Food is definitely more valuable than gold when society collapses to the point where people can't get food anymore. Related example: http://www.foxnews.com/us/

Food is definitely more valuable than gold when society collapses to the point where people can't get food anymore. Related example: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/19/american-world-war-ii-pow-prized-gold-ring-comes-home-after-70-year-journey/ http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/19/american-world-war-ii-p... Although the food is artificially scarce in that case, it shows that people value what's necessary for survival above trinkets when they're required to do so. Gold having value presupposes some amount of social cohesion.