Panic Buying Of Food Items

Have you experienced panic buying? When there is an impending calamity, people hastily stock on food which results in panic buying where the stores run out of food items. In Qatar a few days back, the news about the diplomatic issue claimed by Arab countries against Qatar caused tension. Most of the foreign workers rushed to the stores to stock up on food items for fear that food supplies may be cut. One friend in Qatar said that it is peaceful although there was a long queue in the supermarket. Before the day was over, the shelves were all empty. What if the impending calamity happens and there was no food in the stores? That would be a big disaster for you.

 

Every year during hurricane season people around here panic buy! Any mention of a storm and the shelves are picked clean! One of the first things to go usually is the alcohol and cigarettes! Next is the bread and milk. We just had a tropical storm and I could not get milk for two days!

 

That is why we stockpile a lot of non-perishable foods and use the FIFO method (first in, first out). Panic buying is almost certainly guaranteed in many disasters and it has happened here in the States during natural disasters, civil unrest, and both. Those that didn't prepare were in bad shape.

 

Milk is not important long term, I was just stating what happened here recently. And how idiotic the panic shoppers actually were.
The shelves were stocked with flour etc. It seemed the majority of people were stocking up on items that would be useless once the power went out. Beer, cigarettes and milk are not the first things to gran when faced with the probability that you will be without power for more than three days.

 

Here we might have a snow or ice storm once every few years that makes it difficult to get out and about for a day or two, so it amazes me how many people run to the store to stock up with a months supply of items especially milk, bottled water and bread. It is hard to imagine that anyone is not stocked up enough to get by at least one week on what they have stored at home.

 

Oh wow. I have never actually experienced this before. I have never gone to the shop to be met with the empty shelves - our stores are always packed really well but I do see the benefits of having a stockpile at home - which is exactly what we have done.

A while ago, me and my partner, discussed stockpile and agreed that it was the best choice of action considering some of the events around the world and just for the overall feeling of ''safeness''. You feel much better knowing that you have food available to you even if something unpredictable happens.

 

Yes, whenever people think they are going to get a big snowstorm in these parts they will go to the store and buy up all the milk and bread and so forth. It is kind of a joke really. The storms are never really that bad.

 

I remember during the swine flu issue. There was one emergency and people were buying the stuff. And it was all in hurry. Nobody was eating out in hotel. And it was really hard experience. The reason being safety and hygiene was in top priority. So it's definitely something I'd say we all do in panic purchase. And we have to think of essentials here.

 

I challenge anyone / everyone to slip the topic of "how much food do you normally keep around" into your conversations with friends, work-mates, and such. Brothers and sisters, you'll be shocked. People are not prepared for jack.

Fan the topic out to other preparatory behaviors. People are living on the edge -- right on the edge. Things are "crispy" in the world right now -- zero redundancy of supply & no preparations for system failures. Now add to this the reality of the world's economic and political instabilities. Add the foreseeable and non-foreseeable natural catastrophes and plagues ... which happen like clockwork in this world. Glance at human history, then look at where we are today. The people are asleep on the boat headed towards the waterfall. Swim to shore ... and quickly so!

 

I personally have never needed to get all freaky and buy things in a panic but I have seen it several times. In general it is mostly characterized by STUPIDITY!!! I saw a guy buying nearly s hundred dollars worth of bottled water from a convenience store for a little over a dollar a bottle! A hurricane was coming and the big stores were mostly clean ed out of the things that people think they need and so this poor fool freaked out. The hurricane was still about a day away. The water from the tap was just fine and still running!! I have actually known people to buy batteries that wouldn't fit anything they owned because that size was all that was left. ???? Believe it or not the college kids bought out all of the frozen pizzas!

BEWARE, when people are under pressure, even when the pressure is mostly self imposed, they go stupid, emotional and predictable. There were fights over bottles of water in places where the tap water never stopped flowing. It is like the near riots that they have at those evil Black Friday sales. I buy up anything that I MIGHT need as long as possible before I need it as possible.

 

If you have the room it is amazing how much food you can produce on even a small bit of effort. Ducks, chickens, pot belly pigs and the smaller breads of goats just don't require a lot of acreage and even a half acre garden can go a long way towards feeding a small family. The nice thing about the smaller animals is that you don't have to deal with so much meat at one time. This is more important in places that don't have a real winter. Most years we don't have any days that don't get above 40 and it can hit the upper 80s or even the 90s ANY day of the year. That makes storing, even cured meats, challenging. The good news here is that thanks to our large hispanic population we have lots of people raising chickens and goats so getting the start is pretty easy. Personally for eggs I like the Indian Runner ducks. They are egg laying machines and cute too unlike chickens.

 

Unfortunately panic buying and store stripping affects even us with our well stocked pantries. Its my biggest worry. I am just guessing here, but based on just what I see around me....I would imagine less than 1% of the population has a year put away. Maybe 3% six months and 10% could last a month. A good 90% of the population starving within a week and beginning to eat their stored body fat. This is frightening. I do feel somewhat better after one poster here reminded me that after a week or so most would be so fatigued by the lack of food they would be unable to cause much trouble. I am curious how things are in other countries. Here in the US I don't think I have ever seen a push from the govt. to encourage people to put things away. Maybe the odd warning on the news about a big storm coming and telling everyone to have batteries for their flashlights and the such.

