Every other Tuesday night, some of the members of the Prepper Website Exclusive Email Group meetup online to discuss what their communities look like and discuss a specific topic. Think of it like a prepper report! It’s a highlight for me to be able to see and hear from others in the preparedness community because everyone, even someone new to preparedness, has something to bring to the table.
This last week wasn’t any different. Members shared out what the grocery stores looked like, due to the food shortages because of the COVID19 issue and they also shared out any concerns or observations they had due to the recent protests and riots.
It seems like things are getting back to normal in many locations, but I wanted to share out some differences and points that members shared.
Prepper Report – Sharing Info.
Canned Soup – At least two members who live in the Northern part of the country shared that canned soup and the canned items to make soup seemed to still be in short supply. I personally noticed something similar down in Texas, but not necessarily with soup. I noticed more easy-to-make, processed food being in short supply.
My guess is that people don’t know how to cook anymore. They rather pickup soup or other meals that you just need to heat and serve. It’s not hard to learn how to cook. In fact, my son looked up a recipe for chick-fil-a chicken and their sauce. He’s getting pretty good at cutting up chicken and frying it up. I have to say I’m impressed. But for those who need a little more help, the FREE PDF Download – Bug-In Recipe Cookbook has some easy to make recipes that anyone can make.
Meat – Many of us mentioned that beef was better stocked than a few weeks ago. Some even noticed that prices had come down a little. My observation was that beef had gone down 50 cents, but was still at about $8.50 a pound. At least one member in the Northeast mentioned that their grocery store was still putting a limit on meat, beef, chicken and pork.
Wipes – Although store shelves seem to show a better stock of cleaning supplies, one thing that is hard to find is disinfectant wipes. Now these aren’t necessary, they are a convienence item. But it is something that others are aware of.
Toilet Paper – One prepper report touched on finding good toilet paper. I know people make fun of me, when I have brought this up in the past. But when you wipe with “John Wayne” toilet paper, you can tell the difference! I just don’t want to be in a situation where I’m wiping with sandpaper when a little preparedness would have had my tushy feeling nice and soft.
Hand Sanitizer – Regular size bottles of hand sanitizer are still hard to find at the regular grocery store. There was a lot of talk and articles on how to make your own hand sanitizer early in the COVID situation. If you can’t find hand sanitizer, but you can now find the ingredients to make it, here is a good article to check out – HAND SANITIZER – PROS AND CONS FOR USAGE (INCLUDES RECIPES).
Looks Can Be Deceiving
One member, who lives in the city, mentioned that what looks like full grocery store shelves are really only four to five items deep. So if you are only grabbing one of each item, you wouldn’t see it. But, if you buy three or four cans of something, you will notice that there isn’t a lot of stock behind it. So, the situation in some locations, although it looks good on the surface, can easily turn dire if people start stocking up again like when the COVID issue started up.
If a 2nd Wave Comes
News from China seems to suggest that a second wave is hitting their population. This Forbes article mentions that only around 100 people have tested positive in Beijing. But others here in the US believe that a 2nd Wave could hit later this year in the US. IF, and I say IF, that happens, then we are going to experience more food shortages as people rush to stockpile.
Don’t wait for prepper report or article on the shortages! It makes sense to not get caught up in that frenzy. A good size food pantry and food storage is something that every household, just not preppers, should have. If your food storage has been dwindling down, then start working on shoring it back up. Do it now! If you stockpile what your family already eats, you won’t waste anything. Just rotate your stockpile. If you want to take short course on Food Storage, you can check out – Three Easy Ways to Get Started in Long Term Food Storage. You can also get the course in printed version – CLICK HERE.
Conclusion
Having a group that you can meet up with and share ideas and advice with is a positive experience for preppers. Most preppers don’t have others that they can talk about preparedness with, so this fills a great need. If you would like to learn more about the group, check out here.
Peace,
Todd
The meat supply was challenged recently because of corona. I expect the summer harvest will be similarly impacted as processing is labor intensive. The difference is a lot of tomatoes, other vegetables will be lost as the time to pick, process is usually short. I anticipate shortages, high prices along with rent evictions, civil unrest becoming widespread. In the military such were referred to as “threat spirals”. While what has been happening is bad…the worst is yet ahead.