-term using your survival skills and where you don’t want to just off yourself at your earliest convenience. Would the spices be a good thing to store at your base camp as a priority item? Or do you think even with the apocalypse there would be plenty of places to grow or acquire your own spices without having to do all this prep work?
1: Hope you meet someone who REALLY wants nutmeg
2: ???
3: Profit!
I don’t think there’d be a lot of call for herbs and spices beyond salt and pepper, at least early on while people are just figuring out basic survival. With any luck, there will soon be people working on growing food, as long as you’re growing sturdy things like potatos, carrots and corn, common herbs like rosemary, dill, and parsley just about grow like weeds. (There’s a reason it’s called dill weed…)
I can see how spices might become valuable once some kind of economy re-emerges, if it does, but that’s a pretty long bet.
Whole spices vacuum packed in thick plastic would probably be the best way to store them - ground spice is convenient, but has a much shorter shelf life than whole spices. Storage volume doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the top issue in any post-apocalyptic situation.
However, I’d say fuels probably have more utility and tradeability. Propane tanks, blocks of paraffin wax, those little hexamine tablets - you can use these things to cook, to boil water, to start larger fires, to fuel steam engines, to provide warmth and light to shelters, etc.
And how much of the physical structure of the old world is still left to be scavenged? If it’s mostly gone, then pallets of thick plastic sheeting are probably a good commodity. Nobody is going to enjoy a light dusting of cinnamon on their rat’s-milk latte if there is rain dripping on their head.
People are going to need clean water, shelter from the elements (depending on what particular form your apocalypse takes) fire and any sort of basic food long before they start worrying about what it tastes like.
The rarity that made them an expensive luxury until recent times also made them unnecessary for the vast majority.
However, sugar may be more of an addiction and might be worth a punt.
Agreed. Furthermore, one of the factors that made spices very valuable in the past was the largely mistaken belief that they were powerfully medicinal. Unless the apocalypse makes everyone forget their history lessons, that situation isn’t likely to play out the same a second time around.
Agreed - any sort of durable, energy-dense food is a good bet. Sugar stored in dry, sealed conditions should last for decades or centuries. it’s also useful for making alcohol quickly.
Top condiment survival tip: An ammunition bandolier will hold dozens of those little 2-3 oz bottles of herbs and spices. Pair it with a large decorative pepper grinder in a back holster. Spicy!
Since there’s already a ton of pseudoscience in play surrounding herbs, I doubt it’ll be forgotten after an apocalyptic event. In fact, people will probably be even more reliant on anecdotal and legend-based herbalism in the absence of Evil Pharma drugs.
It might make sense to store/hoard seeds of useful spices and other herbs. Hardy perennial onions, garlic and their relatives will also come in handy.
Don’t forget that spices were in such high demand in the 16-17 centuries, that the entire maritime fleet of global traders was created to transport spices, which was also the cash cargo of the overland trading caravans before that.
No matter how disruptive any apocalypse might be, a rich and powerful elite will quickly rise to the top, and they will want spices.
As far as I know, there’s only one spice needed for the continuing health of a person: salt.
Of course, there are also places you can find salt just layin’ around, but it’s always been a valuable commodity because of its biological necessity, as well as its use in food preservation and cooking (as a flavoring).
Well, yeah, that’s fine if you can persuade Brad Pitt to brave the zombies roaming the seed bank nearest you. I’d rather just go to the built-in garage.
Observation says that a society doesn’t have to move very far past bare-basic survival before it begins to crave spices. All you poo-pooing the idea of people wanting anything but salt are looking at the short game, I think. Imagine everything collapsed and there would never be mass food delivery again. How long before you’d do something crazy for a shot of sriracha?
Unfortunately for the Spice Baron idea, a lot of potent and familiar spices are easy to grow. The two that come to mind first, based on what my household uses, are cumin and chili. Both plants grow like weeds. They wouldn’t be valuable.
