# What other non-foods could you eat to survive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302 "2015-08-20T00:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/21 "2015-08-20T18:04:11Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I would look for laboratories where bacterial cultures had been grown. There could be jars of growth medium powders of various kinds. Preparing them as broth or gel would make them easier to consume and digest. This is probably your best shot at survival according to family friends that actually survived starvation sieges. At Stalingrad and Leningrad paste and glue were often eaten to survive, but they were made of different substances (more organic components) then what is produced now. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/22 "2015-08-20T22:20:45Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Oh, and inpsired by another thread: Bud Light Lime. 🙂 If society collapsed while I was somehow trapped in a warehouse full of nothing but bud light lime, I’d eat the cardboard cases first. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/23 "2015-08-21T00:36:32Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > This is probably your best shot at survival according to family friends that actually survived starvation sieges. At Stalingrad and Leningrad paste and glue were often eaten to survive, but they were made of different substances (more organic components) then what is produced now. Glue was frequently made of boiled-down animal hides, and was frequently only a step removed from gelatin. In fact, the 19th century recipe for “Composition” (used in places where we’d use rubber or plastic, as in ink rollers) was a mixture of molasses, cow-hide glue, and some sort of tempering, like chalk (which wouldn’t stop a really hungry person). I saw on a website where one guy made a modern substitute out of melted Gummi Bears and sugar. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2015, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/24 "2015-08-21T06:38:36Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I posted a thread here about eating acorns. I had always heard that acorns were extremely bitter and needed to be ground and soaked in several changes of water to be made edible. > > Being the intrepid adventurer that I am (read as “lacking in common sense”) I nibbled at a couple of acorns from a large white oak in my front yard and found them to be delicious! > > Turns out acorns are highly variable in flavor, even from tree to tree. True - in general, it’s related to whether the acorns overwinter or not. Species with acorns that sprout as soon as they fall, and put on a little growth before winter sets in, tend not to be bitter. Species that sprout in the spring tend to contain tannins to preserve and protect them while they are dormant. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/25 "2015-08-21T06:43:24Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I could see how a sewer could be a viable mushroom farm this way, but I wonder if mushrooms could keep you alive. I know that your body chemistry allows one to survive on only say potatoes by chemically altering it into whatever you need. I don’t know if mushrooms would have that same quality. My other concern would be how could you get mushrooms to grow fairly large overnight, like those that appear after rainstorms? If there was a way to commercialize that, that would be awesome. Mushrooms typically contain rather little nutrition; you might be able to consume enough of them to survive if you dried them and ate them dry, but in their fresh state, they’re 90% water by weight. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/26 "2015-08-21T07:16:42Z")
I’d consider turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, and, in a pinch, oysters. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/27 "2015-08-22T06:33:07Z")
Hmm, so lets say in a long-term scenario, would it be to your advantage to try and breed rats/mice/vermin you find rather than eat them immediately? ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/28 "2015-08-23T03:47:01Z")
Some expanding foam insulation is corn based. Some plastics, especially the biodegradable stuff, I heard is cellulose based. Dandelion, burdock roots, carnations, daisys, roses, tulips, cattails. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/29 "2015-08-23T12:12:27Z")
A biggish problem is that a lot of the stuff we have mentioned, including wild and ornamental plants, is likely to cause gastric upset. When you are already starving, vomiting and diarrhea can be the final nails in your coffin. People not uncommonly get the shits from unfamiliar foods. For that reason, among backpackers, preppers, and such, it is considered wise to have spent a day or so actually living on the foods you intend to use or stockpile. It is, at best, awkward to find the energy bars that you packed give you the screaming squits when you are 25 miles into the bush. Many “edible” plants, in my opinion, are likely to cause problems if eaten in quantity by a person who does not normally consume them at all. One might be better off digging in the soil around those plants for earthworms and grubs to roast and eat. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302/30 "2015-08-23T15:47:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh wait, you mentioned cannibalism already. Well how about self-cannibalism, like in that Stephen King story? lady fingers they taste just like lady fingers [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-non-foods-could-you-eat-to-survive/728302.md?page=1)