A Last Run To Buy Grocery Store Food Items

What will be the first grocery store items to disappear during a SHTF scenario when all of your neighbors are rushing out to the grocery store down the street? Will the items they purchase be the items they really should be purchasing? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

For the purpose of this scenario, let’s say that the SHTF event is a major magnitude 8.0 earthquake on the New Madrid fault zone where Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri come together along the Mississippi river. The earthquake is so severe that almost all of the bridges along the Mississippi river are knocked out. Since much of the foods and supplies criss-cross the country from source to destination, there will be major disruptions in inventory when nearly all the east-west trucking has slowed to a trickle due to the major bridges being out. In this example, you don’t actually live in the devastation zone (where the power will be out and stores closed anyway), but you know that there will be serious supply shortages soon. The news media has been talking about the supply distribution breakdown and the fact that bridge repairs may take months or much longer. You are worried that food may become in short supply.

 

Most people won’t know how bad it might get, but there will be people beginning to panic and rushing out to the grocery store to buy supplies.

Many people won’t be smart, and won’t think it through. What will they buy first?

Maybe they will rush to get things like,

– fresh milk, bread, and eggs
– more of their ‘regular’ stuff (processed/boxed foods, frozen foods, etc.)
– cigarettes and booze

Why did they buy these items? What was their ‘thinking’ or logic behind it?

It’s a natural instinct to go out and buy the foods that are consumed on a regular basis, especially those that will ‘go bad’ the soonest, foods that don’t last that long like fresh bread and milk. We have been trained to think short-term. We have short attention spans and tend not to think ahead (or plan ahead).

 

Buying milk and bread and other ‘regular’ items are Okay, but, for those who realize the serious magnitude of the situation, knowing that supplies may run out quickly and that they may be without supplies for some time afterward, what might be some better (or additional) items to buy first?

Maybe some of these items will be a better choice during that last minute grocery store run before things run out completely.

– 10 lb. bags (or larger) of rice & beans
– flour/sugar/salt/yeast
– high calorie foods, like the following few random examples,
mac-n-cheese (600 calories/box)
peanut butter (100 calories/tablespoon)
canned stews (200 calories/cup)
canned brown, red, or black beans (350 calories/can)
canned meats
you get the idea…
– powdered milk, powdered potatoes
– coffee/tea, or similar items that you use, or could be used for trade

 

I’m not intending to make a list of things to get, but to point out that for a last-minute, one time last run to the grocery store while facing upcoming food shortages, you should think about it differently.

By thinking in terms of getting food items that will be better for longer term shortages, you will fill your basket with other things than most people around you who are stocking up with bread and milk. The things in your basket may not be what you normally buy, but the idea is to buy the foods that will last longer, and provide more calories for you money.

Remember, calories keep you alive.

 

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