Soybeans as a survival food.

[Lloyd Smale]

hemp should be easy to find around here with all the legal pot growers now that you can get medical maraquana! I guess a guy could be happy and well fed at the same time! Only problem i see is youd get the munchys and like some animals eat yourself to death 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_seed
 
Hemp is one of the faster growing biomasses known, producing up to 25 tonnes of dry matter per hectare per year.
Food
    ^{Shelled hemp seeds Hemp seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, sprouted, made into hemp milk (akin to soy milk), prepared as tea,[19] and used in baking. The fresh leaves can also be eaten in salads. Products include cereals, frozen waffles, hemp tofu, and nut butters. A few companies produce value added hemp seed items that include the seed oils, whole hemp grain (which is sterilized by law in the United States, where they import it from China and Canada), dehulled hemp seed (the whole seed without the mineral rich outer shell), hemp flour, hemp cake (a by-product of pressing the seed for oil) and hemp protein powder. Hemp is also used in some organic cereals, for non-dairy milk[20] somewhat similar to soy and nut milks, and for non-dairy hemp "ice cream."
Within the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has treated hemp as purely a non-food crop. Seed appears on the UK market as a legal food product, and cultivation licenses are available for this purpose. In North America, hemp seed food products are sold, typically in health food stores or through mail order. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that "the market potential for hemp seed as a food ingredient is unknown. However, it probably will remain a small market, like those for sesame and poppy seeds."[21]}
Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar. In fact, there are no known allergies to hemp foods.^{[citation needed]} Hempseed contains no gluten and therefore would not trigger symptoms of celiac disease.^{[citation needed}
 
Approximately 44% of the weight of hempseed is healthy edible oils, containing about 80% essential fatty acids (EFAs); i.e., linoleic acid, omega-6 (LA, 55%), alpha-linolenic acid, omega-3 (ALA, 22%), in addition to gamma-linolenic acid, omega-6 (GLA, 1–4%) and stearidonic acid, omega-3 (SDA, 0–2%). Proteins (including edestin) are the other major component (33%), second only to soy (35%). Hempseeds amino acid profile is close to "complete" when compared to more common sources of proteins such as meat, milk, eggs and soy.^[23] The proportions of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in one tablespoon (15 ml) per day of hemp oil easily provides human daily requirements for EFAs. Unlike flaxseed oil, hemp oil can be used continuously without developing a deficiency or other imbalance of EFAs.^[24] This has been demonstrated in a clinical study, where the daily ingestion of flaxseed oil decreased the endogenous production of GLA.^[24]

[Bugflipper]

On the pintos that bilmac suggested: You can still buy them in bulk. The store price usually runs about a dollar a pound. The local grocery store here still carries the little 20# bags. 50 and 100 # are available for order. Wholesale through a farmers market exchange is about  50-60 cents a pound. The mill charges about 16-25 cents a pound. The farmer gets about 8-12 cents a pound, so he would be the one to deal with. Although lower in protein, a pinto style dry bean has an advantage over soybeans. You can buy from the store and plant just like a pack of seeds. 4-5 years or more later and they still have a good germination rate. With soybeans most farmers will boil them off or send them to the mill raw and they will steam them, then dry. Soybeans contain a toxic compound that is neutralized by wet heat. If this process isn't done meal size doses can kill livestock and people. Of coarse the wet heat kills the seed so once you get the supply there is no replenishing with planting. You could get raw ones yourself and just boil them before you eat them. They do tend to hold quite a bit of moisture if not dried in a silo though. If your fan goes out you get a lot of loss from rot even if they have dried over the winter. For home use I imagine you would want to rig your containers with a computer fan or something to continue the drying process for a few months indoors after they come from the field. Then a sealed container with silica gel or something similar for long term. Not trying to be a know it all. I just don't want someone to put all their eggs in one basket and drop it.
Good day.

