Survival crackers

[Quartz Obsession] Survival crackers February 01, 2018 Chew on this --------------------------------------------------------------- Recently, an errant emergency alert sent people in the US state of Hawaii scrambling for shelter in the face of an incoming “ballistic missile threat.” ([Officials now say]( the event was not a fat-finger error, as [we obsessed about previously]( but was caused by an employee who misheard a drill and thought an attack was imminent.) In any case, it was a panic-inducing moment, one that brought a sickening immediacy to a hypothetical question: If you survive a nuclear attack, what next? That topic was top of mind for the US government at the height of the Cold War, when it built thousands of public bomb shelters. Officials knew that helping the public survive a nuclear attack was useless if everybody starved to death afterwards. As Garrett M. Graff explains in this stellar piece for [Eater]( (which expands on his book [Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die]( the US also spent millions of dollars researching high-shelf-life foods that were cheap, nutritious, and easy to mass produce. In 1958, they found an answer: Whole-wheat crackers. By the digits [20 billion:]( “Doomsday biscuits” produced by 1964 [150 million lbs:]( Their cumulative weight [3 million:]( Bushels of bulgur wheat required [352,000:]( Number of crackers discovered in 2006, in a bunker in the Brooklyn Bridge [400:]( Number of crackers contained in one airtight tin, which weighed five pounds [$0.37:]( Cost of one day’s worth of biscuits per person [715:]( Expected daily caloric intake for an individual spending two weeks underground [5:]( Shelf life of doomsday biscuits (in years) [$12:]( Cost on Amazon for a tin of Pilot Bread Crackers, which have a 30-year shelf life Brief history Staying alive --------------------------------------------------------------- [Hardtack]( the world’s original survival biscuit, has kept sailors and soldiers alive for centuries. Egyptian seamen ate a millet-based recipe called dhourra cake. In Sudan, [dhourra]( was the fallback food during famines. In the late 1500s, the UK’s [Royal Navy]( made one pound of hardtack biscuits—along with one gallon of beer—part of a sailor’s daily ration. However, Hardtack’s global popularity belies its utter unpleasantness. People called the biscuits worm castles, tooth dullers, sheet iron, molar breakers, and dog biscuits. Unless softened in water, hardtack was usually impossible to eat. During the American Civil War, waterless soldiers had to break the bread with rocks or rifle butts, softening the weevil-infested crumbs with their saliva. (The luckiest troops were able to crumble and fry it in bacon grease to make an appetizing plate of “[coosh]( [Here’s a video]( that explains how hardtack is made. Quotable “Well, you’re sipping a drink, munching on something tasteless, and it’s dark and crowded — a Greenwich Village nightclub.” [— Herman Kahn, a Cold War strategist, on what it would be like living in a fallout shelter]( Kernels of thought A grain above --------------------------------------------------------------- Kings and emperors have sung the praises of [bulgur]( which is made of parboiled whole grains called groats, for millennia. Nearly 5,000 years ago, the (likely mythical) Chinese emperor Shennong declared bulgur sacred. It would later become a staple of the Roman and Israeli diet, and even get a shoutout in the Bible (it was used to make a form of gruel). During the Cold War, when the idea of bulgur-based “survival biscuits” was presented to the US Congress, Paul Visher, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civil Defense, marketed the idea by touting the grain’s ancient credentials. “This is one of the oldest and most proven forms of food known to man,” Visher [explained](. “It has been the subsistence ration for many portions of the earth for thousands of years. Its shelf life has been established by being edible after 3,000 years in an Egyptian pyramid.” Take me down this 🍘 hole[Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 6.07.04 PM] For more information—including a classified recipe for “cold-water high-methoxyl pectin jellies”—check out the 1964 report “[Bulgur Wafer and Adjuncts For Fallout Shelter Rations]( industry secrets Knights of the biscuit roundtable --------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginning, the government processed all of its bulgur wheat at a single plant in Seattle. But when it became clear that the plant needed [extra help]( the Pentagon eased the load by calling a meeting with the nation’s biggest cereal and biscuit companies. Kroger, Nabisco, Keebler (then called the United Biscuit Company of America), Southern Biscuit, and Sunshine Biscuits would all eventually agree to help produce millions of doomsday biscuits, at a cost of more than $4 million. Pop quiz Which quote was never used to describe the taste of old doomsday biscuits? “If I was starving, I’d look around for bugs to eat instead”“To eat it is to basically to sacrifice self-respect”“Better [used] as weapons”“They basically taste like rancid oil” Correct. This is author Bayard Taylor’s description of the durian, a divisively smelly fruit grown in southeast Asia. (And future Obsession topic!) Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. DIY How to survive on a teaspoon of peanut butter --------------------------------------------------------------- In 1963, the Navy invited 34 reserve officers to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland for what was billed as a two-week training seminar. The officers were informed that the seminar would involve field trips, and on the first day the soldiers were shown an underground fallout shelter. Then they were told they were going to be locked in the shelter indefinitely. It was an experiment. Like a true nuclear situation, their confinement was a surprise. Also like a true nuclear situation, the shelter was stocked with only the most basic provisions. [A special research report]( described their rationing scheme over four and a half days: “Survival Biscuits (Southern Biscuit Company) were rationed at 52 crackers per day per person supplemented with 1 cup of tomato soup; 1 teaspoonful of peanut butter, 1 of jelly and 3 individual bags of cream and sugar (for coffee or tea). This represents a potential ration of about 1700 calories per day. However, many did not consume their full ration. The total number of crackers consumed during the test period varied from 90 to 208 … monotony and distaste for the diet reduced consumption much below the level for weight maintenance.” 🍫sweet tooth survival guide What's in your supply kit? --------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday we asked what snacks you keep in your emergency supply kit. Here’s an inspired sampling of your responses: - Chocolate, gummy worms, Cheetos — Maryann - Pulparindos Mexican tamarind candy — Enrique - Beef jerky, fruit roll-ups, applesauce cups — Sharon - Peanuts and mixed nuts — Bill - Mentos and Oreos — Xin Yi Timeline Food for thought --------------------------------------------------------------- Graff explains that as fears of atomic annihilation receded during the 1970s, the government was left pondering: What do we do with all of these old doomsday biscuits? [Early 1970s:]( International aid groups donate tins to African countries affected by famine. [1974:]( With 150,000 tons of crackers left, George R. Rodericks, Director of the Washington Office of Civil Defense, claims the biscuits are as good as new: “Last week, we opened up a can and ate some.” [1975:]( After 20 tons of crackers are discovered in a streetcar tunnel in Washington, DC, they’re shipped to Bangladesh. [1976:]( After an earthquake rocks Guatemala, crackers are sent as part of an aid package. Recipients report “severe gastric disturbances.” [1978:]( “As a result of recent laboratory and other tests, a high probability exists that all of the cereal-based rations stored have become rancid,“ warns the DCPA Civil Preparedness Guide. It suggests the remaining stockpile be destroyed. [1979:]( In New York City, doomsday biscuits from more than 10,800 fallout shelters are transported to landfills at a cost of $38 per ton. Many are ground into chicken feed. Watch this! Unboxing a 1962 supply --------------------------------------------------------------- Of course, some of them [make their way to eBay.]( (“They look perfect!” “They smell like crackers!” “Still crispy!”) Poll You’re in a fallout shelter: Do you eat the expired biscuit? [Click here to vote]( I abstain from food old enough to collect social security.Can I dip it in scotch?Starting that low-calorie, slightly radioactive diet I’ve been putting off. The fine print In yesterday’s poll about the [IKEA catalog]( 48% of you said you possess enough 🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧🔧 that they show up in the strangest places. Today’s email was written by [Lucas Reilly](. Images: [Wikimedia Commons (Hardtack biscuits)]( [Wikimedia Commons/The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt (Bulgur wheat)]( [Wikimedia Commons (Survival biscuits)]( Sound off ✏ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20survival%20crackers.%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🏈 [What is your favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time?](mailto:obsession%2Bprompt@qz.com?cc=&subject=If%20you%20can%20find%20it%20online%2C%20send%20us%20the%20link!&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=How%20survival%20biscuits%20have%20kept%20sailors%20and%20soldiers%20alive%20for%20centuries.&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0A%0ARead%20it%20here%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1194924%2F%0ASign%20up%20for%20the%20newsletter%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fquartz-obsession) The correct answer to the quiz is “To eat it is to basically to sacrifice self-respect”. 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