{"id":11184,"date":"2013-05-06T13:20:20","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T20:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/?p=11184"},"modified":"2023-10-31T22:39:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T05:39:41","slug":"infrastructurethreats-fooddistribution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/infrastructurethreats-fooddistribution\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure Threats: Food Distribution Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"No<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Are you prepared for a food emergency? If you\u2019re not, you may need to rethink your preparedness priorities.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like most Americans, you\u2019ve probably never considered the possibility of a widespread food famine hitting this country. For most people, the very mention of famine seems ridiculous, something that could never happen here in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day millions of Americans walk into their local supermarket, filling their baskets with only enough food to make it through the week. But, sadly, most people have never even thought about grabbing a couple of extra cans of food while at the store \u2014 you know, just in case something terrible happens! Instead, they stroll through the store, blissfully unaware that the whole system is built on a house of cards, a house just waiting to collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these people believe the back of their local grocery store is filled with pallets upon pallets of food. In fact, I often hear people asking the store clerk if they can, \u201cgo take a look in the back\u201d to see if they have more of a product that\u2019s not out on the shelf. But, unfortunately, while your parent\u2019s grocery stores may have worked like that, today\u2019s superstores have very little resemblance to their past counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Illusion of Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Walmart<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Modern-day grocery stores operate on what\u2019s known as just-in-time food delivery systems. As a result, very little product is actually stocked at the physical store. In fact, the backs of these stores are often only big enough to process what\u2019s coming in on the trucks. That means what you see on the shelves is what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stay profitable, today\u2019s grocery stores have about a 3-day supply of food on hand at all times. They use complex delivery systems to monitor, track and reorder products as needed. While these systems have allowed big box stores like Walmart to thrive and take over the entire industry, they have left the average American incredibly vulnerable to even the slightest disruption in the food distribution system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time a natural disaster hits, we witness firsthand how vulnerable our system really is. In what sometimes can be a matter of minutes, entire grocery stores can be stripped bare by a population that\u2019s completely unprepared to deal with even short-term disasters. If you\u2019ve lived through an earthquake, hurricane, or even a decent size winter storm, I\u2019m sure you\u2019re probably pretty familiar with the sight of an entire store filled with empty shelves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While these small-scale disasters usually only last a couple of days or weeks, they provide a very real and very disturbing glimpse into our future. Should our country ever be hit by a significant drought, shipping disruption, fuel shortage, or war, the delivery systems we depend on will be brought to its knees in very short order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s already happening\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re still not convinced, head on over to your local sporting goods store and ask to buy some .22lr ammo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For years now, it\u2019s become almost impossible to find certain types of ammunition<\/strong><\/a> in this country. While you can find some off calibers, the popular ones are still hard to find and they are not coming back anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are literally waiting for hours in lines, hoping to be at the store when the delivery truck comes in. What\u2019s most freighting about this situation is the fact that the people buying the ammo are still a very small minority of the country. Most Americans are not gun owners, and even among gun owners, very few realize there\u2019s even a problem until they buy new ammo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone needs food; let me repeat that, everyone needs food!<\/strong> If the ammo supplies can be wiped out<\/strong><\/a>, what amounts to only a handful of people compared to those who buy food, what do you think the grocery stores will look like during a major food shortage or crisis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be Riots on the Streets!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Rioting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During a major food crisis, areas with a high population density will be the hardest hit. These areas rely on a constant flow of goods that must be shipped in on a regular basis. Once the supply lines stop, these areas cannot fulfill people\u2019s basic food and water requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be riots in the streets, and that\u2019s probably majorly understating what will happen! Most Americans are not prepared to survive a food shortage or crisis; they simply don\u2019t have the skills, the supplies, or the mental strength to survive for more than a couple of days without food and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must be Prepared to Feed Yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"No<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t listen to the government\u2019s bullshit advice about having 72 hours\u2019 worth of supplies; that number doesn\u2019t even come close to what you really need. In my opinion, two weeks is the absolute minimum amount of supplies that you should have on hand at all times, and even that\u2019s a very conservative number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I advise immediately going out and buying two weeks\u2019 worth of food and water.  Once you hit that goal, you should set a goal for 3, 6, and 12 months\u2019 worth of food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n