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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 6:59:11 AM | I just read an article in the Globe and Mail that said it is time for folks in North America to start stock piling dry and canned goods.
They are suggesting that the global crisis could hurt us down the line if we don't start planning now for the future.
Do you plan on stock piling essentials?
do you store extra stuff just in case?
What dry food items would you be stockpiling?
Is there anything you would be upset to do without? | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 7:38:22 AM | Hi mommy2, i read that article also, and our local tv station mention one night this week that Sam's and Cosco has a ration on rice, thinking that the area resturants will stockpill. So rice, wheat and corn are going to be short supply. It is almost impossible to go to the chain grocery store here and get groceries.
what to stockpile in dry food? anything with a long shelf life, and if you have a freezer, you can freeze a lot of them to keep fresh. I do that with box cake mix, baking mix(bisquick) instant potato's, there is a lot of things that can be frozen or refg.
I'm a senior and i remember when i was a little girl we had ration stamps, i guess we we lucky, we lived with grandma we had a little farm, so we only needed the stamps for sugar, flour and little things.
I pray that things will get better, but we all need to prepare in some ways, just because! | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 8:13:19 AM | So many of us now live in apartments where storage space is limited at best. No place to plant a garden to grow veggies, let alone any place to freeze and store or can and put up for the winter.
I personally have to drive 90% of my day for my work and use my own vehicle, so my gas bill is huge every week. I get a partial reimbursement, but no where near the actual cost of fule and maintanance.
Not sure what I'll do about the rising cost of food and fule. Changing jobs is not an option, as there are none around here that have the base pay and comission scale I have now, with the security I have.
Tighten the belt is the first line of defence I suppose. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 9:07:26 AM | The only time I start to stock pile is around the start of hurricane season.
In years past, my family never really started to stock pile until we knew something was brewing, you had the projected path and you had a few days to get everything. The year Florida was hit with 4 hurricanes in a season made us realize, being prepared was the only option.
Having a generator was the first major purchase, a grill or stove top either charcoal or gas, hand held can opener, lots of water and ice, enough for how ever many people per day for 3-4 days...
canned foods/ perishables, first aid kit, toilet paper, propane/gasoline, extra meds, batteries, candles, flashlights and a cash stash.
As far as food goes, the basics are usually canned soups, beans, veggies, spam...
Granola bars, dried fruits, nuts, peanut butter, crackers and dried pasta and rice. Root veggies like potatoes, carrots and onions last really long too as long as they are kept in a dry non humid place. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 12:55:13 PM | | Rice, beans, canned meats. Bleach, ammunition and firewood--although not foodstuff-- probably wouldn't be a bad idea either. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 1:23:17 PM | | It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. | |
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Posted: 4/26/2008 1:45:58 PM | Im in a unique situation... I care for Mother 24/7 due to severe dementia. I have to pay a sitter $10/hr while I shop/errands in town which is 10 miles away. What I've been doing for the last 3 yrs... I can blow through $500 in 3 hrs. I load the car FULL!!! Buy as much in bulk as I can. Dont buy 3 cans of green beans, buy the whole case that hasnt been opened yet. Makes loading/unloading much faster and easier. As a result I only shop once every other month. But due to a lack of sitters, I was able to go from Nov 07-February 08 without stockpile shopping.
I'm fortunate that I have plenty of storage space in a basement. For those that dont... can you empty out 1 closet? Cases of canned veggies would fit under your bed. How about Rubbermaid bins with lids? They stack well in a corner for light weight items such as boxed goods.
I would suggest you start with rice, flour/baking items, cooking oil, and pastas. Then consider your Favorites. Pay attention to the expiration dates while shopping. I bought 6 cases of canned dog food because the expiration date is in 2010!
During a weather disaster, it is wise to have 3-7 days supply on hand. But when it comes to food shortages or economic collapse, I would suggest a minimum of 3 months. Also household cleaning supplies, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, laundry det.
Keep this mind... how fast have the prices been rising? As long as the gas continues to rise, so will the transportation costs of all these goods. It's better to pay todays prices than to pay tomorrows prices. $1000 worth of food today will cost $1200 in July.
Again... I dont have the freedom to shop every week at my leisure like the rest of you, so I tend to think ahead! | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 2:13:30 PM | | It's a ploy to scare you into buying large quantities in order to boost companies 2nd quarted results. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 3:07:31 PM | I am aware that corn has gone up in price...and I heard on the news this week that grains have gone up in price.
