Food Shortages in the USA? How could that happen? The grocery stores are full. The fast food restaurants are pumping out burgers and wings. The population is overweight and plodding around from meal to meal.
But it can still happen.
Our food production and distribution system is no longer tied to our local communities or even states. The grocery store features bread packaged in Ohio made from wheat grown in Montana and shipped by 18 wheeler 900 miles before it hits your store shelves.
Fruit and vegetables from dozens of countries fill the produce section. Apple sauce and cranberry juice comes from China. Fish originates in Vietnam. Beef from Argentina.
At the same time, farm land across the USA is being reused for retail or residential development or in some cases, allowed to revert to the wild. Watersheds and aquafiers are drying up. Federal regulations are stopping the flow of water to farmland to preserve endangered species. New environmental rules limit the use of land, fertilizers and the raising of farm animals.
Finally, transportation and fuel costs only keep rising. Many countries which produce food for the USA are moments away from instability and many do not enjoy the same rule of law or food safety rules we take for granted in the USA.
Basically, this boils down to a precipitous situation with many potentially damaging events which could jeopardize our food supply and availability.
What can you do?
First, eat local. Get used to eating foods produced near where you live right now. Go to farmers markets rather than purchase the latest and greatest "frankenfood" of another country.
Second, grow something of your own. Tomatoes, melons, and herbs can all be grown easily by the brownest of thumbs.
Third, stock long term foods like rice, oatmeal, wheat, oil and other foods which are the foundation of most meals. Don't limit your stores to one or two pounds; purchase fifty or more pounds of rice and other grains and store appropriately.
Finally, determine which foods are not readily available, but which you are used to and enjoy and store those as well (or give them up). Things like coffee, tea and chocolate. Also consider finding local alternatives.
With the rapid purchasing power of the dollar, international tensions and the unreliability of the supply chain, don't get caught with an empty pantry or being forced to depend upon the government to supply you and your family your next meal.
Don't forget to check out the new e-book about preparing for potential food shortages "Sold Out After A Crisis"!
Showing posts with label food shortages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food shortages. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Prepare: World Food Prices and Shortages
The US still supplies two thirds of the world's corn exports, but with oil at $84 a barrel, may be tempted to divert corn oil to biofuel.
South America and Russia have had weather problems which are leading to lower crop yields.
The dollar is weaker than it was two years ago making its purchasing power less.
Read more here and here.
What does it all mean?
In 2007, rice shortages led to riots in other countries. The rising price of food, which immediately effects one fifth of the worlds population due to poverty, leads to shortages and domestic disturbances.
Remember the shortage of rice in the markets a few years ago?
If - key word - you can, it might be a good time to stock up on staples like rice, corn meal and flour as all may go up dramatically in price. Rice should always be purchased in 25 or 50 pound bags. Flour is good to buy in bulk, but consider a grain mill and purchasing wheat as flour begins to go rancid once it has been milled.
As always, store wheat and rice in buckets and seal them up good - they should last for years.
If is the key word. Don't go into debt or panic buy because of the news. Purchase only what you can safely afford and what you will eat.
Watch the news carefully in 2011 regarding food supplies, prices and the price of oil. These be real trends to watch next year.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
SHTF: Food Riots
The spectre of food riots comes up in everyone's minds when considering preparedness and disaster. Generally, in the fiction world, an "event" happens (nuclear war, EMP, financial crisis, etc) and the mobs decend upon the grocery store and riots break out. It's good imagination footage for the reader to enjoy.
In the real world, food riots occur after the shortage conditions have arrived and the government or private organization attempts to bring in food supplies in an unorganized and destabilized environment. The helicopters land or trucks arrive, the crowds break impromptu barriers and relief workers are overwhelmed. Food riots ensue.
For preparedness sake, the possible scenario of food riots in the US would be a combination of the two.
A few scenarios..
An event takes place that would lead to the disruption of supply chains. That could be a natural disaster but on a national level, a massive terrorist attack on our infrastructure, or a war.
Another would be a financial meltdown which would paralyze key components of the food chain - farmers refusing to take credit payments for crops, truckers refusing to deliver goods, feed lots refusing to release stock, etc.
The second "shoe" would drop when stocks drop in stores. That means all stores including grocery, big box wholesale, fast food and all restaurants and even convinience stores.
At first, people would get by on what they had, but after a certain amount of time, one or two weeks at most, people would get antsy and start going to the market daily and waiting or listening to the news for food distribution in their area.
