The world of Warhammer 40,000 is unimaginably vast. Humanity alone has grown to a number that is no longer graspable – even less graspable than it already is in reality today. But how is such a mass of people to be fed at all? The answer is just as pragmatic as it is cruel: the people eat their dead.
Humans are the dominant species in Warhammer 40,000 and the Imperium the largest known power in the galaxy – with the exception of the Tyranids, whose extent no one knows for sure.
While the Tyranids just eat everything, humans need something like “normal” food and a balanced diet to be able to survive at all. However, in a world where most planets are used for the production of war machinery or consist of a single macropole, this is a difficult undertaking.
The Imperium has so-called agricultural worlds where food is produced. Entire planets are used for growing grain or breeding Grox, a type of space cattle. But is that enough to feed so many people?
The answer: Maybe, but the tricky journeys through the warp make distribution difficult. And it’s also quite likely that food would still become scarce. That’s why there is synthetic help, albeit from classically Warhammer-esque, dark sources.
Necromunda is a world that explains the production of corpse-starch in detail. There are also video games about it:
From the dead comes food for the living
One of the main staples of the Imperium is corpse-starch. It’s not just called that because it probably tastes horrible, which it certainly does. It is literally made from corpses.
The most famous planet where corpse-starch is produced is Necromunda, which even has a video game. Necromunda is an enormously huge macropole world with an immense underhive, a city complex beneath the actual city that somehow has to be supplied.
On this world, there is the “Corpse Guild,” which sends out its collectors to retrieve the dead. The corpses are then taken to the “Corpse Grinders,” who are essentially nothing more than human butchers with massive slaughtering axes.
The parts are then processed, sometimes into a type of cracker, but most often into a paste that is canned and distributed. Corpse-starch is primarily a staple food for the poorer and significantly larger part of the Imperium.
Soylens Viridians – Not as bad as it sounds
Much less grim is Soylens Viridians, the second staple food produced on a large scale by the Imperium. The name is a nod to the well-known Soylent Green but has little to do with it.
Soylens Viridians usually comes as green goo, which is rich in nutrients but nearly tasteless. It is based on all sorts of organic materials, often algae or similar substances. Humans can also serve as an “ingredient,” though this is unconfirmed.
Similar to corpse-starch, Soylens Viridians serves to somehow feed the sheer mass of humanity. However, there is indeed still something like “normal” food in the Imperium:
- Slab is meat made from Grox that has a long shelf life and mainly serves the supply of the Astra Militarum.
- Apple-Peaches are fresh fruit so absurdly expensive that only the absolute elite can afford them – such as the privileged free traders. The fruits spoil within minutes if they are not stored at exactly 18.5 degrees Celsius.
- Carb-bars consist of complex sugars with some fats and flavorings.
- Numerous roots and other plant parts are widespread and even junk food still exists in the 41st or 42nd millennium.
“Stop spreading misinformation”
Particularly the subject of corpse-starch has been a concern for the community for some time – at least since Necromunda was released in 2020. However, it has existed for much longer and has been mentioned since at least the 1990s, albeit not by name.
On Reddit, a particularly eager user complains that there is so much misinformation. Some fans claim that corpse-starch is just a meme, but it does exist. Even in official rulebooks, it is mentioned and there is a tabletop dedicated solely to Necromunda, its corpse-starch and its processing. The user emphasizes:
“People often forget that corpse-starch also serves to enhance certain themes and a certain vibe in 40k and the Imperium. And yes, to also bring a provocative shock factor that has always existed in 40k.”
Warhammer 40,000 mainly works through vibe and atmosphere – not through logic and down-to-earthness. This is something that especially newcomers to the universe seem to forget more often: “Misunderstood the setting” – newcomers suggest improvements for Warhammer 40,000, fans explain why those are ridiculous