I wish I was young enough to head out into the woods, all my thoughts these days go into home defense and sustainable back yard farming should I somehow make it through.

 

Food or rather lack of it won't be the big killer. Water is going to be like the worst plague ever. First off will be the lack of it. Think about places like Los Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York when the cars stop running and the water stops flowing. New York for example has water for three days if the pumps stop.

Then the second stage will fall in. The water anywhere around big places like this are already just about totally undrinkable. When the raw sewage gets dumped in the streets and then washed into the rivers by the first rain it will be almost like drinking pure poison unless you go to extreme efforts to purify it. Lots of places even today the water can't be drank even after boiling for long because of heavy metal pollution.

In most places these days, but I speak mostly about the USA because it I know the facts about, 75% of the population is urban. Without water and sewage and even garbage removal these places won't be inhabitable. The black cloud will creep up on them far faster than people expect. No water and you die in three days. It takes at least three weeks to start to die from lack of food. The other problem with the water pumps stopping is that the fires once started just won't stop on their own.

Very few people these days are up for a 50 mile forced march and regardless how much you have stored, ifg you live in a city, all that you really will have is what you can carry on your back when the fires start.

As survivors what you will need to be able to do is move out ahead of the masses. I have mentioned it before but think it is worth mentioning again. If nothing else you might consider renting a small storage place in a small town that is at least 50 moles from the center of any huge city. You know, 50 miles is not a very long trip in a car. I've often driven farther than that every day to go to work. On foot though it is at least a two day trip for most people that are in fair shape but for most it might almost be a thousand miles. In it you can store food, water and supplies that won't go up in smoke if you have to run from your more urban home. Just a thought.

 

Brilliant suggestion on the storage shed. I am passing that on to my daughter who is at ground zero in San Francisco. I keep telling her she is going to have to get out of there fast. This is a solution. Its funny how we all thing or worry about different things. Up here in the Olympic Peninsula there is a major river and a half dozen streams and a lake or two within a short walk where ever you go. Water isn't a problem. Every location is so different.

 

Can you imagine what Las Vegas will be like??? Los Angeles and New York City are both totally dependent on water sources that are well over a hundred miles away!!

I used to keep a place out in West Texas as a backup BOL and did much as I suggested here. the water ojut in the area I was looking to go to used to be called the Country of 1100 Springs and has artesian rivers that are crystal clear and safe to drink without treatment.

When I moved to where I am now I let that go. I used to keep a stocked travel trailer out there and go out at least a couple times a year.

 

On this planet, access to clean water is as big an issue, if not a larger issue, than access to energy sources. Example: Without the water provided by the Jordon River, Israel is finished. Israel has threatened Lebanon with war should they use more of their own water out of this river.

Los Angeles lies in a desert valley. TexDanm pointed out that NY, NY is but three days away from catastrophe.

My recommendation is Katadyn water filters along with regular activated charcoal filters -- i.e. ceramic micron filtration to get out the bacteria and parasites; charcoal to get rid of bad aromas.

Water storage: Get water barrels. We have the 20 gal size units with spigots.

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Emerg...994&sr=8-4&keywords=20+gallon+water+container

Want some SERIOUS sized tanks:
http://www.tank-depot.com/b-2/plastic-water-tanks

A Practical Zeer Pot (evaporative Cooler / Non-electrical Refrigerator)
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Practical-Zeer-Pot-evaporative-cooler-non-electr/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-in-pot_refrigerator

In very hot climates, sometimes you gotta dig, dig, dig to get out of the heat.

https://www.survivalright.com/underground-shelter.html

http://robertsprojects.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/root-cellar.html

 

We have a 2500 gallon cistern that collects rain water off the roof and a 12,000 gallon swimming pool. I also live very near a big river and know where several springs are. Where the springs seep will be an easy well to dig if something happens. Water shouldn't be a problem. We average a little over 31" a year here and often get a lot more. Over the last 25 years we have only had one drought.

I also don't expect food to be a problem because I am surrounded by ranches and animal keepers. Within 500 yards we have chickens, goats, cattle, horses, hogs, ducks, Guineas and just a little further down the road we have a place that breeds and raises exotic, mostly african, animals for the West Texas exitic animal hunting ranches. Then there are the wild critters and tons of gardeners and small type farming places. We even have a Winery with their own grape vineyard.

I am well set to grow a lot of my own but expect that I can barter my various skills and various "things" for what I need from these people. I just want to be able to hunker down for about a year and then expect things to level out. The thing is that the projected 90% death rate will actually mostly kill off those that don't actually produce much that will have meaning after things crash. When you move out into the rural areas you find people that are mostly more of the blue collar persuasion and have a much different world view already and won't have a lot of trouble adapting.

I'm sorry but the "Upper Crust" people that look down on hillbillies or rednecks will be on the wrong side of the tracks in a post apocalyptic world. What will a rich banker have to offer to a rancher to get him to feed him? The stylish Metrosexual with all their attitude just won't last a week. All of a sudden being one of the "good ole boys" is going to be a big plus. All of my friends hunt and have guns. Most fish and many have big gardens and lots of them have livestock. Rural trailer trash with big porches and gardens will be way ahead of the rich in their mansions in the big cities. TEOTWAWKI will be a huge leveler of society. Without power a single wide trailer is actually more livable than a house. Modern houses just are not designed for living without air conditioning.

People that wait and then get involved in the panic buying are not going to have a lot of a chance to survive that first 3 months.