# Burying human remains...and its affect on food



## OHprepper (Feb 21, 2012)

I was reading James Wesley Rawles book and ran across the part about dealing with human remains. He mentioned how cremation takes too much fuel and burying is a more feasible option. Now, this is all in theory that i would one day have to bury someone in a SHTF scenario. I was wondering if it is unhealthy to bury someone under a field/garden and still be able to eat the crop that comes from it. I know human excrement cannot be used as fertilizer and was wondering what the effects of a decomposing human would have if buried under a food source... it seems a bit morbid but its something i am still curious about.


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## PamsPride (Dec 21, 2010)

I think you need to read the Humanure handbook. It is a book on recycling human excrement without chemicals. How would it be much different than a horse or cow that you would have to bury?

Or you could get some body bags! (Make sure you read the first review for this!)


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

I would think the cause of death should be taken into consideration. If it was a fatal injury vs a disease. Diseases regularly take peoples lives, especially in the absence of professional medical services. The layman may very well not be able to a diagnose a disease correctly, and if this disease causes fatality, it may have been a pandemic in the works, and to have the corpse near your food source could put you at risk. Of course, that would bring up other questions about the source for the disease, being food, water or air-borne. If food or water was suspect, then you have that to deal with, while air-borne is another animal altogether. If a serious injury was in fact the cause of death, I don't see any reason for worry, unless said injury became severely infected and this was the cause of death. Then, I would also consider the possibility of contaminants from the decaying body leeching through the soil from precipitation in-ground moisture, as well as garden watering. A down-hill location from any food or water source would be best, taking account for other people who may be in the area, and where they may be securing wild edibles or ground water for consumption, as well. Hmm, it's a bit of a sticky situation if things go the wrong direction, so to speak.

The reality I see is that if disease or fatal infection is suspect, then it's not worth the risk, and I wouldn't take any chances.

I haven't been actively involved as an emergency medical technician or basic emergency care first responder for many years, but I still do regular blood-borne pathogens refresher training as well as first responder training, and the thought of disease possibly being spread from this manner really hits home for me.


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

Run them through a chipper then they're easier to compost...

Or use them to feed the dogs, saves on feed.

Up here in Maine, we'd use them for fish food (aquaculture).












> N. Indiana man dies in wood chipper accident
> 
> ATWOOD, Ind. (AP) -- The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department says a 37-year-old man has been killed after apparently being pulled into a wood chipper.
> 
> ...


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

BasecampUSA said:


> Run them through a chipper then they're easier to compost...
> 
> Or use them to feed the dogs, saves on feed.
> 
> Up here in Maine, we'd use them for fish food (aquaculture).


Daaaing BasecampUSA, I thought I had a sick sense of humor...."I LOOOVE IT"


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

Us Mainers do things just a bit differently up here. Lobster will eat anything.  Hey Basey.
Moose


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*In Kentucky*

Burying human remains will cause people with big bowls of potato salid to knock on your door.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

hey Basey, 

Never trust a man who owns a pig farm.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Are you guys for real? That's disgusting. I can't even imagine how many dead bodies will need to be buried, but I would assume mass graves will become necessary fairly early on. I don't think I'd ever bury a person under my garden. It would give me the heebeegeebees and in some ways seems very disrespectful


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Are you guys for real? That's disgusting. I can't even imagine how many dead bodies will need to be buried, but I would assume mass graves will become necessary fairly early on. I don't think I'd ever bury a person under my garden. It would give me the heebeegeebees and in some ways seems very disrespectful


It sure makes tilling the garden a gruesome prospect...

In the old days I believe families buried their loved ones in the back corner and it became a family cemetary. I bought a house and found three graves about 30 feet from my back door just behind my back fence. These were graves from the early to mid-1800s IIRC. Some headstones were unreadable.

In a modern world (such as today) I am against wasting perfectly good real estate on the dead but if cremation is not an option for some reason then I think I would hope to have a small plot of my land dedicated to burying family. I would use it for nothing else.

I admit I am also interested in the methods the indians used. Maybe build a scaffold and put grandma up there. She always did love birds!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

TheAnt said:


> It sure makes tilling the garden a gruesome prospect...


The first year I tilled my garden I found quite a few bones, ranging from those that were still bone all the way to dinosaur bones(or pieces of). Yes dinosaur bones, it is not at all uncommon to find them around here and can be found in quite large numbers in some places locally. I have even found what I would swear are human teeth and some arrow heads.

