- Joined
- Dec 2, 2017
- Reaction score
- 1,209
- Age
- 50
- Lifestyle
- Vegan
This is a thought experiment and something I’ve wondered about since seeing the movie “Van Diemen’s Land”. If you are unfamiliar with the movie a good summary can be found here:
It is based on the true story of convicts escape, struggle for survival and finally cannibalism.
As Vegans, we know we can not only survive but thrive on whole plant foods. Here is where the thought experiment comes in:
You are one of the convicts. Bread has run out. You don’t know about tree cambium (edible part of trees that can sustain humans in emergency situations).
You also do not recognize any of the plants. As in the movie, the convicts quickly discover they cannot hunt or fish, they must turn to plants. In one scene, one of them tries cooking some unrecognized plant leaves in a stew, swallows it and quickly gets sick and vomits it all up.
So the question is:
How do you choose what plants to eat?
wikipedia said:A group of transported convicts, suffering brutal treatment at the Sarah Island penal settlement on Van Diemens Land, escape into the Tasmanian wilderness in hopes of reaching the settlements to the east.[3] Their enthusiasm and bravado soon give way to hunger, which saps their strength and causes them to despair.[4] Former urban dwellers, the English, Irish and Scottish convicts realise that not only are they lost,[5] but they do not even know how to hunt or fish. The oppressive nature of landscape becomes the setting for murder, as hunger forces the group to turn to cannibalism, killing and eating the members of the group one by one. The men do all in their power to keep moving, watch their back and avoid sleep, lest they be the next meal.[6]
It is based on the true story of convicts escape, struggle for survival and finally cannibalism.
As Vegans, we know we can not only survive but thrive on whole plant foods. Here is where the thought experiment comes in:
You are one of the convicts. Bread has run out. You don’t know about tree cambium (edible part of trees that can sustain humans in emergency situations).
You also do not recognize any of the plants. As in the movie, the convicts quickly discover they cannot hunt or fish, they must turn to plants. In one scene, one of them tries cooking some unrecognized plant leaves in a stew, swallows it and quickly gets sick and vomits it all up.
So the question is:
How do you choose what plants to eat?