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> Go into the wild and grow/hunt food It is easy to radically underestimate how much food a human needs every day and how hard it is to acquire, especially whe

> Go into the wild and grow/hunt food It is easy to radically underestimate how much food a human needs every day and how hard it is to acquire, especially when living a non-sedentary life as a hunter/gatherer. Trying to accumulate 2000+ calories per day growing food requires a rather significant farm and skill (and weather); doing so with meat requires daily hunting, or a permanent storage facility with refrigeration (unless you like salt and pickled meat). Doing this while trying not to die from exposure or injury is even more challenging. It is amazingly nontrivial.

user3939382 5y ago
If you watch the reality show Alone, these wilderness survival experts try to do it to win $500k and most of them end up starving and dropping out.
ALittleLight 5y ago
I don't think that comment is underestimating it, but rather saying that living off the grid would be impressive because it's hard. Living off of charity or the work of others isn't impressive.
cgh 5y ago
Yes, and in the northern hemisphere at least, you quickly realize that foraging for plants is a waste of time. There just isn’t enough calories. Re daily hunting, meat actually keeps for quite a while when hung in cooler temps (heat is not your friend when hunting). This is routinely done with eg deer. And it is easy to dry meat of all sorts, or even smoke it as that has the same effect and also makes it even more delicious.
- fogihujy 5y ago
  It's not for vegans, that's for sure. There's a lot of plant and mushroom-based food to be had during the end of the summer, though, and one would have to forage for plants first thing when spring came in order to get a nutritionally complete diet.
hnick 5y ago
It's also a little harder these days with how barren the environment is, comparatively. The oceans and shorelines especially, past generations could walk on down and gather lobsters by hand. Good luck now. Maybe after a few hundred years of human population collapse.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  I grew up on Long Island in 60's, which is a bay (called a "sound", like Long Island Sound) bordered by states CT, RI, Mass, and NY/Long Island. Many relatives caught lobster there, but no more. In the summer we would walk down to low tide and pull steamers clams out of the sand and cook them on holidays, along with periwinkles which are 4" snails (not the same as French periwinkles which are tiny!!) Now all areas are polluted and shellfish cannot be eaten. Is it crazy/sad? Yes.

user3939382 5y ago

If you watch the reality show Alone, these wilderness survival experts try to do it to win $500k and most of them end up starving and dropping out.

ALittleLight 5y ago

I don't think that comment is underestimating it, but rather saying that living off the grid would be impressive because it's hard. Living off of charity or the work of others isn't impressive.

cgh 5y ago

Yes, and in the northern hemisphere at least, you quickly realize that foraging for plants is a waste of time. There just isn’t enough calories. Re daily hunting, meat actually keeps for quite a while when hung in cooler temps (heat is not your friend when hunting). This is routinely done with eg deer. And it is easy to dry meat of all sorts, or even smoke it as that has the same effect and also makes it even more delicious.

fogihujy 5y ago
It's not for vegans, that's for sure. There's a lot of plant and mushroom-based food to be had during the end of the summer, though, and one would have to forage for plants first thing when spring came in order to get a nutritionally complete diet.

hnick 5y ago

It's also a little harder these days with how barren the environment is, comparatively. The oceans and shorelines especially, past generations could walk on down and gather lobsters by hand. Good luck now. Maybe after a few hundred years of human population collapse.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
I grew up on Long Island in 60's, which is a bay (called a "sound", like Long Island Sound) bordered by states CT, RI, Mass, and NY/Long Island. Many relatives caught lobster there, but no more. In the summer we would walk down to low tide and pull steamers clams out of the sand and cook them on holidays, along with periwinkles which are 4" snails (not the same as French periwinkles which are tiny!!) Now all areas are polluted and shellfish cannot be eaten. Is it crazy/sad? Yes.