How to get the best wilderness survival food without risking your survival chance

The survivor must remember that the three essentials of survival--water, food and shelter. After water, man's most urgent requirement is food. Though humans can survive for up to three weeks without food, we probably wouldn't choose to go that long. Because food is not just for the maintaining body function but also for a good mental and emotional state.

Most natural environments are filled with a variety of items that can meet our nutritional needs.

Common and Abundant Plant Food Sources in North America:
Cattails

Cattails are known as the “supermarket of the swamp”, as no matter which season it is, there are always edible parts available on the cattail plant. The roots, shoots, and pollen heads can be eaten.

Conifers:

The inner bark of conifers, known as the cambium layer, is full of sugars, starches and calories. It can be eaten on most evergreen, cone-bearing trees [except for the yew, identified by its red berries, in which all parts are poisonous]. The inner bark should be scraped out and cooked to convert the fibers into a more digestible form.

Grasses:

All grasses are edible. The leaves can be chewed and the juices swallowed - though be sure to spit out the un-digestible fibers. Where the base of the leaves meets the root is a small white part of the stem/root structure, called the root corm. It can be roasted and eaten like a potato.

Oaks:

All acorns, the nuts produced by oak trees, can be leached of their bitter tannic acids, and then eaten, providing an excellent source of protein, fats, and calories. The acorns can be placed in a net bag in a stream for a day or put into several changes of boiling water to extract the tannins. White oaks have the least amount of tannins and therefore the best flavor.

Plants to avoid:

•Anything with an almond scent

•Plants with a milky sap(not including dandelion)

•Shiny/glossy leaf plants i.e. poison oak

•Plants with umbrella shaped flowers

•Fungi, unless you are absolutely sure of your wild mushrooms

Golden Principle

Only eat the plants that you can identity.

Tips: We suggest you print a copy of the Universal Edibility Test to stash in your survival kit.

Most insects are rich in protein&fat which are vital nutritional needs for you:

Grubs

These can be eaten raw and they can be found in rotting logs and just under the turf. Ants can be gathered and eaten raw but remove the heads before placing in your mouth to avoid being pinched or stung.

Termites

Can be found in and under logs that have contact with the ground or in mounds. Run a slender stick into the mound and quickly pull it out. The termites will gather on the stick as it enters the mound. Avoid destroying any termite mounds you may encounter in the wilderness because they play an important role in the eco system and are a food source for various species of mammals and reptiles.

Earthworms

Can be found just under the surface, in piles of wet leaves and other forest debris and under rocks and logs.

Crickets

In an emergency, all but crickets can be eaten raw. Cricket intestines can contain the tapeworm parasites. Once you have gathered the crickets up pull the heads off, this will remove the intestines reducing your chances of ingesting the parasite.

Golden Principle

Cook all the insects with fire

Even most of the insects can be eaten raw, but cook them to make more appetizing, most importantly cook to kill the parasites and bacteria.

Insects to avoid:

1.Avoid are fuzzy ones, brightly colored ones and ones that emit a foul odor.

2. Avoid Cane toad, they are toxic to both humans and most mammals.

3. Avoid flies as they eat carrion and other waste products and are spreaders of disease.

Fish

All freshwater fish in North America are edible. In a survival situation, fish can be caught using a sharpened stick as a fish spear. For small minnows, a t-shirt can be used as a fish net.

Birds

Game birds such as grouse and pheasants can be captured using snares or hunting implements such as a throwing stick, though it can be very difficult if you have not practiced these trapping/hunting skills.

Small Mammals

Unless you are an experienced hunter, hunting small animals for meat is inadvisable in a survival situation. Hunting is difficult and you will expend a lot of energy to get your food. Instead of hunting consider trapping. Trapping requires less skill and leaves you free to spend time searching for other food sources. The wilderness survivor needs simple traps that are easy to remember and easy to construct.

Source: Dale &Jason Knight