... a Civil Defense cracker is the size and shape of a full shingle of Graham Cracker. It intentionally tastes like cardboard! Six crackers a day was the basic ration for an adult.That was only 700 calories per 24 hours with a goal of approx.10,000 calories, total stockpiled rations per person, during the course of a two week sheltering.
With the average healthy diet listed at 2,000 calories a day; we would have seen a much slimmer America emerging into the post-apocalypse landscape! Civil Defense plans really meant a bare subsistence diet. I have to wonder in what shape these survivors would be in to rebuild the world!
This must be one of the reasons that many Civil Defense instructions urge people to bring along non-perishable food to a public shelter. But no family pets allowed- unless they're part of the smorgasbord!
... it was common policy for government Survival Rations (specifically military) to 'have the taste appeal of a boiled potato'. This was to discourage there consumption in all but the life and death circumstances they were designed for.
... more on Civil defense rations here.
When I was a student at Virginia Tech in '75, I found several big tins of these things at the very top of the main library's grand staircase. We pried one open and found packs of big white saltines wrapped in wax paper. We took a pack back to our dorm room.
ReplyDelete..... We could not find anything we could add to them to make them palatable. Not cheese spread, not peanut butter.