Hi everyone, feel free to express opinions on this topic, but please be sure to avoid all the geopolitical aspects.
Was my previous post Geopolitical
Don’t really have much of a comment because of forum rules.
But as I look around & see what I see from A to Z. I think hard times are coming and many will be completely blindsided & clueless when it hits full force.
Because the signs are there now, yet how many recognize them???
When the pandemic started, we bought a small chest freezer so we could stock up on poultry, meats and other frozen foods. We keep it stocked and replenish as it gets used. From time to time, the chicken and meat sections at the grocery store will be scarcely stocked, other times its full. So we get it while we can. I then portion it out and vacuum seal it with my food saver. Those foodsavers work great, highly recommend owning one.
FoodSaver is the only way to store frozen foods for any length of time
You can reseal a bag of chips too. Keeps them fresh, just make sure you seal and not vac.
In the interim they got sneaky, so “6oz” can, but only 5oz of tuna (and 1oz water/oil).
I remember being able to open a can and plop out almost all solid tuna. Later, I could squish down the contents to almost half the volume, and empty assloads of liquid into a small dish (which the cats liked, so who am I to argue?). Hell, I even used to use most of that oil in lieu of mayo.
Same with yogurt, canned coffee, even cans of soup. The last down to 10oz and change, vs 16oz then 12oz.
we have tried to switch to store brands, since they seem to be available more often.
some are really good and some are not. we suggest anyone to try some now
to find out what works and what does not, because they are much, much
cheaper, and, as a result, money goes further.
here are some examples of our evaluations
regarding “good enough” or “as good”:
1. cookies.
2. condiments.
3. canned goods.
not worth buying store brands again:
1. bread, since we are silly snobs about this.
2. batteries. well…you already know that.
3. books. yes, there are store brand books.
Yeh, store-brand katchup, mayo, cookies, dressing, etc., are largely as good as the Real Thing.
PB, not so much, as it’s more like Skippy than PeterButter/Jif.
Breads… Wonder has a weird stank to it. Key Food’s “Urban Meadow” is decent, Stop’n’Shop’s was among the best white-bread I had. Always liked Bimbo best of all, despite the weird name.
Not sure about the books, though.
“Henry Pooter And The Prisoner Of Izbekistan” was kinda dull, and “Store Wares” read more like an inventory list than adventure.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Seems like it would be smart to stock up, specially when the food prices are soaring (some items are seeing 30% price increase vs early this year).
Some items have completely disappeared from the shelves, such as McCain fries, in their place now they’re selling some German branded fries. Interestingly the McCain fries are produced in the Netherlands, despite being imported from the US. Cat food, used to paid $0.90 per can now it’s $1.25. Cat litter is even worse, from $16.99 to $20.99.
More like, “Table for 4½!”
I stocked up on some fava beans and fine chianti…
I live in hurricane country, so having a stash of emergency food and supplies is just part of living here. Like @Lightbringer, I use a Sharpie to know which items need to be used next and rotate so things don’t get stale and avoid wasting money. Not having to panic buy before a storm when everyone else is? Priceless.
Interesting info on baby formula:
Ignore the title, as it was just used to refer to an article in DailyMail or whatever, and mentioned for all of 10sec.
Seems there’s a formula factory that was shut down “for health reasons” and which hasn’t yet been reopened.
Also, in a pinch, there’s some… organisation (?)… that helps “connect” those in need with willing “donors” of breastmilk.
And bodybuilders buy human breastmilk?? Like, to drink? Wellp, I guess “milk does a body good”…
Aww, man, don’t get me started on those smoothbrains who hear for 2 f’n weeks straight about the Nor’easter-From-Hell that’s on its way, how it’ll dump 42” of snow all over the eastern seaboard, and wait ’til just hours before it hits to swarm the stores in a panic to buy not just food-staples like bread/milk/eggs, but also salt, sand, shovels(!!!), and so on.
Like, how do you NOT know that you don’t have shovels? Or food? And WHY wait ’til the last minute when all the other smoothbrains are out in force?
I thought it was pretty funny a coupla years ago when a tree knocked out the powerlines on the block literally a day before Christmas, how mine was the only house with the Christmas lights still lit (solar), and I had decent enough interior lighting (Zanflare lanterns) whereas everyone else was in the dark and maybe a few had candles or something.
(For the record, ConEd did a bang-up job getting the entire length of the block rewired in less than 24hrs.)
I’d like a way to keep the fridge (and freezer) cold through an extended blackout, but that’s for later. More interested in storing excess capacity vs selling it back to the powerco.
I’ve had multiple times where neighbors knocked on our door or called on the land-line and asked if we still had power. “Nope, it’s out here too.” Then they’d get really confused seeing table lamps glowing away. Even since the 1980s we’ve had battery-powered lamps in key locations around the house. Power outages were extremely common in my area at the time, not helped by the idiotic idea of running the power lines in the bottom of canals(!) Originally we used 12v RV bulbs in regular lamps, hooked up to a beefy battery w/charger hidden in the cabinet below the lamp. We also had 12v PAR recessed cans which lent themselves to this as well.
We even forgot about it at times. Unlike using a UPS, there’s no inverter or relay, so no noise when AC died. You’d be sitting in the living room and suddenly the TV would shut off, but the table lamp was unchanged.
I’ve encountered this more recently since most of my “emergency” lighting these days is warm white.
Where's the down side of stocking up on food and other necessary supplies? As long as it is stuff you will use. All it takes to start panic buying is one or two stores' shelves becoming empty. Then people start buying whatever is there regardless of whether they need it or like it (food) or not. One day can wipe out a store and once word travels other stores could be cleared out in a matter of hours.
If you do decide to store up be cautious who you tell about it. Do not let it be widely known that you have plenty of food, TP, PT, batteries or such or some people will expect you to share some or all.
Let's all hope this ends up as nothing but my personal opinion is there will be some serious shortages in every country. It may be food or gas or cars or electricity and so on. Once it starts it could be hard to see how it recovers.
Two things I hear a lot: 1. Be Prepared 2. Two is one and one is none.
Don't want this to be political but why would any country use corn in place of gasoline when they have already admitted there is going to be a serious food shortage? Yes the type of corn is slightly different but planting season is here now and ethanol is not going away.
It creates empty shelfs and starts what you describe. If everyone is taking two packages of whatever instead of one, the shelf will be empty, and all blame hoarders for this, not realizing they are either hoarders themselfs or being just late to the show.
That said, I got enough flour for approx 5 large pizzae, but thinking about stocking up when I find a shelf that’s not empty :person_facepalming: .
I think there is a difference between an individual deciding to increase his pantry stocks when normally shopping versus doing it as a hurricane bears down on her community, but regardless, by now everyone in America and most of the world should know that just as throughout all of history, be able to take of yourself and your family, supplies for your business or farm and animals, and that means maintaining a cushion for the unexpected times and events.
These last 2 or 3 years should remind even the non engaged that history isn’t over and never will be.
“history isn’t over and never will be”
Interesting turn of the phrase. Kinda makes my brain go sideways. 