Appetite for survival

Good Food Blog

What is RSS?

Posted at 11:04AM, 08 February 2008 by Graham Holliday - Blogger

Could you eat dog food? That's not a question you're ever likely to have to answer, but for Tamitha and Thomas Garner trapped in a snowstorm all last week they had no choice. After nine days imprisoned inside their car, surviving on nothing but granola bars and dog food, they decided to make a break for it.

They were eventually found alive this week, with their dog (also still alive), a full twelve days since originally becoming stranded. The couple were down to frozen bottles of water and the by now empty tins of dog food when they decided to brave the elements. They trekked for three days through the snow in search of help.

There are precedents to the experience of the Garners - and plenty of them. Stories of sailors marooned at sea surviving on nothing but raw fish, explorers lost in unforgiving jungles and plane crash victims left to the ultimate last resort - human flesh - as in the film Alive.

All of these stories testify to the fact that come the grim reality of imminent death, our instinctive survival mechanisms awaken and whether it be dog food or tree roots we'll eat anything going to survive regardless of any vegan, vegetarian, fruitarian or carnivorous leanings. If you're like me, you're hardly the urban equivalent of Ray Mears or Les Hiddins.

And I'm not sure where my breaking point would be or how long I could bear to survive on fat cells before my body ordered my brain to crack open the Pedigree Chum and get stuck on for all I'm worth. I suspect I'd crack quickly and pathetically gnawing on the nearest stump of nourishment within reach whether it be tinned dog food or tree bark, but what about you?

What do you think you could eat, just to survive? Or have you already digested the full-Ray Mears and feel confident come what may? Tamitha and Thomas reached safety this Wednesday. They were a little dehydrated and suffering from frostbite. At least they could take some comfort in the fact that (I think) they were not served dog food in the Utah hospital they eventually wound up in. Not sure you'd be able to say the same about the NHS, but that's a whole other can of beans and a whole other dietary survival story.

Comments

Alison

9 February 2008, 11:48PM
Alison

cute pooch ... !!

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Gregg

10 February 2008, 6:19PM
Gregg

I was stuck once in Catford, South London, and was forced to eat ASK pizza.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Alison

10 February 2008, 9:33PM
Alison

what's ASK pizza? ... can i find that shop in Glasgow?

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
noodlepie

12 February 2008, 5:24PM
noodlepie

I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound good... There's a pizza seller in France called Speed Rabbit - although none of the pizzas on offer have rabbit in them :)

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
Rayne

14 February 2008, 11:40AM
Rayne

I think you've got to be on your last legs to try some of the take-outs where I live...If I had a choice between death and tuckers kebabs, I might just choose the former option.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
shez

19 February 2008, 11:52AM
shez

Have to say that at my vets recommendation, my fur baby eats dry dog food and am relieved as the strong smell of wet dog food just keeps me wretching. It is said that dogs have a fantastic sense of smell so why does the food smell so over powering? I read an article this week about M & S and they have an employee who tastes all pet food! Have to say that if I was so hungry though, I probably would eat it. Haven't you noticed that most food tastes better if you are actually hungry and most of us these days have forgotten what hungry tastes like.

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
debbie

10 April 2008, 2:32PM
debbie

Is that a pic of Rick Steins dog Chalky???

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:
cookrennie

16 May 2008, 6:28PM
cookrennie

My youngest spent a phase in his young life making a bee-line for either the dog or cat food whenever unsupervised for a few seconds. Dry or wet didn't seem to make much difference. Didn't last long thankfully but also doesn't seem to have done him lasting harm...

Flag as inappropriate

Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Your name: Reason:

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons to sign up:

You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.
You can sign up for our weekly newsletter (sent out on Wednesdays) - it's packed with recipes, special offers and competitions.