supply of fresh food, wild plants and animals, paleo or primal diet supply on trail

[tululu]

Hi everyone, I might try a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2019 and my greatest worry is to keep supplied with paleo or primal style healthy food. I look forward to hear from your experiences! Please do not discuss the health benefits or diet style here, this thread is meant only to discuss where and how to supply! If you feel eager to discuss this or other off topic related to this post, please open a new one and put the link here, I will answer there :-)

The food I am looking for would be:
grass finished beef (animals that have never been eaten anything else than grass) or organic meat
Butter from grass fed cows, native olive oil or raw coconut oil
Eggs from free range chickens
fresh vegetables, organically grown of preference
dried vegetables with no additives
banana flour, linseed, walnuts, sweet chestnut

wild plants
wild mushrooms
wild catch fish (if allowed)
wild hunt (if allowed)
maybe survival food like edible insects

Ideas
meal delivery services: ordering while I am some days away from next post office
do Farmers near the trail sell their products directly? Do Hunters in the area do sell meat?
Is there some chance to find at least Butter from grass fed cows or raw coconut oil and eggs from free range chickens in normal stores near the trail?

[Slo-go'en]

Short answer, no. If you want any of those things on a regular bases you will need to have them shipped in. The most common food store in towns along the AT is the Dollar General. If your lucky you get to shop at a Walmart. Every so often you can get to a Krugers or Food Lion (regional chain grocery stores). The Food Co-Op in Hanover NH is the only grocery store you'll walk pass with a wide selection of the kind of food your looking for.

I don't think I've ever seen a farmers stand or market in any towns along the AT (although there is one in Gorham NH one day a week for a few hours in the summer). Not even in the Cumberland Valley in PA where you walk through farm fields. Mostly your passing through these areas in the wrong season for fresh, local produce.

Forging for wild food along the AT is not practical.

You might spot some eatable things occasionally as you walk by, but not enough to be a significant source of nourishment. Picking a handful of wild blueberries is always nice if you happen to be in the right place at the right time, but is not something you can count on.

[Venchka]

Then there is the WEIGHT and PERISHABLE nature of fresh food. When the temperature along the trail exceeds 32C for days on end fresh food won’t last very long. Storing fresh food safely from wild animals will be a real problem as well.
Good-To-Go meals from Maine might suit your diet. They can be sent to post offices along the trail.
A Google Search will find organic jerky, freeze dried fruits and vegetables, and backpacking meals suitable for mailing. All of this costs extra. Budget accordingly.
Dollar General, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, etc. are beginning to stock organic grains, etc. The Bob’s Red Mill brand is widespread in USA food stores.
Good luck!
Wayne

[Tipi Walter]

When I backpacked the AT thru Shenandoah back in '84 and then in '87 I augmented my diet with wild edibles---mustard greens and violets and chickweed---and would boil them up in oatmeal and add a couple tablespoons of cream cheese. Plus, different cheeses are readily available at small stores. Otherwise, being a vegetarian helps in the meat department.

[MuddyWaters]

I couldnt find most of that stuff at home in area of 500,000 people.

Logistics of trying to maintain such a diet is extremely complicating for successful thruhiking.

I dry my own apples, pineapples, dinners, etc and ship to maildrops often.

[Venchka]

Grass fed meats as jerky are readily available online and shipped.
Organic Ghee (shelf stable butter fat) is likewise available online.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, etc. are common in even the smallest stores in small towns. Consume quickly in town or the first night back on the trail.
Balance your dietary desires with the realities of going to stores far from the Trail, food weight on the trail and food preservation in the heat on the trail.
There’s a reason why Thru Hikers carry light, unrefrigerated food and limit “cooking” to boiling water.
Nut butters are a trail staple.
Wayne

[Alligator]

The larger grocery stores, including Walmart, generally have "cage-free" eggs. Doesn't necessarily mean the birds go outside.

Native olive oil, do you mean locally grown and produced? The majority of US olive oil comes from California, however Georgia and Florida do have some production.

Walnuts, again mostly from California but other nut varieties are grown in the east, like pecans in GA. Pretty easy to get walnuts though in many grocery stores, sometimes loose with shells.

If you are looker for fresher produce, maybe southbound might help or a later northbound start or possibly even better a flip-flop hike.

[Venchka]

This company comes up occasionally here at WhiteBlaze. I’m only providing the link. I have never used the products.
https://www.paleotogo.online
I have eaten the Good-To-Go products. I liked them.
Wayne

[gpburdelljr]

I see that you are from Germany. I’ve never been there, but I read the following on a website about hiking in Germany:

”Resupply is equally easy. Usually you come through a town or village at least once per day. Germans have very different shopping habits than Americans. There are relatively few huge shopping centers in Germany as Germans prefer small to medium size shops – that you will find in almost every little town of some size. Only keep in mind that everything is closed on Sundays. But if you are on a higher budget you should definitely sample some local food on the way and try out beer gardens and country inns. If you hike in fall you can save some money by eating fruit along the way. As you will hike through land that has been cultivated for centuries there is always some apple, pear or plum tree around.”

i think you you will find things quite different on the Appalachian Trail. Resupply points will be more like three to five days apart, on average, and you won’t find as good a selection of fresh foods in the smaller towns. Also you won’t find public transportation as good as Germany, so you may have to hitchhike from the trail to find the kind of fresh food you want.