Human bones would just be something else to pick up and pitch in the rock pile.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Davarm said:


> The first year I tilled my garden I found quite a few bones, ranging from those that were still bone all the way to dinosaur bones(or pieces of). Yes dinosaur bones, it is not at all uncommon to find them around here and can be found in quite large numbers in some places locally. I have even found what I would swear are human teeth and some arrow heads.
> 
> Human bones would just be something else to pick up and pitch in the rock pile.


Thats easy enough for most folks until you start thinking it might be Grandma! I would not suggest anyone bury family members in the vegetable garden... its just uncuth.

MAYBE you could bury them in the flower garden... but that would still give me the heeby-jeebys when it comes time to replant. I like the Indian scaffold idea better myself!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

TheAnt said:


> Thats easy enough for most folks until you start thinking it might be Grandma! I would not suggest anyone bury family members in the vegetable garden... its just uncuth.


Agree with the uncuth, But, if i didnt plant her there myself and didnt know who she was, wouldnt have a problem tossing her into the pile with the rest of the stuff.

I dont care what they do with my remains when I "buy the farm" as long as the dont cremate me. I would much rather feed the buzzards than go up in smoke. The thought of being cremated gives me the "heeby-jeebys".


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Davarm said:


> Agree with the uncuth, But, if i didnt plant her there myself and didnt know who she was, wouldnt have a problem tossing her into the pile with the rest of the stuff.
> 
> I dont care what they do with my remains when I "buy the farm" as long as the dont cremate me. I would much rather feed the buzzards than go up in smoke. The thought of being cremated gives me the "heeby-jeebys".


Haha, then we are in agreement.

I dont care what they do with me at all. I say, just make sure that when you "buy the farm" you know you are not going to be cremated for eternity. Dont sweat the bodys cremation, you wont feel a thing. I promise!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

TheAnt said:


> Dont sweat the bodys cremation, you wont feel a thing. I promise!


Yea thats what they tell me but its the living up to that time and haven those "heeby-jeebys" that gets me, thinking of it is kinda like scratching your fingernails on a chalkboard.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Make sausage, feed your neighbors.

Joking...maybe.depends on how hard times get.

I wouldn't put them under my garden.4' deep and covered in lime ought to do it.


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## OHprepper (Feb 21, 2012)

Ant, thats the reason i brought it up. I wouldnt want to use up a lot of my land for that purpose either. I assumed if you buried them deep enough(6 ft) then you wouldnt ever hit them with the tiller. Lazydaisy, I know a lot of old school hippie types that would probably much rather be buried under a garden. Oneness with the Earth and all.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

OHprepper said:


> Ant, thats the reason i brought it up. I wouldnt want to use up a lot of my land for that purpose either. I assumed if you buried them deep enough(6 ft) then you wouldnt ever hit them with the tiller. Lazydaisy, I know a lot of old school hippie types that would probably much rather be buried under a garden. Oneness with the Earth and all.


If your concern is availability of real estate to bury folks I dont think that will be much of a problem unless you are in the big city.

If you are in the big city and chaos is so bad that you cant bury the way you normally would then get the heck out of the city as soon as you realize this and leave the dead to fend for themselves.

If you are not in the big city and chaos is so bad that you cant bury the way you normally would then you should have some land nearby (weather its actually yours or not doesnt matter cause your local community will have the same need) to dedicate for this purpose. These days there are HUGE cemetaries but in the old days there were many more smaller ones. Just dedicate some land in your area for this purpose. If the chaos is such that you cant even do that then again, let the dead fed for themselves.

Basically I dont think its too big a worry. You may have to use the back corner of your 2 acres as a cemetary for family, you may have to use a dedicated empty lot in your neighborhood for folks in the community to bury dead. You COULD bury them in your garden deep enough without too much concern but its uncuth. Most folks would frown on that idea. I dont think it would be a long term problem to deal with the dead. Thought provoking though all the same!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Magus said:


> 4' deep and covered in lime ought to do it.


Thats after you make the sausage right?  Got plenty of lime for making tortillas so guess I have my bases covered!


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Plant flowers? "Pushing up daisy's" comes to mind.

Kidding aside, personally, I wouldn't mix a grave spot with a garden spot given the choice. It desicrates (sp?) the person.

Ground wise, as already noted, I'd go with disease vs. non-disease.


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