“Edible, adj.:  Good to eat, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm.”  ~Ambrose Bierce

General Food, Water, and Cooking Strategy 

My fueling the machine strategy:

1. Eat very well off the economy, ignoring cost. 
2. Carry the minimum in food plus a safety stock. 
3. Cook only when necessary; simplify cooking and cooking equipment.
4. Only gather water from reliable sources.  Carry reliable water before purifying.  Purify only as a last resort.

Before diving into this significant food category, let me just say this:  I never ran out of food and never was concerned about running out of food.  Why?  Mostly because I didn’t analyze the data available (the book, web logs, the maps, etc) on the route with a reality adjusted perspective and consistently over planned.  95% of the information out there regarding food and water on the GDMBR was written by folks pacing, on average, less than 45 miles a day.  See my logistics piece on McCoy days vs. non-McCoy days for more details. 

Eat very, very well off the economy, ignoring cost. 

Food is a very personal thing for me.  I love to eat.  I have experienced extreme, long term food deprivation (RLTW!?!) in my adult life and made myself a promise while 40 lbs underweight, borderline hypothermic, and beyond hungry on a remote mountaintop in Georgia one night many moons ago:  “As long as I have the means, I will never deliberately deprive myself or take the enjoyment of food for granted again, ever.”  I eat healthy whenever possible, refuse to apply politics to eating, and rarely turn down food if it’s offered.   Food was offered all the time while I was on the Divide! I have no allergies, am not a picky eater, and thankfully possess an ‘extremely strong stomach.’ 

            That being said, when it came to eating in towns (the economy) on the route, I did it.  All the time.  If I was passing through a town and nothing was open but a greasy hotdog stand…I ate there.  If I camped/stayed in or near a town, dinner and breakfast made by someone else in large quantities was the minimum standard.  If breakfast wasn’t served till 7AM, I was standing at the door at 6:55 AM.  If it took me more than an hour or so to pass through more than one town, I ate there too.  I didn’t seek out expensive restaurants; I went to places where I could eat plenty of food and fit in without issue…no need to eat somewhere folks would hassle me.  I tipped wait staff well that treated me, at minimum, like a fellow human being.  If I had to eat at a convenience store or gas station, I’d get what I needed, eat outside and ditch trash before moving on.   Regardless, I still lost 25 lbs and never got sick.