[at-l] Cooking Challenge (idea for {any} Ruck)

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>"...Most hikers have burnt out bodies after a thru and really need rest and
>recuperation.  This can be mostly attributed to eating Lipton, Ramin,  Stove
>Top type empty calorie meals made from bleached white flower  with chemicals
>added  to enrich them. She called these items  non-food. Real food is beans,
>whole grains, vegetables, real rice...."

I mostly agree. Calories are calories. And by the nature of the trail, most of
these are carbohydrates. But I think it pretty well proven that complex
carbohydrates are better than simple carbohydrates.

But I think it also important to restate the obvious. For hikers on a budget,
real rice, real pasta are incredibly cheaper than "fast" substitutes. I read
many posts on this and other lists about hikers wondering whether they can
afford a thru hike.

Most of the responses strike me as unresponses. We are a prosperous consumer
orientated society -- so prosperous and so orientated that ordinary, cheap,
basic foods are treated as exotics that no normal hiker should consider.

Well, it aint so. The Zip Stove is a marvelous invention for budget restrained
hikers. Even better are the fire places that most campsites still have -- though
sadly, they are mostly used for garbage disposal these days.

I favor the Zip Stove compromise. It substitutes wonderfully for expensive white
gas, Coleman fuel, and bottled gas alternatives, and enables one to cook long
cooking, albeit, cheaper, alternatives to Lipton dinners. Wood burning Zips are
cheap, environmentally benevolent, and makes inexpensive meals possible -- and,
thusly, for some, thru hikes possible. Ah yes. They also smut the bottom of
cooking pots. Those on a tight budget, who can't stand a smutty pot, I guess
will have to stay home.

Weary