Read about Earnest Shackletons adventures in the Antarctic after his ship Endurance got crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915. He and his crew then spent the next 17 months surviving on pemmican and hunted seals while drifting on the ice pack. All 27 men survived, though one lost a foot to frostbite. I'd say pemmican (and general civility) was key to their survival.
