Famine and Hunger in America
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When you read accounts of early colonial life like John Winthrop’s Journal or William Bradford’s Plymouth Plantation, one theme you’ll encounter with regularity is hunger and the very real possibility of starvation.
Over and over again the reality of food shortages hit the Pilgrims. Typically what happened when food supplies ran low was the Pilgrims began to ration and drastically reduce there daily caloric intake. (Some days only a few kernels of corn per person!)
Inevitably, their immune systems became compromised and many fell sick and died. For example, of the 102 Mayflower passengers who reached the shore of America, fifty had already died of starvation or hunger induced illnesses by the summer of 1621.
The following year, according to Bradford’s account “they began now to prize corn (seed) as more precious than silver” and used these seeds to trade for other goods as a defacto currency.
Seeds were valued above even precious metals because they represented life itself and were a hedge against starvation. To most Americans living today this seems like a fairy tale. History could never repeat itself. Americans could never be hungry again.
Full Disclosure: We’re a little crazy and think history can and does repeat itself. We think reckless socialism always produces shortages. (Eventually even very grave food shortages) We also think every American home should have a supply of seeds on hand and have the ability to produce an endless supply of vegetables if things get bad. If you’re crazy like us, check out Heirloom Seeds
