Living in north central Florida we have access to water, game, firewood and shelter. We have weapons and ammo for self defense and game gathering plus a quantity of quality hand tools to gather firewood and maintain the property. We have about a years supply of freeze dried food, OTC medicines, bandages and the like. What I don't know or have been able to determine is how much salt to keep on hand. I know we get more than enough salt from the processed food we eat but when (if) the supply chain goes away so does processed food. When I was in the Marines (in the early 60s) they used to issue salt tablets in the hot weather. In the research I have done I can't find a reference to how much salt the body needs. If salt can't be obtained from the environment and the supply chain is broken how far will 60 pounds of salt go? I buy high purity sodium chloride for my salt water pool and although it isn't food grade salt it will do. Is salt available from the environment some way?
Good questions. Had to do a little research myself on this. Salt originates ultimately from the sea. Much of the salt we consume today is mined or evaporated from its deposits. Fresh sea salt is also derived from sea brine using various evaporative techniques. There's a good bit of info on salt here: http://www.salthealth.org/?content=factsheets The government recommends 2300 mg/day sodium intake. It is particularly important for replenishing electrolytes in the body. Also, salt iodization (adding iodine) is an important nutritional consideration--especially for children. So it's important to have not only salt but a source of iodine as well. In a nutshell--yes, you can "harvest" you own salt in a shtf scenario. In fact, it's been many years since I read "Alas, Babylon," but I seem to recall that the survivors in that story (in Florida) were involved in retrieving salt from a nearby salt deposit. In Florida, I am sure you would be well situated for collecting salt one way or the other from your environment. Wherever you live in the world, you can do a little geological research to find locations of nearby salt deposits. Ancient seabeds are where they can be found on dry land today. And on seashores, you can process your own saltwater brine to produce salt.
"Alas,Babylon" was what got me thinking about salt. I'm old enough to remember the times that book was written in and it is a favorite of mine. In most of my research I have seem very little, next to nothing, that addresses the salt problem. I will have to do some local salt geological research as it is a long walk to the ocean. By the way thanks for SafeCastle!
I understand that this is an old topic, but it is still relevant, due to ever increasingly unstable societies. The punchline is that we keep salt stored in food grade 5 gallon buckets for a multitude of reasons. Not only for human consumption/use in food preps, but also for preserving meat if need be. Plus it will reduce the pain from bee stings, and is good for use in cleaning various metals like copper and brass.
If I recall correctly, sodium intake is pretty much parallel to caloric intake...(2,000cal- 2000mg sodium)...its not something I would get hung up on though....I think 60pounds (to reference your post) should last almost indefinitely though.
