Is it Hoarding or Preparedness?

Hoarding is a recent topic among Americans today due to tough economic times, questionable value in the dollar, and rising crime rates due to lack of law enforcement funding. What we need to take a closer look at is should this be considered hoarding or preparedness? Hoarding is described as supply that is hidden for future use. After watching a few videos on "hoarding" I have found that the term hoarding actually refers to an obsessive compulsive disorder where a person can't help but not let go of food even after it has spoiled. This form of hoarding should not be confused with the type of hoarding that we are blogging about here.

Preparedness is not a bad idea these days though. According to a Wall Street Journal article in 2008 titled Load Up the Pantry " recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year. And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%". That's quite an added cost to any household in today's economy.

Here is a video about some predictions from this dude, Gerald Celente:

Interesting information but you might ask how and why should we be prepared? The how can be covered by going to any online store-able food/water website. There are quite a few companies out there that specialize in food that can be stored that comes prepackaged with no preservatives. Some of the prepackaged food is dehydrated and only needs water to be added for consumption, some are set up like military style MRE (meals ready to eat), and some of the food is set up for extreme survival situations. Most of these companies have information on how to store and transport you supply. Research should also be done on what should be stored with the rations such as medical kits, sanitation supplies, hygiene supplies, reusable plates and utensils, etc.  Why be this prepared you might ask? I have friends that I have been advising for a couple of years on survival in the case of economic collapse, natural disaster, or riots. This couple in particular has stored enough food, water and supplies for two people to survive for 10 years or 10 people to survive for two years. This is smart because you may have to provide for additional family members or you may be in survival mode for a long period.

Here is a link to just one of the storable foods website I referred to earlier.

During hurricane Katrina all supplies in a local Wal-Mart were cleared out within 24 hours to include the shelves! Most grocery stores are restocked completely within 48 hours which means they don't carry enough food for all of the people in the surrounding area if the supply chain fails due to natural disaster or an event such as gas prices sky rocketing which would keep trucks from making shipments. Don't hoard...be prepared. Most Americans don't have enough groceries in their pantry to last more than a week...what do you think those people will do when they run out of food? What will you do when they run out of food. This is something that is always possible even though it seems more likely every year, food shortages have happened in this country's history and will happen again. Be prepared!