[mannyrock]

 
   Soybeans that are harvested by farmers and dumped in their silos will mold and rot in pretty short order.  I used to do work for Cargil, ADM, and other companies that bought soybeans from the farmers in the Midwest and stored them in huge grain elevators, for later shipment on barges down the rivers to New Orleans.  The beans were then were loaded on ocean going vessels for sales to the world markets.
 
   Bottom line, was that all of the large grain elevators had "grain dryers", that had to be operated to dry the soybeans to a certain percentage of moisture before they could be stored. All of the grain sale contracts had warranties about this moisture percentage, and prior to acceptance by the buyers, they all had "trickle" scales that they used to measure the exact moisture and the exact percentage of "foreign matter."  If the beans failed the test, then no sale.
Oh, and there was a complicated bacteria test as well.
 
  So, if you think you can just roll on up to a farmers house and get soybean from his silo to eat, I wouldn't count on it being fit for human consumption.
 
  And, rotten soybeans smell like rotten meat!
 
Mannyrock
 
 

[Dixie Dude]

You can buy 25 or 50 lb bags of pinto or chili beans at Sam's Club.  I have an have vacuum sealed them for long term storage.  The sell 50# bags of rice.  Took me about 4-5 years to use up 50 lbs of rice.  If you eat a lot of dry foods, you need vitamen supplements, or some fresh vegetables for vitamens. 

[blind ear]

   Soybeans that are harvested by farmers and dumped in their silos will mold and rot in pretty short order.  I used to do work for Cargil, ADM, and other companies that bought soybeans from the farmers in the Midwest and stored them in huge grain elevators, for later shipment on barges down the rivers to New Orleans.  The beans were then were loaded on ocean going vessels for sales to the world markets.
 
   Bottom line, was that all of the large grain elevators had "grain dryers", that had to be operated to dry the soybeans to a certain percentage of moisture before they could be stored. All of the grain sale contracts had warranties about this moisture percentage, and prior to acceptance by the buyers, they all had "trickle" scales that they used to measure the exact moisture and the exact percentage of "foreign matter."  If the beans failed the test, then no sale.
Oh, and there was a complicated bacteria test as well.
 
  So, if you think you can just roll on up to a farmers house and get soybean from his silo to eat, I wouldn't count on it being fit for human consumption.
 
  And, rotten soybeans smell like rotten meat!
 
Mannyrock

I raised soybeans for over 20 years. If you get soybeans that are at 12% or lower moisture content they will keep for a very loooong time. I had my own bins, dryers and moisture testers. Molds and bacteria can't function at that low of moisture content. The cooking process will kill any pathogens.
 
You have to be careful sprouting for bean sprouts but there is no magic invloved there either. Lots of material on sprouting available.
 
The only thing unsafe would be if the beans were treated with different products used at planting time.
 
Getting a farmer ti go to the trouble of getting a bushel of beans from a 10,000 bushel bin might be a different matter.

Soybeans are the only COMPLETE plant protien, same value as meat, don't have to blend with other vegetables to be A COMPLETE PROTIEN. I love soy burgers.
 
ear

[Rex in OTZ]

Hemp that I'd seen growing wild as a kid in the Middle West was the WWII variety they grew for the Fiber to make Burlap and Rope, it does produce quite allot of seed (doves love the stuff) as far as the idea anybody is getting buzzed on it is pretty much nill.
 
You dont even have to plant it, it grows volunteer all over rural areas that cattle have spent time (like over winter places and calving yards and old feedlots).

[bilmac]

Beans and rice make a pretty complete diet, if you take some vitamin supliments I would think you could go a long time on just the three. WHITE rice will keep indefinately if it is treated halfway well. Dry beans don't store as well' maybe 5-6 years max under good conditions, but as bug flipper says you can plant your food grade beans. Growing them is about as easy as falling off a log. Grow some squash and you will probably not go hungry.

[Pat/Rick]

+1 on the squash bilmac.   Beans, squash, and corn. The three sisters. Care for them and they will take care of you.