This is America. For all the law abiding folk, and for all the ones who are willing and ready to wait in line for an agreed amount of emergency food, a limit on grocery purchases or the need to cooperate, there is a huge segment who thinks otherwise.
Look at it this way. How many times have you been to the bank or any other place where you had to wait in line, and three people in front of you is the person with "the story"? About how they lost their driver's license or how they have 14 people at home who are sick or how they meant to have the paperwork in order but they left their only pen in their cousin's car?
Or how many people in America will think that because of their position or personal opinion of their importance will think that lines and rations are for "other people"?
Finally, how many borderline criminals exist in the USA? Not just the typical gang and thug members. But how many people swipe a few things from work, fudge their taxes, allow the clerk to give them too much change and walk away feeling entitled to their windfall?
All of these folk will be in the food lines as well and when they arrive and start trouble, there will be problems. They will demand, push and force their way to the front of the line. They will want more than they are allocated. They will see a shortage as an opportunity and demean all others around them.
Depending upon the severity of authorities' response, many innocent people will get hurt. And further supplies will not be forthcoming or recipients will be required to register at their local FEMA camp for ongoing meals.
Therefore, the same conclusion applies.
- Stock food now. Many types of food, like rice, beans, flour, yeast, generic canned vegetables and fruit are cheap and everything is available now at the store.
- Don't get caught up in the food riots. When trouble starts, get away.
- Don't make the idea of shortages force action when it's too late.
- Finally, don't let others know what you have. Join the lines, get the ration cards, buy the allowed limit (as long as personal freedom is not limited) but don't let others see you "not" taking part as you have enough food at home. Others will visit your home if they think you are "hoarding".
- Make plans to get away from urban centers when food runs low. There is no more dangerous place to be.
In the real world, food riots occur after the shortage conditions have arrived and the government or private organization attempts to bring in food supplies in an unorganized and destabilized environment. The helicopters land or trucks arrive, the crowds break impromptu barriers and relief workers are overwhelmed. Food riots ensue.
For preparedness sake, the possible scenario of food riots in the US would be a combination of the two.
A few scenarios..
An event takes place that would lead to the disruption of supply chains. That could be a natural disaster but on a national level, a massive terrorist attack on our infrastructure, or a war.
Another would be a financial meltdown which would paralyze key components of the food chain - farmers refusing to take credit payments for crops, truckers refusing to deliver goods, feed lots refusing to release stock, etc.
The second "shoe" would drop when stocks drop in stores. That means all stores including grocery, big box wholesale, fast food and all restaurants and even convinience stores.
At first, people would get by on what they had, but after a certain amount of time, one or two weeks at most, people would get antsy and start going to the market daily and waiting or listening to the news for food distribution in their area.
This is America. For all the law abiding folk, and for all the ones who are willing and ready to wait in line for an agreed amount of emergency food, a limit on grocery purchases or the need to cooperate, there is a huge segment who thinks otherwise.
Look at it this way. How many times have you been to the bank or any other place where you had to wait in line, and three people in front of you is the person with "the story"? About how they lost their driver's license or how they have 14 people at home who are sick or how they meant to have the paperwork in order but they left their only pen in their cousin's car?
Or how many people in America will think that because of their position or personal opinion of their importance will think that lines and rations are for "other people"?
Finally, how many borderline criminals exist in the USA? Not just the typical gang and thug members. But how many people swipe a few things from work, fudge their taxes, allow the clerk to give them too much change and walk away feeling entitled to their windfall?
All of these folk will be in the food lines as well and when they arrive and start trouble, there will be problems. They will demand, push and force their way to the front of the line. They will want more than they are allocated. They will see a shortage as an opportunity and demean all others around them.
Depending upon the severity of authorities' response, many innocent people will get hurt. And further supplies will not be forthcoming or recipients will be required to register at their local FEMA camp for ongoing meals.
Therefore, the same conclusion applies.
- Stock food now. Many types of food, like rice, beans, flour, yeast, generic canned vegetables and fruit are cheap and everything is available now at the store.
- Don't get caught up in the food riots. When trouble starts, get away.
- Don't make the idea of shortages force action when it's too late.
- Finally, don't let others know what you have. Join the lines, get the ration cards, buy the allowed limit (as long as personal freedom is not limited) but don't let others see you "not" taking part as you have enough food at home. Others will visit your home if they think you are "hoarding".
