They won’t stay that way. Now is the time to act. FEMA is broke because it’s the year of the natural disaster. Keep in mind that many of those disasters impacted cropland. American farmers are having a bad year. The rest of the world’s farmers have also had it rough.
Even the main stream media is letting slip that there will be food shortages starting this fall. They aren’t emphasizing the problems, but it is starting to get some mention in the news.
Now is the time to top off your food storage. My wife and I are putting together a shopping list to square away our supplies. We had some tight months and dipped in our pantry a bit deeper than normal. I figure is about our last chance to buy food at reasonable prices.
Our food system runs on a just in time basis. There is no big stockroom in the back of the store. Stop deliveries and your average grocery store is stripped bare in just three days of normal shopping. If there is a panic, the store can be cleaned out in a matter of hours. Once most people become aware of food shortages, there could be a run to the store to stock up.
It could get ugly. You don’t want to be there. Picture the shopping craziness the day before a big storm. I’m guessing a real food shortage panic will make that look like a good day. People stocking up before a storm figure everything returns to normal in a few days. Imagine if the idea gets out there that this might be the last food available for a long long time.
There will be food shortages. How the pain is distributed is anyone’s guess. Will it be more starvation in third world countries, or will the pain hit home? Maybe all we’ll see is higher prices and reduced selection. Should everyone wake up to the possible extent of the shortages, panic shopping could wipe out supplies. Forget trying to stock up then. You’d be labeled a nasty hoarder.
Now I could be reading this all wrong, but what’s the downside of having a few more groceries in the house? You’ll end up eating it sooner or later anyway, right?
-Sixbears
Because It's Friday
3 minutes ago
Spent today and yesterday taking inventory, organizing stock and adding items to the shopping list.
ReplyDeleteVisited 3 stores today to buy at the best price for each item. Thankfully, they're all withing 3 miles of one another.
Noticed a huge empty space in one aisle. Stock person said they'd had a run on an advertised special. Silly me thought it was something like Miracle Whip or Peanut butter. NO. It was an end cap of snack foods.
Guess they're something we crave no matter what the financial thermometer.
Beef will certainly rise in price as will most other items. Already, many people can't afford to eat meat like they used to. We've cut our meat portions in half and serve meat 3 days a week. Meanwhile, the price of canned meats - always good on a pantry shelf - has increased significantly here.
I too noticed the price of canned meats has taken a jump. I like to keep a stock of it on the sailboat as it doesn't need refrigeration.
ReplyDeleteTrue words there...I'v been needing to resupply our shelves here at home too. Been dipping into the food stores over time and things have dwindled a bit.
ReplyDeleteLike you mentioned, this will sneak up on 98% of us eaters.
Thanks for the reminder, sir.
Bigfoot in TX
You are welcome Bigfoot. It's one of those things that's easy to let slip. Next thing you know, you are eating nothing but beans.
ReplyDeleteThis is too good not to pass around. I'll link this on my blog....good work, thanks.
ReplyDeleteNever hurts to be reminded of the need to stock up.
ReplyDeleteThe time to do it is BEFORE you need it! Wonder why some folks just don't get it?
Thanks, Sixbears, for the reminder!
Thanks for the reminder. I've just linked to this article.
ReplyDeleteanother excellent article that i thoroughly enjoyed. sadly, we moved 1,000 miles 10 months ago to our BOL and simply could not afford to ship several years worth of stock-piled food that distance. we shipped what we could - much rice, beans, grains, etc. but the weight of shipping all of our canned goods would have costed mega-dollars...and we were already paying through the nose for what we were shipping.
ReplyDeleteanyway - we gave away that stockpile to friends and foodbanks. and have slowly been building it back up over the past 10 months. by xmas - i want to have all that we used to have again. and i think that we can do it.
thanks for the reminder on the importance of getting your stockpile ready ASAP, sixbears!
kymber
spot on!
ReplyDeletebetter safe than sorry, we'll be off to stock up before the frost lands... thanks!!!
(i'll be in the basement wiring a dedicated circuit for a new chest freezer tomorrow, honest ;-)
Good post. Stephen sent me over to check it out. You are right. I check and recheck my inventory of food constantly and think we will never have enough, so we buy and buy. I too have noticed a jump in prices. I look at all the people in the stores and think what will they do and are they prepared...and I know they arent.
ReplyDeleteThe hundreds of thousands of acres of fried corn and such around here was enough to bring a tear to the eye. Stunted cotton, midget sorghum, and wilted veggies all around. Everything fresh around here is coming from the Rio Grande Valley, which got more of the wet stuff than we did. In a place where the average annual rainfall is a mere 30 inches, we are 15 inches behind for the year...
ReplyDeleteKeep reminding folks of this. food shortages have always happened and always will.The reserve in the U.S. is about 2 pounds of wheat a person one jumbo loaf of sunbeam.for 100$ at Sams 100 lb flour 32$ 100LB rice38$ 50 lb pintos 30$. 250 pounds for a 100 $ bill.To me this is not SURVIVAL FOOD its dollar strechers, and insurance.peace of mind for a c-note a person to me is a great deal.What about you?
ReplyDelete