Nov 09
4
Why Store Food?
I confess…
I haven’t always kept a well-stocked pantry. When my husband and I first got married, money was tight and we were like many newlyweds living from paycheck to paycheck. But something inside of me, most likely a deep entrenchment from my raising, told me that having a garden to grow our own food and keeping a little “extra” food on-hand was probably a good idea.
My father was a child of the Great Depression. The youngest of 12 children, his father died when he was only 5, leaving my grandmother to raise their children on her own. I remember Dad telling stories about their trials to survive, hunting for any small animals he could find for food and even his remorseful recollection of stealing chickens from a local farmer. I’ve seen my strong father brought to tears as he told stories of his own starvation and witnessing others without shelter or food for their families.
Undoubtedly, this is why my Dad notoriously kept his cabinets full of canned goods at all times, raising a large garden and always keeping an eye on our entire family’s financial needs to make sure no one was doing without.
My aunt would laugh as she watched my Dad begin opening canned goods to add to our own dinner to make sure we had enough on the table when unexpected company stopped by. He loved to feed people, and I am sure that it gave him a sense of empowerment over his old life of struggle.
But as life moved on, times changed- and food, jobs and shelter are readily available for most people. I have been one of the many privileged United States citizens who has lived through one of the most prosperous times our country has ever known.
My husband and I have always been blessed with employment opportunities, but learned that layoffs and plant closings can happen with little or no warning. When Texas Instruments closed their Temple facility in the 90’s, Robert lost more than a job; he lost a 20-year career. He quickly found employment with the printer company that bought TI’s airline ticket printer line, but after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, we once again faced a layoff and were forced to sell our 40 acre farm, pecan orchard and custom-built home to avoid bankruptcy.
I think this really triggered our realization of how quickly our livelihood can change and how important it is to be prepared for all kinds of disasters, whether it be a job loss, family illness, a weather event like a tornado or hurricane or as we are seeing once again, a deep recession that could possibly take us back to a full-scale depression.
While all different kinds of disasters call for specific preparations, there are some basic preps that are required in any situation – food, water and shelter.
I’ve chosen to discuss the subject of food preparation because I feel that there are many people who want to store food, but have become overwhelmed by the instruction they have received from expert books and manuals. Before the Y2K panic, many people spent a fortune on MRE’s (Meals Ready-to-Eat) and 55 Gallon drums of grain and water, which are probably still stored in their garages and basements to this day.
Some people can afford to buy a year’s supply of food and just store it away “just in case”, but I’m not one of them. Keeping my normal groceries stocked is sometimes a challenge, and the idea of buying large barrels of food and water just seems way out of reach. Not to mention, I don’t think I’d know what to do with whole grain even if my life depended on it (and it just might some day…).
It became apparent that if I was going to store food, I would need to devise a plan that made sense to me and was easy enough for me to accomplish without spending hours of prep time and huge investments on each purchase.
There are lots of books and resources on the internet that explain in detail what it takes to meet caloric and vitamin needs, and I think these are valid topics that need to be addressed. However, it’s my guess that most folks don’t sit down each week and calculate the calories and vitamins that will be contained in each of their meals for a week to ensure that they are meeting the national requirements, unless you are on a diet plan or just enjoy doing that kind of thing. Most plan their meals based on likes of the family, convenience, cost and availability. And if we’re really concerned about our vitamin intake, we add a vitamin supplement to cover all the bases.
When the task appears too daunting or too expensive, we tend to just put it off until we have more money, more time or more information. Unfortunately, disasters do not wait until you are “good-n-ready” for them. That’s why you need to start thinking about your plans TODAY.
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“Survival is not to the fittest, but to the wisest, and a wise person has a storable food plan to see them through times of trouble.” Tim Stephenson, Disaster Management Services
Storing food is not a new concept. We’ve all heard the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper – the ant worked all summer, storing food away for the winter, while the grasshopper played and frolicked the days away. When winter came, the ant was prepared, but the grasshopper succumbed to a cold, harsh winter and died.
I noticed a few years ago that my son’s school literature told a slightly different version of this story. While it still promoted the idea of preparing for hard times, the ant in the grasshopper appeared to be living in a more socialist society- the ant ends of sharing his winter storage with the grasshopper. While sharing makes for a happy ending and teaches our kids compassion for their neighbors, I feel it fails them in a much deeper way. The harsh truth is that there may not always be someone out there to save us.
People may not prepare for hard times because they feel that someone else will be there to help them in times of need. We’ve become an inter-dependent society in every way. We take out insurance to cover our losses due to catastrophe and to cover medical expenses. If we lose our jobs, there’s always unemployment, food assistance and a variety of organizations to get us through. The problem is that this support system is a delicate balance of resources that can only work to a certain capacity. What happens if thousands, or even millions, of people find themselves out of work at the same time? How long can a system like this continue to work when the burden becomes so large?
Even our everyday systems are heavily dependent on each segment to function properly.
Let’s say that oil prices go up dramatically – which we’ve seen happen recently…
Oil costs can have a devastating effect on everything from production of fertilizer used to grow crops, fuel in harvesting equipment, transportation cost of food from the fields to the markets, electricity costs to process, preserve and package the food, even more transportation costs to get the food to our stores… see where I’m going with this? The price increases are ultimately added to the bottom line of the consumer’s cost. One small ripple can lead to a tidal wave of consequences.
Take another scenario that we’ve recently witnessed, and according to experts we will eventually see on a catastrophic level some day – it’s not a matter of if, but when… Pandemic Illness. The recent outbreak of the H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) initially caused quite a panic. As of this writing, the H1N1 alert is at a Level 6 Pandemic Status. We are fortunate that it occurred during the spring/summer months, limiting the spread and intensity of the illness. However, winter is coming, and no one really knows how this virus may mutate, and combined with the normal flu season, how many people might become ill.
What happens if the Government declares this a Medical Emergency and bans all social gatherings and restricts people congregating in places like malls, restaurants, grocery stores. Can they do that? Of course they can, and they did it this year. Schools were closed, events were cancelled, and for a short time, people were hiding in their homes, afraid to even venture out for groceries. Had this virus turned out to be more deadly, Government would have declared a State of Emergency and possibly quarantined people to their homes. If faced with this kind of emergency, would you have enough food to make it a few days? or weeks? how about months?
So above scenarios seem a little too far-fetched. Consider this one. Tomorrow you show up for work and find that the doors are chained. Not sure what to do, you call your boss, only to get his answering machine explaining that he is declaring bankruptcy and that the bank has shut down the business. He’s truly sorry, but there is no money for employee compensation and basically you are on your own. You are at the end of a pay cycle and have $100 in your bank account, a pile of bills on the kitchen counter, and about 2 days of food in the fridge (if you count the ice cream bars and leftover pizza from the previous weekend). You will be entitled to unemployment benefits, but it takes a few weeks to get those in place. Don’t think it could happen? It does – it happened here in my town not too long ago. Fifteen food service workers showed up for work to find chains on the doors of their business. It happens all over the place. Several accounting workers at a major medical facility reported to work one Monday to find the doors to their offices padlocked and a note directing them to the HR department.
We are living in hard times, and the uncertainty can be frightening. But we don’t have to live our lives feeling powerless. If you are feeling out of control, let me help you regain a sense of strength.
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Stay tuned… more to come on my personal food storage plan and how to create your own plan..
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