[henners]

Food

The interesting fact is that with the exception of a person suffering a medical condition such as diabetes your need for food is not all that important in a survival situation.

Bush Tucker

The Australian bush is not crawling with large animals ready to jump on a sharpened stick or slip a noose around their necks. The catching/trapping of animals is an art and science that can only be developed by practice. Collecting berries, fruit and digging up roots or catching water living critters is probably more appropriate for you to concentrate on in a survival situation.

Whatever you do gather don’t gulp it down. Don’t grab it and eat it immediately. Establish a foraging routine that sees all foodstuffs gathered/caught brought back to your base camp and then identified, cleaned and cooked as appropriate.

The best times to eat are just after sunrise and just before sunset. Lunch is a luxury that must wait until after rescue. Plan for just one meal a day. If possible make it the evening meal, as this will help you go to sleep easier.

Practice going hungry and seeing how your body reacts. A weekend without food will not kill you (persons suffering from medical conditions must seek medical advice before attempting this). Have your last meal at Friday breakfast and then your next meal on Monday breakfast. Analyse the stages of hunger and what you did to reduce the pangs.
The Tests for Plant Edibility

The following testing procedure has stood the test of time and many trials. Some of the tests and the timings may be thought unnecessary or even funny. You disregard them at your own peril.

You must test each part of a plant in the same way. Don’t assume that because the leaves passed the test that the other parts, roots and fruits from the same plant are automatically edible.

Test 1 — Smell. Crush the item in your hand if the smell of almonds or peaches (or both) is evident this is a sign of prussic acid. This is highly poisonous and you should err on the side of caution and discard the food item (and clean your hands).

Test 2 — Skin Irritation. Rub the crushed item on the underarm between the elbow and armpit. If reddening or irritation occurs after a minimum of 1 hour discard the food item.

Test 3 — Lips, mouth & tongue. Start with the lips touch the item and wait for any irritation or tingling, if after a minute nothing is felt carry on.
Put the food item into the corners of the mouth and wait as above. Move the food onto the tip of your tongue and wait as above. Chew slowly without swallowing and note the following; bitter taste, this indicates alkaline poisoning, irritation or soreness of the tongue or throat, any other disturbing reaction. Watch out, tart and acidy tastes need to be judged carefully.

Test 4 — Swallowing. Boiling the food item before swallowing is advised. Apart from making the item more palatable or indeed eatable the boiling may neutralise any harmful effect of the item. Swallow one mouthful only, wait at least 4 hours and watch for the following;

* soreness of mouth, tongue or throat
* inclination to belch repeatedly
* nausea or sickness
* stomach pains or distressing symptoms
* After 6 to 8 hours is there any griping pain in the lower stomach area or abdomen

Avoid eating or drinking anything during this period.

Test 5 — Eating a Quantity. Repeat Test 4 using about four to six mouthfuls. If you experience no adverse reaction then the food item can be considered reasonably safe.