Hey, if you're laying in dry goods or canned goods in case you find yourself unable to go to a grocery store for a couple weeks, if you've got the money, grab something like a bag of candy bars and put it in a cupboard or the freezer.
Chocolate is calorie dense, filling, interesting, and a treat - all things that will help stretch your stores in an emergency.
Also: unpopped popcorn takes up little space on the shelf, but is very filling when cooked and, again, can provide a treat.
Hey, preppers basically fetishize military rations... and military rations basically created the US taste for chocolate bars.
We're not likely to see some kind of Thunderdome in the grocery aisles situation here. More likely bare shelves due to people all getting the urge to prep at the same time, followed by a general preference for avoiding crowded spaces where everyone's touching the same surfaces.
So to the extent possible, plan your shopping as though it's possible you might have to skip a week or two. But your dried pasta and oatmeal and rice and beans and whatnot will last longer and sustain you better if you've got something to break it up.
If you don't have room in the budget to buy a bunch of extra groceries at once, do what you can. One extra bag of egg noodles here. One big can of veggies there. We don't know when/if the virus will break wide open in a given area.
Things like The Big Bag Of Rice can be more economical in the long run anyway and a lot of people shopping on a budget have worked their way up there, though it can be luck of the draw how much is left in the pantry at the moment.
If you've never had that kind of pressure, though, it might take a mental gear shift to adequately prepare. Calories are not the enemy - they are fuel for life.
Which is why chocolate can be survival food.
Which is why chocolate can be survival food.
While there is a sort of sub-cultural fascination with apocalyptic scenarios and the idea that they will let us live out our most violent fantasies, it's worth remembering that by and large, people in a disaster come together for the better.
It basically takes someone in a position of power panicking or trying to seize an opportunity for things to turn violent.
...which, I'm sorry to say, might well happen.
...which, I'm sorry to say, might well happen.
But do your best. Prepare as well you can. Look out for your neighbors and for one another. Humans are social animals and we are stronger together.
From one "at-risk" individual to the world: do not give into racism, xenophobia, and fear. Ignore the conspiracies and the scapegoating. Listen to the doctors and the scientists. Keep a clear head. A few minutes of calm reflection will not give the virus a head start.
For anyone whose stores are already picked over - if you have the money or the membership, check out Amazon Prime Pantry? You can get some shelf-stable stuff that way.
I don't want to encourage a hoarder mentality but basically it's already here in a lot of places and coming soon everywhere else, so I guess please hoard responsibly.
My best guess is that barring some kind of Stephen King's The Stand style simultaneous outbreak -- which is unlikely -- the shelf situation will mostly settle down into a pattern around flare-ups, so when you *can* get stuff and put a little by, put a little by.
I'm basically using whatever tips I get today for our own supplies (pandemic and regular type) so if you've got something out of this and you've got something to spare, it's appreciated.
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