Homework #2

While watching the YouTube video discussing the elements of the hardtack Hardtack, a large thick cracker, made from water salt and flour, a source of nutrition for both the soldiers of the North and the South, many things sparked my interest. It was interesting to hear that, because it was so inexpensive to make and was one of the only foods so easily available to the troops, their desperation for food was evident in events of them eating the hardtack even though, with poor storage, would begin to mold, which would still be sold. The solution of the soldiers to feed their stomachs despite the mold was to either cut the molding off and eat around it, or dunk their Hardtack into coffee to kill any insects maybe living within the hardtack. This is a very sad concept to hear about because it highlights the struggles these soldiers endured during war. If I am resented with food that repulsed me, or I could clearly see to be molding, I would rather skip that meal. But sadly, these soldiers did not have the leisure to be so particular in their meal selection because they desperately needed any nutrients available to them to continue to fight in the war. I assume a better war story ends with a death of a solider from shots of the opposing side rather then “he was picky with what he wanted to eat so he starved to death”.

Something I would believe to not be able to live without would be most defiantly coffee. Whether going to work, to school, or even on my days off, without coffee, I feel as though I cannot make it through the day. Although not comparable, I can easily see how the soldiers during the Civil War integrated coffee as a major part of their diet to keep up with the hassles they were preparing to endure each day.