Good Luck

[zelph]

Plenty of small animals,plants and insects along the trails. Bring a slingshot ;-)

[RockDoc]

It can be done... and it's a great idea because with the right diet you can mostly avoid the horrible "hiker hunger" that afflicts most AT hikers... and you can also avoid the massive weight loss and muscle wasting that happens to long distance hikers on the usual diet.

But it takes quite a bit of work, pre-packing, ordering online, and luck shopping.

Here's an interesting resource, keto backpack meals by https://www.nextmilemeals.com/
I have no experience with them. They look expensive but sound good to me. The owners have mega street cred. I mean trail cred....

[tululu]

This company comes up occasionally here at WhiteBlaze. I’m only providing the link. I have never used the products.
https://www.paleotogo.online
I have eaten the Good-To-Go products. I liked them.
Wayne

strangely they do have only one product at the moment: https://www.paleotogo.online/product...togo-cleanola/

[Venchka]

They sold out for the summer?
I do recommend Good-To-Go and Backpackers Pantry meals.
Thru Hikers in the US spend as little time as possible on resupply and carry as little weight as possible. Your dietary ideal may have to take a backseat to dietary realities along the AT.
Good luck!
Wayne

[tululu]

It can be done... and it's a great idea because with the right diet you can mostly avoid the horrible "hiker hunger" that afflicts most AT hikers... and you can also avoid the massive weight loss and muscle wasting that happens to long distance hikers on the usual diet.
.

thats the general idea, to stay healthy, but I would not like eating products from encaged animals, rather would eat vegan then.
that shop https://www.nextmilemeals.com/ does not tell where their meat ist from. And it is too expensive. One Meal for $14 with 470 kcal, while daily need is 2500 to 3000 kcal at least. https://www.paleotogo.online/product...togo-cleanola/ does not inform about the energy content, their 500g Cleanola cost $ 29.99 -might be a day supply for one Person. This and the mail cost added ist far out of my budget.

[Slo-go'en]

The compromise is to eat well (and a lot) in town.

[Venchka]

The compromise is to eat well (and a lot) in town.

Like in Hot Springs, NC. All of the burgers, fries, pizza, beer, ice cream and pie you can stand. 👍😄
Compromise is the name of the game.
Wayne

[tululu]

I see that you are from Germany. I’ve never been there, but I read the following on a website about hiking in Germany:

”Resupply is equally easy. Usually you come through a town or village at least once per day. Germans have very different shopping habits than Americans. There are relatively few huge shopping centers in Germany as Germans prefer small to medium size shops – that you will find in almost every little town of some size. Only keep in mind that everything is closed on Sundays. But if you are on a higher budget you should definitely sample some local food on the way and try out beer gardens and country inns. If you hike in fall you can save some money by eating fruit along the way. As you will hike through land that has been cultivated for centuries there is always some apple, pear or plum tree around.”

i think you you will find things quite different on the Appalachian Trail. Resupply points will be more like three to five days apart, on average, and you won’t find as good a selection of fresh foods in the smaller towns. Also you won’t find public transportation as good as Germany, so you may have to hitchhike from the trail to find the kind of fresh food you want.

Good Luck

thats true in Germany and most parts of western Europe you will find good opportunities to resupply at a high standard. Many villages have farm shops or Farmers that have outside shelves which open with money, they sell mostly eggs and potatos. Hunters often do sell their game. You have to ask the "native people" to get the adresses. I wonder why farmers in USA do not seem to use this possibility to earn money. Hitchhiking is no problem and the fresh supply will last for one day after that wild plants shall step in place.

[tululu]

I have been sick and cured myself with change of diet. Every time I stray away from that to much it turns out not to be good for me. I would soon not be able to do the hike anymore. So no, compromise is no option for me!

[egilbe]

You are going to really have a hard time with food, then. The population density along the AT is no where near as high as in most of Europe. Farmers are not going set up stands where no one lives. Small famy farms are very rare near urban areas.

[Starchild]

You can, with some effort, go vegan, however going organic/preservative free vegan may not be possible. I would assume that going vegan is a method to get by but you would still grab meat when the right ones come along. Mail drops would be very helpful and can save lots of running around looking for things that may not exist.

As for wild eatables, there is enough for opportunistic supplementation and the occasional meal. Fishing basically requires a zero day, so a day off from the hike. Hunting, not sure, never seen or heard if that on the AT in terms of a thru hike except one hiker who would catch and eat shelter mice and besides that rare unplanned opportunistic hunts/scavenges, or trail magic wild game gifts.