Hungry?
TEOTWAWKI hits and it’s every man, woman, and child for him or herself. YOU live in the city (or suburban outpost). It’s HELL - roaming bands of biker thugs emerge from out of nowhere, clean water is difficult to find, screaming people can be heard at night - and day, and there’s no end in sight. You’re hungry. You were smart enough to stock food in advance, but you didn’t stock enough, so you were also one of the first to raid neighboring apartments when the owners didn’t return (and you knew they wouldn’t). You scored more food there. It’s day three of the Apocalypse. You’re hungry, so you sit down in your little hidy hole with canned beans and can opener.
Don’t do it! Don’t open that can of beans! Save it. It’s only day three. Grab the grub that’s going bad first, go - dumpster diving!
My favorite dive is the “Armstand Group”. This is when the diver assumes a handstand position at the end of the diving platform and pushes off. Being that it’s a dive NOT used with a springboard, it’s also perfect for dumpsters.
Why not dive? You’re gonna get dirty anyway. Once, when I was a kid, I was on an 4-H “Teen Discovery” trek into the boonies. There was this little bitchy kid on the trip that was “helping” me get the canoe off the shore - only he wasn’t really helping, because helping would’ve meant getting his feet wet. Camp counselor dude comes along, assesses the situation and tells the kid to “go stand in the water.” The kid responds, “huh?” Counselor dude: “Go stand in the water - now.” Then little bitchy kid figures it out. Once wet, getting wet for the canoe is no longer an issue. He reluctantly got wet . . then helped with the canoe.
What does this have to do with dumpster diving? . . . ummmm . . . . oh yeah! DIVE into the dumpster and, once covered in blech, getting your paws dirty scrounging for grub won’t be an issue. Besides, you’ll be less appealing to thugs if you look and smell all nasty. Deception!
Seriously, though - scope it:
There are also large losses in restaurant salad and buffet bars. Mickey Dedajic, an 18-year-old immigrant who lived off rotting potatoes and rice during the siege of Sarajevo more than a decade ago, said he’s astonished at the waste of food in America after working as a waiter and bus boy at an Alexandria, Va., hotel.
“Most of the time we run out of food, and there’s more food in the garbage than on the buffet,” he said. “People just aren’t thinking about it.”
From the same article (here):
“I just don’t understand this,” said Jones. He suggested that bulk purchases at discount stores are resulting in people having too much food they are not used to keeping, and so are just throwing unopened portions away. About 34 percent of discarded edible food was dry-packaged goods, and 19 percent canned goods that keep a long time.
I could write an entire post just on what a waste this is WITHOUT a survival situation. Seriously! I wonder if the Mrs. would like to head out to a restaurant for dinner . . . BEHIND the restaurant. Doubt it, but I’ll be on that scene in no time WTSHTF.
*****************
Continuation of the $600 rebate saga. A Maine newspaper yesterday suggested a few ways you can spend your rebate this summer: 186 gallons of home heating oil, 3 cords of dry firewood, one Maine Coon kitten, a baseball signed by Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, or a “full wedding” with 3 songs by “Elvis” at Weddings on the Strip in Las Vegas. The article is here.
I have a baseball autographed by Clemens . . . if a Ryan/Clemens ball sells for $600, mine must be worth $300 . . . subtract the STHF homie discount and I’ll let it go for ONLY $250.00! Anyone? Anyone? 
I got it long ago at a baseball card show when he was still playing for the Sox. I remember shaking his hand. Huge hands, big guy . . . and now we learn - roids.
- Ranger Man
19 responses so far ↓
1 oldman in the boonies // Jan 30, 2008 at 11:56 am
The rest of the world is appauled in the amount of food we Americans waste. Oh yeah I am sure we benefit from healthier buffets. But when the Buffets are gone and we are forced to eat like the rest of world, will we have natural immunities they do?
