Domestic food specifics.....

[swaghauler]

Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and RPGs were new, I ran DnD. The wider story of my world included visits by extra terrestrial traders.

In the larger hoards of the world (waiting to be discovered) were

• Twinkies mk III (shelf-life measured in centuries, and just as tasty as today)
• Fresh Frozen SaraLee Banana Cake
• Sta-fresh sealed packages of Lox (smoked salmon)

Occasionally, for a state function (like a wedding between dynasties or a peace treaty ending a war), a package would be broached or presented.

Personally, I could manage a forced march better with the promise of a Twinkie on the other end. The new version (post 2011) is just not as good. And yes, I totally identified with that aspect of Tallahassee in Zombieland.

Uncle Ted

I agree that the new Twinkies are not as good as the old ones. I'm still glad Hostess is back. Who wants to live in a world where banks are "too big to fail" but Twinkies aren't

[WallShadow]

keep in mind there are all kinds of things you can eat (just watch Man Vs. Wild or Survivorman to see what I mean) that people dont think of normally - I am betting that a lot of starving people would walk right by things that they dont know are edible

for instance cattails are very very common here in the US - and you get more edible starch from them then you do potatoes - and have eaten them myself

another is burdocks - we used to eat them all the time - to most its a weed but in western NY you can find lots of people eating them

and dandelions make one very good salad

Hammering on regarding Vitamin C sources: 100 grams of orange fruit contains about 71mg of Vitamin C; while 100 grams of orange peel contains about 131mg of vitamin C and can be dried and ground for future use (in the dark days of nuclear winter). If any orange or citrus fruit is still in production in the South, they could be shipping jars of ground orange peel north as a trade good.
https://nourishingjoy.com/homemade-vitamin-c-powder/

[WallShadow]

keep in mind there are all kinds of things you can eat (just watch Man Vs. Wild or Survivorman to see what I mean) that people dont think of normally - I am betting that a lot of starving people would walk right by things that they dont know are edible

for instance cattails are very very common here in the US - and you get more edible starch from them then you do potatoes - and have eaten them myself

another is burdocks - we used to eat them all the time - to most its a weed but in western NY you can find lots of people eating them

and dandelions make one very good salad

My mom used to cook dandelion leaves like endive: with a white sauce and bacon bits. Although this would denature the Vitamin C. Rosehips are high in vitamin C, and chives have not only vitamin C, but lots of others (A,B-complex, E, & K) as well as being high in essential minerals, too. Enough of these picked and stored or prepared properly, any your unit or canton will not suffer from deficiency diseases over the winter, until the new early crops start coming in. Spinach is a cold-weather loving plant, and can be planted up to 6 weeks before the last frost or as soon as the soil can be worked. It does NOT have huge amounts of Iron, but it does have tons of Vitamin K, folates, and other goodies, and 6 cups of raw spinach (think a BIG salad) will get you your full daily vitamin C complement. Also, from any students of Native American culture, the Three Sisters provide a balanced form of intensive gardening, having each cornstalk provide the pole for the pole beans to climb up, and the squash also planted at the bottom will spread its leaves around to conserve moisture for the roots of its own plants and the roots of its sisters. I can easily see the urban homesteaders in NYC making bucket/tub gardens with lots of 3 Sisters units that can be moved with the sun for extended exposure, or set up "under glass" in individually-crafted double-glazed booths and watered via a glass or plastic rain collector on the top .

[pmulcahy11b]

I've always thought that domestic food in T2K terms might be sandwiches, or some vegetables from a local farmer's garden, along with perhaps a chicken or turkey or rabbit or squirrel or if you're really lucky, some freshly-slaughtered pork or beef or something like that. Or perhaps even a box of cereal, some oranges or apples, or packaged junk food. Maybe something like hamburger helper and ground beef, chicken, or turkey. Stuff like that.

The players will probably have to help the farmer pick the produce, slaughter and butcher the animals, cook the oatmeal, etc. And probably give items in trade as well, or do some other work like chopping firewood, help repair the barn, patch up some holes in the roof, etc.

I personally think that domestic food is priced way too low in T2K -- should be about triple the price listed.

