As I write more prose, certain questions pop up in my head about the decision making process of other writers across multiple medias.
One of the tropes that always has me scratching my head is that of most apocalyptic tropes — the limited food stores that people are going through, some of it 20-30 (or more years old). It’s as if no one survived who knew hunting/foraging techniques, or were willing to try to do either. They seem quite content on starving day to day or cracking open a dinged up, rusty can of dog food to chase away the hunger pangs. Yet, something as simple and prolific as dandelion greens seems to escape their notice. After a few months’ time, they wouldn’t even need to worry about herbicide residual on the greens (and yet, quite possibly worry about chemical residues in the dog food, curiously enough).
And I know, most people don’t consider common plants found on lawns and in the wild when they are hungry, but it always seems like a strange omission to not consider forage as a food source. If the world is irradiated, it is one thing to eliminate forage, but a zombie plague? Why aren’t they eating the edible shrooms growing in the forest behind the zombie-infested general store instead of risking their lives for 20-yo dogfood out of a can?
What do you think? Am I making too big of a deal about it and there are plenty of examples of sensible food consumption in the fictional apocalypse? If you were to be a survivor, what kinds of things you try to learn how to cultivate or forage to avoid cat food tins or dodgy baked beans in a can?
Extra think to ponder: Did you know there are no commonplace true rhymes for “orange” or “month”? Prove me wrong in the comments, if you disagree.
14 responses to “Half-penny thoughts — 21feb26”
Maybe the dumb human thing in zombie niches serve as a small reminder that humans are part zombie, just as zombies are part human? I have no clue… Good luck thinking… Zombie’s love food for thought?
I have no clue myself. But it’s funny how the world becomes dependent upon processed foodstuffs as soon as society collapses.
Shelf life is longer? Existing in fight or flight can’t be helping with character or writer’s reasoning or decision-making. Stress actually does make people dumber when it’s experienced.
I feel that way about zombie movies. I have no problem with the old 70’s and 80’s zombie movies, who are brought back to life by some malignant magic. But these new zombie movies that think this is really possible. And have zombies walking around with open wounds (no immune system = you get eaten alive by microbes, which is ironic for zombies??) and to move you need energy/food. If there were zombies, couldn’t we all lock ourselves in our houses for a few days, and without food or water the zombies would be without energy to move. I prefer zombie movies that are campy horror flicks.
Magic!
Yeah, sometimes the logic of it all doesn’t withstand scrutiny. Lots of hand waving and we just accept it as a given.
I once read a story of the 18th century where someone had no clue where their food came from, and I think some people are just the same now; like a recent report of a woman in your country who, when hearing that the soybean farmers were having supply problems, asked why they didn’t get them from the store, like everybody else? Plus the legendary unwillingness of children to eat fruit and vegetables. In ‘Lord of the Flies’ there are no stores, and the boys eat the fruit from the trees; but they still go hunting for the pigs. Education and social conditioning play such a large part.
I could even maybe get behind food but being mentioned at all (like voiding bowels or bladders). It’s just weird that there’s such a fetish with the need for old food as part of the storyline. 😂
Yeah, not all of us are all that bright around this side of the pond… 🙄
We’ve got plenty like that too, unfortunately. Sad world.
I just emailed you some notes on the subject. 🙂
Got em!
There was an orangutan with a variance or what you would call a whole range or tranche of monk like funk. You might even call it bunce. But you’re right it’s very hard to rhyme Orange with Month.
Well done! LOL. Thanks Steveforthedeaf for the chuckle 😂
#1-Pay attention to the weather. That’s Hemingway, I put it into the important little details category, like food. You’re on the money.
#2 “And they sat in the back and drank for free
And rhymed orange with Rosalie
Now there’s a pride of lions to draw to”
-Guy Clark, Cold Dog Soup
Seems sensible