2 ryan // Jan 30, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I think that you hit on the biggest issue with urban dumpster diving when you talked about biker gangs appearing out of nowhere and constant screams of people being harmed. Be sure to have good security while dumpster diving. Maybe it could be made into a battle drill, “cover me while I dumpster dive”, “got you covered buddy dive away”.
Do remember that if it is day 3 food has been in there for atleast 3 days as people will probably stop wasting food if SHTF. Error on the side of caution and cook any raw food. If in doubt do not eat it. I can not think of many worse things then having food poisoning when SHTF.
I personally dumpster dive by climbing in feet first. I am currently something of an opportunistic dumpster diver. If I see something that has potential I pull it out and evaluate it. I got a full sized oak dining room table from a dumpster along with a speaker set for my laptop and a 3 ft high 4 ft long stuffed moose.
Good food for thought if nothing else.
3 worrbaron // Jan 30, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I think the point of preparedness is to not get to this point. However I do see the value in this post and if sufficiently hungry I’m sure anyone would eat just about anything. (dog post)
4 DW // Jan 30, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Go to Mexico.
Many people continue to live only because of what they can get out of the dump.
Coming soon to America.
What goes around comes aro;und.
5 worrbaron // Jan 30, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Have posted anything about hunting and cooking specifically in a semi urban area?
6 The Hermit // Jan 30, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I live so far out in the woods that there isn’t any dumpster type apparatus to be found. However, I throw very little away. If I can’t eat it, my dogs or cats probably can, and if they can’t, the chickens can. Chickens will eat anything, including dead animals.
7 The Hermit // Jan 30, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Worrbaron, you might enjoy Ragnar Benson’s “Living off the Land ” which covers urban environments. Paladan Press sells it, as does Amazon.com
8 Ranger Man // Jan 30, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Hermit, we would - of course - advise worrbaron to purchase any Amazon books through the SHTFblog Amazon “store” - right?
It’s a way to toss me a bone.
If you don’t find what you’re looking for in the storefront I set up, type what you want into the Amazon search bar and shop away. Amazon tosses me a small commission.
- RM
9 boodaman // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I remember seeing this TV show where 5 kids from foreign countries were given video cameras and the spent a few weeks going all over America. People could post to a website with ideas of where they should go, what they should do.
The show was kinda lame, but the one thing that sticks out in my mind was seeing them go to some average restaurant, I think it was in Memphis or Nashville. And one of them, a woman, held a plate of food up to the camera and said “in the Philipines where I come from, this would feed a whole family”. The plate was just a typical plate of food that you would get in your average America restaurant for 7 or 10 dollars or whatever.
For some reason that really stuck in my mind, and now I pay really close attention to my food portions. It is surprising just how small a 4 oz piece of meat is when you think about it, and you’re not even supposed to eat that every day, let alone 8-12 oz every day.
Americans will buy packaged food and think each package is a serving, but if you look at the label, it will probably say something like “2 servings” or “serves 4″. We have no idea how much food we eat and waste.
Another thing that boggled my mind was reading that over half of the world’s population (that’s about 3 billion people or 10 times the entire population of the US) still uses open flames as their primary cooking method. We don’t know how good we have it.
10 worrbaron // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I live in a very rural part of western Maine, I was more concerned about other readers and their options while living in a semi urban area.
11 Anonymous // Jan 30, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Dumpster Diving, post TEOTWAWKI!?! Unless you’re finding cans, this isn’t gonna last a week. & good luck dealing with what you’re gonna catch from spoiled food. Yeah, I want to deal with Montezuma’s Revenge while I’m running from those biker hordes you mentioned.
12 Bathroom Graffiti // Feb 1, 2008 at 2:20 am
Beautiful article! My family of four almost lives on dumpster goodies the last week of college. Our town has five colleges, and lots of international students. We are constantly amazed at the amounts of pre-packaged, unopened food we find in the dumpsters during move-out from the dorms. It’s a lot of fun trying new dishes from places like Taiwan and West Africa for free. *grin*
We already have lookouts and safety regs for diving set in our family, from the 7yo on up to us parents, we know that living survival makes for an easier adjustment when you have no other way to get by.
