Back in June, I shared Bonnie Paulson’s awesome Worth of Souls book trailer with you, featuring the spectacular author herself. Today, Bonnie is sharing her thoughts on survival skills. Specifically, the major adjustment non-meat-eaters will have to make. I don’t eat most meat myself. I was a vegetarian for 17 years. Now, I only eat chicken and turkey. I don’t eat mammals for personal reasons and I don’t like fish because, well, I just don’t like it. Would I be able to survive on bugs? Hmmm. I don’t know. I guess when you’re faced with eating something icky or dying, you’ll do what you have to do! Check out Bonnie’s thoughts and valuable tips on surviving the end of the world!
If you’re vegan, you might need a burger at the end of the world!
by Bonnie Paulson
Yeah, I said it. A lot of people don’t know that only 5 to 10% of “wild” vegetation is edible. I’ve heard it’s actually a lot lower – closer to 2% but I couldn’t find a source for that number.
Then, out of wild animals (or really any animals), there are 98% that are edible. Really? That includes insects, yep, the creepy crawlies.
This might be a big adjustment for plant eating people when their local market has been destroyed and there’s no garden nearby to raze.
Or will it?
During the Great Depression, game animals became scarce because everyone and their grandpas were hunting and fishing for food. Animals don’t reproduce as quickly as people need them to in order to stay fed.
However, plants – especially when tended to, can provide quite the feast and can be harvested with little effort in the confines of a home or even prison cell – they lived in prison cells in The Walking Dead, right? So could I!
And in a survival situation, you stop weeding. Why? Because even the weeds are edible. I’ve enjoyed fried dandelion heads, dandelion leaf salad, thistle tea, and rock soup (this one is crazy and mostly a mind trip, but it’s real).
I have also eaten red ants which tasted like Lemon Drops and black ants which tasted like peanut butter. Crunchy, but tasty and packing a ton of protein. I’ve heard of people dying in the wilderness because they didn’t have any food and I want to rewind time and see what they did to find it.
If you’re out in a survival situation, look under logs or large rocks – worms, beetles, and ants are all edible, if you can get past the “I’m going to gag” mentality.
The only thing I don’t think I could eat is a spider. Some things just belong in the burn pile of life.
Which brings me to my question – have you tried anything strange or different to eat? Would you recommend it? Why or why not!
Read the Worth of Souls series from the beginning:
Anger isn’t an emotion anymore, it’s more of a survival mode I can’t afford to let go.
My dad predicted World War III would happen in his life, but he died two years before… with my brother……before Mom and I walked in search of refuge from the bombing. Strengthened by her faith, Mom never feels alone. But me? I don’t know what to believe or where to turn. Someone once said keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but I disagree. Friends scare me the most. They know me and my mom. Nothing about them is safe.
The ones in charge… Control everything…
Crud, I’ve started crying because I’m scared I won’t survive World War III. But a bigger part of me is scared I will.
My mom is bleeding in my arms and she’s making me promise to follow her three rules.
Pray.
Don’t trust anyone.
Stay alive.
How long do I need to break all three?
I’m pregnant and I couldn’t be more excited. But the community Bodey, his dad, and I live in has rules. Rules that make Mom’s rules seem like safety nets. Only 200 people are allowed at a time. My baby will make it 201. The leader is making me choose someone from our house to die so there will be room for my child. Either I make the decision or they take… my…
Even in the craziness that the world has become, I refuse to believe only 200 can live in it at once.
The “community” is safe-ish, comfortable. We have food, warmth, and there isn’t immediate danger of being robbed while we sleep. Doesn’t it make sense we’d have to exchange something for all that?
I’ve survived this long. Maybe that’s enough. Maybe I should die so my family can live.
Or maybe I can get through the lines and find a people worth sacrificing for.
Running for my life and six months pregnant, I’m terrified but confident in my decisions.With my love and family behind me, captured by the same man who chases me, I have only a small window to find help. The baby needs to come out eventually.Nobody said the end of the world would define people so much. Everywhere I turn I have to prove my worth.Mom was gone before I learned my value lay in my eyes. Not others.
But how would that save Bodey? How could my worth change how the world me spins?If I can’t figure it out, everyone I love will die, trapped in a place where even following the rules won’t protect us.
About Bonnie Paulson
Bonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and give every 
romance the genetic strength to survive. Bonnie has discovered a dark and twisty turn in her writing that she hopes you enjoy as much as she has enjoyed uncovering it. Dirt biking with her family in the Northwest keeps her sane.
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