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This blog has grown out of my weekly newspaper column. Enjoy.
A prudent person forsees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Proverbs 22:3 (NLT)

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Food Supplies


Getting a kit together is a lot like planning for a camping trip.  Let’s see, we’re going to be gone for six days so we’ll have to take food for 18 meals, plus snacks, s’mores ingredients and drinks.  Then comes the sleeping bags, extra clothes, tent, camping stove and on and on and on.  The only difference between packing for a camping trip and preparing for a major disaster is with the latter, we really don’t know how long to plan for.  Those living in Hurricane Sandy territory last November were still without some services up to 60 days following the arrival of the storm.  By that time F.E.M.A. had arrived and other services, including food were brought in from outside the area.  
I have read that grocery stores in the region were sold out within three to four hours, there were similar reports from other stores dealing in camping gear and supplies. Someone recently approached me and asked about food resources locally.  Although there are a few food banks in the area, they really are not set up to serve our entire region in the event an earthquake  strikes our region.  The food banks receive supplies either from donated sources, program funding from various agencies which can be affected by the ebb and flow of available money or the generosity of local food drives and private individuals.  These food banks routinely provide groceries to families in need in our communities.  There is no cache of groceries in our county set aside specifically to be distributed in the event of a disaster.  
Back in the Civil Defense days of the 1950s to 1960s, there were some resources on hand to be “activated” in case of enemy attack.  There was an entire military field hospital stored in one of the buildings at the North Bend Airport.  This unit contained everything, with the exception of medications and staff, needed to set up a Mobile And Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.) .  That unit was dismantled sometime in the late 1970s.  There are currently no government (or private) warehouses full of food in our area to be distributed in case of disaster.
So now we’re back to the Y.O.Y.O. scene.  You’re On Your Own!  Building a pantry doesn’t require a huge extra outlay of funds.  Start by watching the sales.  Take advantage of the ‘buy one get one’ bargains.  One lady wrote to me and bragged she had saved $7000 in a year’s time by using coupons, online bargains and shopping the sales.  The side benefit was she had built up a very tidy stockpile of groceries as she did so.  
If money is no object, or you’re looking for a good way to spend some of your tax refund, there are literally hundreds (or more) websites selling disaster preparedness food supplies.  You can order freeze-dried, dehydrated, canned or a combination of all the above.  Some even offer free shipping.  A word of caution, all the experts recommend storing food that you are accustomed to eating.  During times of emergency, your body is already stressed and introducing an entirely foreign diet could result in some unpleasant gastric distress.
As always, send your comments, questions and arguments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.

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