I just bought a bag of rice...I think I am going to stock up on rice, I know it will use it.
I might get some lentils and dry grains too.
I am not going to start panic purchasing. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 3:09:28 PM | It's always a good idea to have at least 2 weeks of storable food
in your pantry. That's in "normal" times. In these very troubling
times, it's better to have a minimum of a few months' worth of food.
Here is a good forum with lots of info on preparedness, and living simply:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl
Believe it or not, FEMA actually does have a preparedness guide:
http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/
Finally, check this site out. I just found it, but am definitely bookmarking it!
http://www.survivalistboards.com
Dayna
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 5:19:01 PM | I took a grocery reciept from a year ago minus 2 weeks, and my son and I went to the same store this afternoon. I purchaced the exact same things as I did last year. Last year the cost was $86.72. Today the bill was $138.54.
(I still had the reciept as I was tracking my spending for a 3 month preiod last year as a lesson in personal finance, since our schools here dropped that from the curriculum, so someone has to teach these kids the value of a dollar.)
I made the same money this year as last year, but expending more. At this rate I'll freaking go broke, and there wasn't even a 1 lb. bag of rice on the shelf, and the most amazing thing....not a single can of sweet corn in any brand. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 5:34:04 PM | Personally I think the food scare is over rated, but it NEVER hurts to be prepared for ANY of life's disasters.
I have stock piled food for 10+ years on general principal, It's a good idea. You never know when a financial disaster may leave you unemployed for a few months or a Hurricane, Earthquake, Tornado, or Blizzard could leave you with no easy access to food. 
It takes almost no room and as far as food goes (I won't touch upon water, lighting, first aid, cooking utensils, etc in this post, IF there is demand AND if I have the time I can try to touch on the rest.) it's pretty simple. I have a one year supply of food for $316. And all but $40 of that supplements my normal yearly food , thus cutting down on the rest of the food bill. Total annual cost FORTY DOLLARS!!!
Here’s the menu, cost, and what I do with it if there isn’t a disaster
36 pounds of Oatmeal ($36 at Costco, They come in 4.5lb packs of 2)
24 pounds of Raisins ($36 at Costco, they come in 2 lb packs of 2)
5 lbs of Sugar for flavor ($1 at most stores)
I eat oatmeal for breakfast 5-7 days a week and so by the end of the year I have rotated through ALL of the food. Helps my cholesterol, No waste, and healthy.
In an EMERGENCY this is breakfast and provides 300- 400 Calories a day as well as vitamins and fruit for a year.
6 lbs. of Peanut butter ($6 I think at Costco)
6 lbs. of Jelly ($6 I think at Costco)
I buy Bread every other week and have PBJ two to three times a week for lunch
In an EMERGENCY you can just eat a Tablespoon of Peanut butter a day to provide protein and oils and 100 calories for year.
THE BIG ONE
350 Pounds of Rice in 25lbs. bags ($8 each at Costco for a total of $112). This and the oatmeal provides over the minimum daily calories for a year. Rice has a 2-3 year shelf life (In reality it can go a lot longer) I only use a bag or two a year (for my stir fry, Casseroles, Mexican food, etc) but I donate the remainder to the local food kitchens and it helps those down on their luck.
25 pounds of dried beans Local store. ($25 from my local store) I use this to make chili for me and my friends once a month.
$10-$20 worth of spices (Salt, Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Chili Powder, what ever you like)
In an EMERGENCY soak 1 ounce of the beans, then simmer for ½ an hour, add a pound of rice and spices to taste and 1/2 an hour later you have a healthy meal loaded with almost everything you need. 2000 calories and all essential proteins for a year.
52 can of tuna ($26 at local store)
I use this once a week for tuna fish sandwiches.
In an EMERGENCY it will supplement your protein and fats for your diet, and provide 25 calories a day for over a year. Just add it to the rice and beans or eat it straight from the can.
100 cans of various vegetables (Green beans, Peas, Corn, Etc) ($50 at local store)
Eat those veggies  2-3 times a week. Their good for you.
In an EMERGENCY they should round out your diet for a year and provide 25 calories a day.
400 Multi Vitamins ($6 at local store)
400 Calcium pills ($6 at local store)
Use these to supplement any missing vitamins or minerals.
