What if everything gets scrambled?

No, I'm not talking about eggs, though it's a good idea to have a source for your food storage--dried or fresh. I'm talking about the whole system as we know it--having food on the shelves wherever you shop, being able to pay with money that is worth something, or having enough money to buy basic necessities for yourself and/or your family. The way that the economy is going, it would not surprise me at all if everything in the food chain part of our system got "scrambled". The question is, do each of us have enough resources in reserve, that we would be able to survive until we figured out how the new system worked?

One of the things that brings this to mind is the fact that not long ago my husband and I found out that a couple who we would very much hate to see go hungry had no food storage. I had wondered about it, but ( I don't know whether you will agree with me on this or not) it is very difficult to just come right out and ask people whether they have food storage or not. This is especially true when it comes to people who know and/or ought to know that they need to get a supply of food storage, which is definitely the case with the couple in question. The statement was made that they had no food storage, and the conversation went on. I'm not sure at what point the question was asked, (yeah, it was probably me who asked it) but a question was asked along the lines of, "What will you do, then, if everything goes south?" There was little to no worry on the part of the other party, who claimed (again, this is according to my memory) that they would simply go to the grocery store--they didn't eat that much, and they could afford it. I don't recall pointing this out, but my two main concerns with this scenario, I would say, are thus:

1) What if there is no food in the grocery store to buy? I don't think that it is a far stretch of my imagination when I say that there are multiple reasons why this could turn out to be the case. One is that the economy is so bad that people are losing jobs and businesses are suffering every day. What people get in the grocery store has to get there somehow, and what if trucking companies go bankrupt and/or close due to the credit crisis? Potatoes may have eyes, but I have yet to see a vegetable with legs... Point being, that if there is no way to supply the grocery store with needed items, the items simply won't be there.

A second reason could be that when everyone finds themselves in the same situation that this couple would be in, and there is any kind of manmade or other type of crisis, there could be a run on the store's supplies, and there simply wouldn't be anything left to buy unless they had the good fortune to get there first. I have news for this couple that I really don't dare say to them, but which applies to everyone (if you have the means at all, and this couple does have the means): the time to get there first is now, if not yesterday. They, however, are very unconcerned about it, or at least that appeared to be the case to me. Hard to say, since I am very worried about food supply in the future, and I'm sure that I don't always see things objectively.... :)

2) What if the monetary system as we know it changes, and is, in effect, scrambled? What if the food is available, but not for any price that you can afford, or is only available through people who have had the wisdom to put some aside, but don't want your money? What if they are bartering in tangibles or skills? Wouldn't it put you in a better situation to have some resources stored on your own, so that you would be able to eat while trying to navigate a changed system?

Do I know if/when these things will happen? No, of course not. But I can easily see how they could happen, and the more people that are prepared, the less people I have to worry about. And believe me, I do worry.... That's why I try to prepare for the worst while I hope for the best.

This couple would in all likelihood come to us or some of the people we know if they found themselves in a situation where they didn't have any food. My husband was talking to someone about the above conversation more recently, someone whom the couple would also likely approach if/when they were in need. The response from the other party, from what I understand from my husband, was that the couple obviously had what they wanted, and if they wanted help they would ask for it. My response to that is, will there be anything available for them if/when they finally ask, if no one has made preparations for it? Everyone wants to feed their children first, and if food is hard to come by, it wouldn't be surprising that it would be harder than ever to give what you have stored to someone who "obviously had what they wanted" and knew about the importance of food storage when food was still available.

My husband and I already put some food in our storage that we consider "extra", even if it's only "extra" in the sense that we won't necessarily feel that we are taking it from our own family if we end up giving it to someone else when things get harder. It's just a mentality, thing, obviously, because it's the same kind of food that we are trying to store for ourselves. But like my husband says, if we save it intentionally for them, if they don't end up needing it, it's just more for us. We're still working on our amount of food storage, and how to use it. There's just no question that there is a high probability to certainty that we will at one point or another be asked to share.

How do you talk about food storage with the people that you know? That (surprise, surprise :) is the poll question this week. I hope you don't have to--that they are already working on it. Oh, and my thanks goes out not only to those who answer my poll questions, but those who put out information about food storage, in whatever form it may be---blogs, books, groups, magazines, etc. I heard someone quote William Arthur Ward recently:

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

So if you are preparing and/or are helping others to prepare, I say--thank you!