Wheat as a Survival Food
Wheat is an ideal candidate for survival food because of its long period of stable shelf life, as well as its potential to be made into a wide variety of foods in the hands of a savvy survivalist. It requires no special storage such as refrigeration or freezing and is suitable for everyone except wheat or gluten allergy sufferers.
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Function
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Wheat is useful as a survival food because it packs a lot of nutrition into a comparatively small package that is shelf-stable for long periods of time. Additionally, it is relatively inexpensive compared with many other foods sold for survivalist purposes.
Types
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As a whole grain, dark hard winter or spring wheats store particularly well, according to Ready For Anything Now. Dried wheat pastas and preground wheat flours can also be purchased, but individuals purchasing these items from a supermarket should be aware their shelf life is not as long as that of properly treated whole wheat grains.
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Time Frame
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Hardcore survivalists recommend storing enough supplies (including wheat) for a year. Less hardcore individuals suggest two weeks is enough. In the event of a serious disaster where infrastructure is compromised and food is not easily procured, a supply of food that is enough to last a few months is a measurable, reasonable goal. Whole wheat grains, when properly stored, can last for well over a year.
Considerations
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When buying whole wheat grains, you also need to purchase a hand-cranked grain mill in order to make the wheat palatable and digestible. If additional grains will be part of a survival larder, this mill should be able to handle grinding them as well. Survivalists should also consider purchasing a cookbook or guide to working with whole grains of wheat, so they know the available options. The most basic bread recipe is a 5:3 ratio of flour to water, with an equal pinch of salt and yeast (about a teaspoon of each per standard-size loaf of bread). This ratio is extremely helpful to learn. A mechanical (non-electric) scale is also a sound investment when working with wheat as a survival food.
Wheat sold for survivalist purposes may come pretreated so insects do not invade and/or hatch from it. If it has not been pretreated, place a quarter-pound of dry ice at the bottom of a five gallon bucket of wheat, cracking the lid slightly open, and allow it to sit undisturbed for five to six hours before sealing, according to Ready for Anything Now. This will provide sufficient protection.
Potential
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Many wheat products are available for sale, both in supermarkets and through survivalist specialty stores and catalogs. The biggest difference between these two outlets is items sold in supermarkets have already been processed and are stored in such a way that they have a much shorter shelf life, according to Survival Center. Additionally, buying wheat pasta means survivalists can only eat wheat pasta. Buying whole wheat grains means canny survivalists with grain mills can make almost anything they would like out of the whole wheat grains they have stored. A plethora of breads, pancakes and even wheat gluten meat substitutes can be fashioned from simple buckets of whole grain wheat.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit wheat image by Artur Ciba from Fotolia.com