Very timely, thank you.
13 AleMaker // Aug 3, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Don’t forget- any shit-stain companies with a mind to put a lock on the dumpster (current functioning economy problem only) can be made to weep and remove it with one (or many) assaults on the lock with a 50-cent tube of superglue.
Cost effective and dumpster-licious
I learned from the best at 18 years old in Tucson, Az. I miss those guys.
14 THE SHINDIGS... // Nov 11, 2008 at 9:39 am
WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS RADON POISON FLYING THROUGH THE AIR ON DAY 1?
REMEMBER, TSHTF AND THERE IS NO WATER, AND PRIMARILY TO DECONTAMINATE ANYTHING TOXIC, YOU MUST RINSE IT WITH WATER…
http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm
15 Semi-Crazy // Mar 4, 2009 at 3:52 am
to #6 The Hermit A good way to feed chickens is put that dead animal in a bucket above the chickens with holes drilled in it. Flys will come, then maggots who will drop to the ground out of the holes drilled. Doesnt smell too bad.
16 MeMe // Jun 4, 2009 at 10:22 am
Dumpster dive for ANYTHING that can be eaten, recycled for another use, or as a back up for items you already have (tools, etc.)
As mentioned by many others, you will also find canned and packaged goods in dumpsters.
You will find blankets, dishes, knives, their trash - my treasures.
If it is only day 3 - and depending on how hot it is outside, already cooked meats, like McD hamburgers won’t have completely spoiled, the buns might be fuzzy, so ditch those, eat the pickles and onions on the fly and zip lock the meat patties for re-cooking (sanitizing) back at camp.
PIZZA is another good recycled food. How many times have you left it out on your counter overnight only to grab a cold slice the next morning? And spaghettti or any kind of cooked noodle- the citrus in the spag sauce will preserve it for a day or two. If you are concerned about it, zip lock it back to camp and rinse the sauce off. It takes quite some time for cooked noodles to go rancid. You can rinse, and pack in water for about a week for ready to eat or, hang over twigs to re-dry for long term storage.
Scrounge out any fruits and veggies - raw are better, but cooked are ok too. Surplus gets ziplocked back to camp to be re-processed/re-packaged so you can keep it for a couple of days.
OR the best alternative to short term re-pack is to use your 250 watt dehydrator to dehydrate your surplus finds - everything should keep for up to a year stored in a dark cool place.
Just check for any signs of moisture after a couple of days once you have dehydrated. If there is moisture, you can spread the food out on tin foil over your portable grill, cover loosely with foil and homogenize for about 15-20 at low temp then re-pack.
If you don’t have a low watt dehydrator, a window screen elevated about 5 inches in direct sun will do - just make it critter proof while drying.
17 JohnConnor // Aug 3, 2009 at 10:03 am
I came to a realization about 3 days ago. That was July 30, 2009. Why I came to this realization is hard to explain. What this realization is is that its really gunna happen. TEOTWAWKI. I don’t know when it will happen. Probably less than 5 years from now. I have gone through a transformation since 3 days ago. That transformation has put me into survival mode. I’ve now got 2 bug out bags packed and ready to get out of Dodge. One kit will keep me alive for at least 3 days. The other is filled with food and water. I hope that all who read this understand what we as Americans face. We face many challanges. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I hope you all are prepared. Thats all I have to say.
18 Todd // Aug 12, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Depending where you live you can be ARRESTED for dumpster diving!!! It’s crazy you’d think they would be glad you were helping recycle!
19 Ralph // Oct 31, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I live in south Florida. Talk about what will happen if SHF down here…
I am friends have formed a network of cooperation. We have slowly been preparing for sometime now. We keep close eye on crimes that are occuring in the metro area. Over the last several months we have noticed violent crime increase and move from downtown Miami to the surburbs.
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