I wonder how long some of us will be able to survive if... (Anchorage: how much, homes)

[GrammasCabin]

I sometimes wonder if I'm a little paranoid but I'm convinced the day will come when the supply barge doesn't show up. I've spent the last 20 years learning where and what edible and medicine plants grow around me and how to use them. And I use them.
I also keep a good supply of bulk grains, beans, flour etc. And spices, powdered eggs, cheese, milk etc. And I use them. While we can survive with a lot of hard work off the land and sea, it'll get pretty boring without some of the foods we're used to. No one can store enough to last forever but nothing wrong with planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

It always amazes me what the stores in town look like when the barge is just one day late. The shelves are empty of produce, dairy and meat, literally. What will "they" do when it doesn't get here at all?!
I've also noticed the store owners are ordering less product. Sometimes the fresh produce and milk are gone even before the barge is due.

I've always felt a little cheeky 'cause I knew I could live off the beach. I used to be able to pick up dungies in the grasses at low tide. Haven't seen any there for for years. I used to gather a whole year's supply of sea cucumbers at the mouth of my creek in June. Haven't seen a one in 3-4 years. The steamer clams disappeared around these islands beginning nearly 10 years ago. Now they're just gone and the beaches are solid black with millions of mussles. What shellfish is left is now so full of PSP they're deadly. I do worry what this planetary pollution will do to the rest of our wild foods up here.
But I sure wouldn't be anyplace else!!!!!!

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

A garden full of cabbage is almost a guarantee to bring in a moose or two...fresh meat for the winter. Now your set, you can live off cabbage and moose.

Can sauerkraut prevent scurvy? I've got about 7 big huge cabbages in my yard right now. The moose already munched on one.

The only problem is that in highly populated areas (Palmer, Fairbanks, Anchorage, etc.) the local moose would not last very long.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Bob Blockus

Worst comes to worst. United States government could close down the enter gates into Alaska. Let Alaska defend for it's self in economic will power for it's own people. Keep the vast wild Alaska land a open zoo food source for Alaska people. Year 2062 Alaska oil will be used up and Government might agree to close up Alaska. Canada at that time have entered the World military powers. Anchorage International airport will become a space port with flights to Moscow, Russia and to Mars. Closer to our time line in life. Year 2018 coca cola will introduced dry storage soft drink pouch with built in fizz making motor. One would only have to add water to the 32 oz coca cola pouch. Saving heavy transportation costs. Year 2024 custom made office building modules that come out of place and become helicopters flying high above cities with office suites. Move Government offices into other locations when needed. Flying building modules...

The Federal government would never drop Alaska. There are numerous and very large deposits of natural resources such as gold, oil, diamonds, copper, coal, etc. What it would do instead is to protect such resources from other nations, specially Russia.

[arctichomesteader]

The Interior and every other part of Alaska are quite survivable, but you have to work with the environment not against it, the way people have for thousands of years. You can't expect big crops of tomatoes and watermelons in the arctic without modern technology helping a little (even the sheet of plastic put down qualifies as modern), but there are wild edibles there and some vegetables that will grow well, potatoes, for example. The biggest problem is what will be available may not be to everyone's liking...

[ShipOfFools42]

GrammasCabin, your post just made me very happy and very sad at the same time.

[Boompa]

I can be in Mexico in 20 minutes

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Perhaps it's genetic. Supposedly the livers of some animals have vitamin C in them....but nonetheless, people died of scurvy during the gold rush days. Most of them were white; maybe they just didn't have the genetic predisposition to a diet of flammable fats that the Natives did.

I never knew that about saurkraut...hate it though which is another reason I wouldn't make it through an interior winter if I had to live off the land.

Agree with you on this. After a great number of generations, their genetic make-up would certainly change to adapt to a lack of certain vitamins and minerals. An example: a lot of Natives' digestive system can't tolerate milk. Something else, cardiovascular decease and cancer were about non-existent in the older generations of Natives, even when their diet consisted of wale and seal meat and fat. Can you imagine what would happen to any of us living in the city if our main diet consisted of fat? We would just turn into walrus-size humans and then die of heart failure in a short order. But after the introduction of our foods into the Native populations, cancer and heart decease are common.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

We're in the Interior at the "end of the road", so already live on the edge of SHTF. I think survivability in this area is pretty good despite the cold. We have plenty of trees nearby for firewood and they're small enough that even cutting and hauling by hand wouldn't be too awfully prohibitive if you had a halfway decent small cabin that was well insulated. Tons of wild game and fish and forage that aren't completely depleted since there aren't too many folks right around here.

Tons of wild berries and roses for the magical Vitamin C, plus cabbage (raw is better, but kraut is still good) and potatoes have decent amounts of C as well and we know they grow here. Vitamin D shouldn't be a problem if you're eating salmon (or most any fish), or smoked sausages/hams, or have a dairy goat and some laying hens, or eat mushrooms frequently... might get a smidge low in the dead of winter, but you can build it up in the summer sun and your body stores it pretty well.

The short season is a problem only with the longer season stuff, but there are short season grains and plenty of veg that do just fine, only a few need extra TLC. You might not get huge harvests of some stuff, but certainly enough not to suffer malnutrition or starvation. If you can hunt and fish, the human animal is pretty efficient at getting the majority of it's needs from animal products -- fruit, veg & grains are good, but not always necessary in large quantities.

The biggest issue for us would be transportation... with gas prices as they are, lots of us are already carpooling for supply trips into town. If they shut down our Post Office, then we'd be even worse off for getting supplies.

But if SHTF... life would pretty much be business as usual here.

I disagree with you on this. Even without experiencing an economical disaster we have hunters from Anchorage all around the interior (all around Fairbanks). Can you imagine what would happen to all the game at your end of the pond once hungry people can't find food at the local stores? Once we cut the trees nearby, then we would move your way and cut your wood, and kill your game. That's what would happen Another example: Back in the '70s I would go to Chitina to dip-net, and I would rarely see more than 40 people dipping. Nowadays thousands of dip-netters a week can be seen at Chitina.

Some people would use dogs, horses, etc., to move around once they run out of fuel. But those who can't adapt would have to perish or move South.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by AADAD

I think what is surprising to me is that many peeps smarter than me predict those loss of vital foods gas and power is closer than we think. the dow lost more today than 5% on "jitters". It is a house of cards and panic can cause a lot of things to change. I think that initially Alaska would be a good place to be as power flows locally, processed gas might be another story....it the sht goes down, I would prefer to be there than here no doubt.

Just yesterday Government borrowing (credit) surpassed the national GDP. So, it's very possible.

[Metlakatla]

It's one thing to be prepared and to be producing much of your own food in the first place and to be thrown into it in the event of sudden disaster. If everything went to hell in the fall, I don't think many people in the interior would survive unless they're already living like MissingAll4Seasons does.