[bilmac]

I did an Indian garden last summer. It turned out pretty good. I ended up with more squash than I wanted and not enough corn and beans. Next summer I will modify it a bit.

[Bugflipper]

Bimac if you plant pole beans in the same row with the corn they will grow up them and give the corn a little boost of nitrogen. I like purple green beans because they contrast against the green of the corn and are easier to see for picking. Sometimes I will plant bush beans on the first row of corn on the sunny side as well.

[smokehouserex]

 
 
  I've heard of planting watermellons in the corn but I've never seen it. I have planted cornfield pole beans in the corn,  always let the corn get up knee high and it seems to work better. Kentucky wonders will pull sweet corn stalks down if planted at the same time as the corn if the wind picks up , that has been my experience. Field corn, hickory king/truckers fav.ect. is a lot stronger, bigger stalk, and will stand 2 beans seeds to the hill of corn.
  I like to use Blums Farmer & Planters Almanac to watch for the moon quarters for planting. Many canning and helpful tips for the gardner in there too. I am not supersticious, I just like a system.
  I have a friend who puts a smoked cigar butt in his seed beans to keep the bugs out, I've never tried it but he has give me seeds previously and he swears by it.
  HM

[Swampman]

I find it amusing that folks worry about pesticides and genetics in crops.  Everyone has gone off the deep end these days.  I read over the years that soybeans aren't good for you, that's why I don't eat them.

"Soybeans in fact contain a large number of dangerous substances. We already mentionned "phytic acid", also called "phytates". This organic acid is present in the bran or hulls of all seeds and legumes, but none have the high level of phytates which soybeans do. Phytic acid blocks the body's uptake of essential minerals like magnesium, calcium, iron and especially zinc. Adding to the high phytate problem, soybeans are highly resistant to phytate-reducing techniques, such as long, slow cooking. Soybeans also contain potent enzyme-inhibitors. These inhibitors block uptake of trypsin and other enzymes which the body needs for protein digestion. Normal cooking does not de-activate these harmful antinutrients, which can cause serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and can lead to chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake.
 
In addition, soybeans also contain hemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance which causes red blood cells to clump together. These clustered blood cells cannot properly absorb oxygen for distribution to the body's tissues, and are unable to help in maintaining good cardiac health.
 
Hemagglutinin and trypsin inhibitors are both "growth depressant" substances. Although the act of fermenting soybeans does de-activate both hemagglutinin and trypsin inhibitors, cooking and precipitation do not. Although these enzyme inhibitors are found in reduced levels within precipitated soy products like tofu, they are not completely eliminated. For this reason, if you are going to consume soy, I would recommend limiting your soy use to fermented products only, like tempeh or miso.
 
Only after a long period of fermentation (as ocurs in the creation of miso or tempeh) are the antinutrient and phytate levels of soybeans reduced, making their nourishment available to the human digestive system. The high level of harmful substances remaining in precipitated soy products leaves their nutritional value questionable at best, and potentially harmful." [/font]

[blind ear]

Many commonly eaten foods have toxins. spinach, horseradish, some cheese molds. Peach pits and apple seeds which are commonly eaten. Moderation. ear

[ruffhunter]

Back in the late 70's an elderly lady babysat me and my sister. We lived in farm country. For a snack, she used a cast iron skillet and roasted soybeans for us.

[Dixie Dude]

Like I said, you can get any type of dried beans and peas at the grocery store, but in small quantities.  Sam's club has the 20-25# bags of pinto beans.  I hydraded them, and used them in chili.  Next I'm going to try to make my own baked beans from them.  They store very well, as well as rice in the 25-40 # bags you can also buy at Sam's.  We just vacuum sealed gallon sized bags of them and of rice.  I am alergic to soy and soy products, thus I won't mess with soybeans. 

[BUGEYE]

Back in the late 70's an elderly lady babysat me and my sister. We lived in farm country. For a snack, she used a cast iron skillet and roasted soybeans for us.

that's why you have that terrible tic, and one arm is longer than the other