[bobcat]

I wondering if you see victory gardens like in WWII, I mean would there be rationing before the Nuclear exchange

while how severe the rationing would be is mostly dependant on the timeline there would certainly be some. fuel rationing would also lead to food shortages in some areas further encouraging people to take their diet into their own hands. with luck the resultant system would look more like what the british did during and after WW2 rather than what usually happens.

granted looking at this menu the food would get really dull really quick.

http://www.inrange.tv/british-rationing-recipes/

[Tegyrius]

I personally think that domestic food is priced way too low in T2K -- should be about triple the price listed.

If I were writing the Reflex rules today, I'd use a day's worth of food as the standard unit of economic exchange. Can't eat gold.

- C.

[The Dark]

Something I ran across today - if you start with a herd of twenty guinea pigs, based on their birth rate and maturation rate, you can harvest an average 12 pounds of meat per month and maintain the size of the herd. As long as you have enough grass and something to provide Vitamin C (since cavies are the only non-human mammals susceptible to scurvy), that's a decent amount of protein for a minimal investment in time and energy.

[WallShadow]

Something I ran across today - if you start with a herd of twenty guinea pigs, based on their birth rate and maturation rate, you can harvest an average 12 pounds of meat per month and maintain the size of the herd. As long as you have enough grass and something to provide Vitamin C (since cavies are the only non-human mammals susceptible to scurvy), that's a decent amount of protein for a minimal investment in time and energy.

Lessee, 20 guinea pigs= 12 lbs of meat/month, or 3 lbs of meat per week; that could easily make 3 heavily proteinaceous--1/4 lb meat per serving per meal-- meals for a family of 4 per week. moreso if the meat is used to flavor leguminous dishes/soups, which would allow the family to stretch their protein a bit further, or shift some of the meat over to smoking whole pigs, making dried sausage,or otherwise preserving for future hard times or for trade.

That "trade" could also involve giving breeding pairs of guinea pigs to nearby families or settlements, as an "enlightened self-interest" act that will assist neighbors to self-support, become strong and more self-reliant, be avaialable for mutual area defense against marauders, be markets for you surplus products and sources or connection for items your group may require.













in

[swaghauler]

My mom used to cook dandelion leaves like endive: with a white sauce and bacon bits. Although this would denature the Vitamin C. Rosehips are high in vitamin C, and chives have not only vitamin C, but lots of others (A,B-complex, E, & K) as well as being high in essential minerals, too. Enough of these picked and stored or prepared properly, any your unit or canton will not suffer from deficiency diseases over the winter, until the new early crops start coming in. Spinach is a cold-weather loving plant, and can be planted up to 6 weeks before the last frost or as soon as the soil can be worked. It does NOT have huge amounts of Iron, but it does have tons of Vitamin K, folates, and other goodies, and 6 cups of raw spinach (think a BIG salad) will get you your full daily vitamin C complement. Also, from any students of Native American culture, the Three Sisters provide a balanced form of intensive gardening, having each cornstalk provide the pole for the pole beans to climb up, and the squash also planted at the bottom will spread its leaves around to conserve moisture for the roots of its own plants and the roots of its sisters. I can easily see the urban homesteaders in NYC making bucket/tub gardens with lots of 3 Sisters units that can be moved with the sun for extended exposure, or set up "under glass" in individually-crafted double-glazed booths and watered via a glass or plastic rain collector on the top .

Don't forget that you can make WINE from Dandelions. Ask anyone from PA, West Virginia, or Maryland how valuable of a commodity a jug of Dandelion Wine can be.

[swaghauler]

If I were writing the Reflex rules today, I'd use a day's worth of food as the standard unit of economic exchange. Can't eat gold.

- C.

The prices were wrong too. MREs were going for $5 in the early 90's. The civilian equivalents like Mountain House were going for $5 to $10 per meal back then too. This would SKYROCKET to 5X or even 10X after the exchange. I could see canned soup (selling for $0.50 a can in the 90's) selling for $5 or $10 depending on scarcity after The Exchange.

I have some of my own ideas about "currency" in Twilight (based on the Fed's COG plans) but I'll put that in a Currency Thread.