Page 46 - American Survival Guide - October 2017

DRIVING HISTORY › During the
latter part of the
After water, food is the most basic key Little Ice Age,
northern Europe
to long-term survival, and access to it had long, cold
has resulted in some of the greatest winters. Artist
Bartholomeus
mass migrations in history. The Vikings Johannes van
didn’t so much abandon Greenland Hove offered this
view of winter
because of climate change; it was skating on the
because of the lack of food from that main canal of
Pompenburg,
change. And the Huns and other Eastern Rotterdam, in
1825.
tribes didn’t migrate to the lands of
the Roman Empire because of a desire
to have baths and travel on roads. It
occurred because the lands to the east
weren’t sustaining the population.
“Food drives history, from migration to
innovation,” says food historian and expert
Frederick Kaufman, “[the] most recent › Today, London
example being the soaring food prices has a rather
that lay behind the world-changing chaos cool and damp
climate, but
of the Arab Spring. Food riots topple gov- the Thames
rarely freezes
ernments … The shortest path to regime over. However,
change is food inflation. during the Little
Ice Age, the
Thames would
often freeze
BECAUSE solid, as noted
in Abraham
Hondius’
CLIMATE CHANGE Frozen Thames.
painting, The
IS RELATIVELY
SLOW AND
GRADUAL,
SHELTER IS
ACTUALLY A
› Right: The
SMALL PART Battle of Oroi-
Jalatu in 1755
OF ADEQUATE Qing and Oirat
between the
PREPARATION … the final battles
armies—one of
involving the
Mongols
“Food and money have gone together › Far right: A
since time immemorial,” Kaufman added. 1747 map by
Emanuel Bowen
“The first contracts on cuneiform tablets based on Egede’s
were about who owed whom how much descriptions of
North America.
wheat going forward. Ever since the Old It shows how far
Testament’s Jacob made his fortune as Norse travelers
were able to
the price of wheat went through the roof, venture during The irony is that despite the often-repeated message that kids in Africa or Asia are starving,
the Medieval
the ‘money people’ have been waiting Warm Period. the world already produces a great deal more food than is needed.
around, waiting for the next scarcity.” (Photo: Public “The problem is that most of the food and water goes to feed cattle, and one part of this
Domain/ is our addiction to meat,” adds Kaufman.
David Rumsey
Collection) Even on a small scale, producing meat isn’t sustainable for a farmer. The land needed
SO U R C ES to raise enough cattle to feed a family could be better used to raise other foods, such as
potatoes. Therefore, chickens are a more-practical option, because they can provide eggs;
Brian Fagan
Professor of Anthropology, retired, and a small chicken coop can allow you to store a live chicken in the yard instead of a dead
University of California, Santa Barbara one in a freezer.
venbed@gmail.com Some chickens can lay up to 300 eggs per year, and each egg can provide about 74 calories,
Frederick Kaufman 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein.
Professor, City University of New York Chickens also provide pest control for the rest of the garden. In addition, they are actually
Graduate School of Journalism a tick’s worst enemy. A few chickens can reduce the tick population in a small area and
FredKaufman@verizon.net
keep it under control. These feathered friends will also eat fleas, beetles and ants —all
pests that like to feast on your vegetable garden. ASG

46 AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE [OCTOBER 2017]

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