Thru hike nutrition

[Margaret Snyder]

Does anyone have any experience trying to thru hike organically? Or at least with a minimum of processed & genetically altered food? I'm PCTing next year and am trying to keep my body as chem & preservative free as possible. I know carrying all raw foods is unrealistic and trail towns with organic stores will be rare. But I can't live on wild huckleberries.

Margaret

[Greg Mihalik]

Margaret,

Have you considered Freezer Bag cooking and drop boxes?

We have our "5 Standard Meals" and rotate thru them.
We make them to satisfy our preferences, and enjoy them.
Coming up with 10 would be easy.

Food for an upcoming trip is weighing in at less than 1.5 pounds per person per day, without being restrictive.

The biggest challenge is finding a dryer. After that it's easy.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

For that mail drops will be almost 100% needed. But you can do it! You could if you have help ship yourself home dried or bought items :-)

If you need any help getting ideas let me know. How I eat now at home and on the trail is either organic or all natural now. Book 2 that we are nearly done with reflects the way I eat. It isn't 'hippie food' but is a lot healthier than book 1.

[Patricia Combee]

Loved Freezer Bag Cooking volume 1! I am very much looking forward to volume 2. Eating well, especially organically, has been much easier since reading your book. I think it would be pretty easy to eat well and healthy on a long hike. I do AT section hikes and have friends that drool over my food. I have actually had to slap a few hands and tell them to get their own book.

[Scott S]

I did 1100 miles of the AT over the last two summers, and I did all of my food via mail drop. The advantage, of course, is that you can choose exactly the food you want (including organic, non-GMO, etc.). The huge disadvantage is that it's an enormous amount of work for you and whoever is putting together your mail drops. Drying and packing all of that food took many, many hours.

I'm doing the PCT in '09, too, and I'm planning to do just a few mail drops and mostly resupply in towns. I'll miss my homemade meals, but I can't imagine spending that much time slaving over my dehydrator.

[Author]

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