- Make plans to get away from urban centers when food runs low. There is no more dangerous place to be.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Prepare: Just In Time Preppers
You hear frequently about the problems with "Just In Time" inventory management practiced by American businesses the past 40 year of so. Critics say that JIT is the wrong way to go for our fragile society. They point out Hurricane Katrina and how easily food and supplies in surrounding areas were wiped out as evacuees fled New Orleans.
The problem critics have with JIT is that stores and companies no longer stock extra things in the back like they used to in the good old days. That the modern grocery store, for instance, only carries enough on hand for about three days of normal business.
This has been a big deal for those who like to be prepared for unknown scenarios like war, invasion, and societal collapse. "Preppers" like to have plenty of extra food, water and supplies on hand in the event the stores run out or simply cease functioning.
The problem is "prepping" takes years. Acquiring enough food to feed a family of four can cost a great deal of money and is not something that can be done in a single day. And there lies a big problem.
The Just In Time Prepper.
Many of us have prepared for this eventuality.
Scenario: After one too many disasters and financial misteps, the federal government goes belly up. Chaos reins. You are at home and decide to take this chance to get to the store and pick up "a few extra things".
When you get there, its a mob frenzy. People are grabbing anything they can get in their cart or hands and running pell mell through the store. Those coming out of the store are having their purchases commandeered by those trying to get in.
This is the scene of the Just In Time Prepper. That neighbor or friend who never kept more than a few cans on the shelves who thinks that magically they can obtain enough food to feed their family for an unlimted amount of time with one trip to the grocery store.
Here are some numbers which blow holes in that position.
A 2lb 10oz canister of Quaker oatmeal has about 30 normal sized servings in it. That would be enough for one person for a month. To feed a family of four, you would need four of those for a month and forty eight for a year.
A 50lb bag of rice has 454 servings. That would roughly be enough for one person for one year barring any spills or waste. To feed a family of four, you would need four of those bags.
The amount of food needed to feed a family or group of people for any appreciable length of time is staggering. Thinking a quick trip to a mobbed grocery store is going to make a dent in your long term food needs is ludicrous.
Start stocking now a little at a time and a one month, six month or one year supply of food can be built over time. Don't be a Just In Time Prepper.
On another note, here's a lesson learned the hard way. I used some cracked red winter wheat for bread this morning. Don't do it. Cut it at least three to one with regular flour or you will end up with a hard as a rock hockey puck. This is something to think about when you have to start using those fifty pound buckets of wheat - get a good grinder to make flour with.
The problem critics have with JIT is that stores and companies no longer stock extra things in the back like they used to in the good old days. That the modern grocery store, for instance, only carries enough on hand for about three days of normal business.
This has been a big deal for those who like to be prepared for unknown scenarios like war, invasion, and societal collapse. "Preppers" like to have plenty of extra food, water and supplies on hand in the event the stores run out or simply cease functioning.
The problem is "prepping" takes years. Acquiring enough food to feed a family of four can cost a great deal of money and is not something that can be done in a single day. And there lies a big problem.
The Just In Time Prepper.
Many of us have prepared for this eventuality.
Scenario: After one too many disasters and financial misteps, the federal government goes belly up. Chaos reins. You are at home and decide to take this chance to get to the store and pick up "a few extra things".
When you get there, its a mob frenzy. People are grabbing anything they can get in their cart or hands and running pell mell through the store. Those coming out of the store are having their purchases commandeered by those trying to get in.
This is the scene of the Just In Time Prepper. That neighbor or friend who never kept more than a few cans on the shelves who thinks that magically they can obtain enough food to feed their family for an unlimted amount of time with one trip to the grocery store.
Here are some numbers which blow holes in that position.
A 2lb 10oz canister of Quaker oatmeal has about 30 normal sized servings in it. That would be enough for one person for a month. To feed a family of four, you would need four of those for a month and forty eight for a year.
A 50lb bag of rice has 454 servings. That would roughly be enough for one person for one year barring any spills or waste. To feed a family of four, you would need four of those bags.
The amount of food needed to feed a family or group of people for any appreciable length of time is staggering. Thinking a quick trip to a mobbed grocery store is going to make a dent in your long term food needs is ludicrous.
Start stocking now a little at a time and a one month, six month or one year supply of food can be built over time. Don't be a Just In Time Prepper.
On another note, here's a lesson learned the hard way. I used some cracked red winter wheat for bread this morning. Don't do it. Cut it at least three to one with regular flour or you will end up with a hard as a rock hockey puck. This is something to think about when you have to start using those fifty pound buckets of wheat - get a good grinder to make flour with.
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