Scientists name 1 food gardeners must grow to survive the apocalypse

In a world teetering on the edge of collapse, whether from climate catastrophe, asteroid, or a nuclear apocalypse, one big question on everyone's lips is: what will we eat? As doomsday predictions grow louder and supermarket shelves grow thinner, people everywhere are stocking up, digging gardens and rethinking everything they thought they knew about food.

Luckily, it appears this question has been answered by two New Zealand academics, Matt Boyd and Nick Wilson. "Abrupt global catastrophic risks (GCRs) are not improbable," they said in a recent report. Events like nuclear war, an asteroid or massive volcanic eruption, they continue, "could massively disrupt global trade leading to shortages of critical commodities, such as liquid fuels, upon which industrial food production, processing and distribution depends". Research scientist Boyd and Nick, a professor of epidemiology took the New Zealand city of Palmerston North, home to around 91,000, as their case study and determined that humanity can survive, on paper, by growing a basket of superfoods including peas, sugar beets, spinach, wheat, potatoes, carrots and rapeseed, carefully rotated to keep the soil productive.

Provided the climate remained normal, the researchers explained, the best crop for urban agriculture was peas, BBC Countryfile reported. However, this post-apocalypse vegetable will not look or taste anything like the frozen peas we are used to. These peas would be dried to make split peas, before soaking and cooking.

In this state, peas would resemble the subsistence food eaten during the Medieval period, in dishes like pease porridge, a savoury porridge or pudding cooked with water, salt and spices.

However, in a post-apocalyptic world, what the food looks like will be of little concern. What is important is the nourishment it would provide. The split pea contains an astonishing 25% protein, keeping you fed for hours.

However, if the world is gripped by a nuclear winter, the best option is spinach and sugar beets, bulked up with some wheat and carrots. Per 100g, spinach contains 3g of protein, 23 calories as well as 34% of your daily vitamin C, plus vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, iron and manganese.

Sugar beets, meanwhile, contain an impressive 43 calories per 100g. However, currently this substance is more commonly found in the stables, being fed to horses or cows, than on the dinner table. However, they are a close relative of beetroot and can be eaten as a vegetable in similar ways, including grated or sliced into salads.

While the future may be uncertain, one thing remains clear: adaptability will be key to survival. We may all end up eating less-than-appetising pease porridge, but at least we will be alive and nourished.