Total nutrition for 1 year, 2350 calories a day. Initially costs just $316 (in reality you can put it together over time for $25 a month) all but $40 of the money is used throughout the year and that $40 helps the poor.
Mind you this would be a bit bland after a few weeks, and you can substitute OTHER items to vary your diet for a minimal extra cost. This list is to give you an example of how little effort and money it takes to survive for a year.
What about storage?
I used to keep the rice and beans all under my bed, The rest stocked in a kitchen cabinet and a small area under the kitchen counter. Now the Rice and beans take up part of a closet.
A survival larder is just to cheap NOT to have and it’s far better food then most Americans eat.
Hope this helps some of you and maybe saves a life.  | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 6:05:46 PM | I went to the store about an hour ago to get stuff in preparation for canning season which starts here soon. Business as usual. No panic buying and lots of people with the same old stuff in their grocery baskets. No shortages, although there were some blank spaces in the rice area as people responded to media pressure and got extra rice.
Now the interesting thing about all of this is that the real shortages of rice are not even in this country. They are in areas with extreme poverty and drought. However, because people are only half listening to the news they have convinced themselves the shortage is here and are going to create a shortage. Rice is grown east and north of where I live so hopefully we'll have bumper crop that is good news for the farmers here. California and other states grow rice so we CAN meet our own needs without having to rely on foreign rice.
I' ve always believed in keeping some food ahead. I've never understood people who shop daily. I'm like the lady who is caring for her mother. I can't be in grocery stores without really suffering the physical consequences because of the nasty fragranced chemicals they sell in them. So I rarely go to the store. When I do, I buy basics and then cook from scratch. I can in season, grow a small container garden etc.
I think it's about living providently all the time, not just responding to fear. If fear gets people thinking and preparing, then it's a good thing though.
Regarding food costs in general. 1st, I used to have to predict food costs 5 years out. For many years, during the 80's, I always had to figure about 5 % per year increase(some years more, depending on what I heard about crop prices). All this gloom and doom by the media about how food costs rose x % isn't really different from then--we've just had a really great run of prosperous years and have forgotten what that was like.
2nd. Costs now vs last year. Yes they are up. But here's something interesting. Recently (before prices shot up, but only in the past few months) I was going through some old, old professional books and came across a grocery receipt from 1986. I was shocked to see that the prices were not much less that I was paying a couple of months ago. I think maybe we've been very, very lucky and right now are going to have to get used to the impact of higher fuel cost on food.
I really like the responses I'm seeing here--matter of fact, good judgement and recognising there is a need, but not panicking. Like I always say, we got through tough times before and we'll get through them again. I'm thinking of starting a Home Ec School. I was a home economist before I went on to my chosen field. Most people haven't had the opportunity to be taught how to manage home and food, do you think?  | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 6:22:25 PM | ~~Now the interesting thing about all of this is that the real shortages of rice are not even in this country. They are in areas with extreme poverty and drought. However, because people are only half listening to the news they have convinced themselves the shortage is here and are going to create a shortage~~
Maybe out there in Sunny CA, but here in WI thre are very large Asian (Hmong) populations. Locally, the reports are that there is a shortage untill at least October for the strains of sweet rices that are imported to supply this large population. They are (and understandably so) buying up this staple food item that as Americans we use in our diet as an occasional side dish, but is the mainstay of their daily diet, served 3-4 times a day. A single family can consume 2-3 lbs of dry rice a day depending on the numbers in the household. | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/26/2008 11:13:14 PM | I easily have a month of supplies at the bare minimum, 5# shrimp, 2 dozen cans of tuna, 6 large tins of fine tea, 10# rice plus assorted grains which store very well. Gobs of soap, cleanser, and TP. The only thing I may do is buy another bag of rice.
I was an avid canoeist/camper who always had a bag ready I could leave with in a matter of minutes. I have 3 first aid kits aroumd here... one for my bike, one for my backpack and one for home.
Will I stock[ile because of the news? No, but summer I always stockpile things because it makes more sense carrying the stuff when the weather is warm than when it is cold out.
A few years ago under the main beam I used a donated waterbed to make a basement "pantry" painted deep blue with self closing doors. I store stuff there. Dozens of candles, too. But its the way I shop -- when a sale is on I stock up, has nothing to do with fears. Remember last summer I said I bought 14 racks of baby back ribs when they were $2 off per pound. I eat well for what most people probably spend on hamburger. | |
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Posted: 4/26/2008 11:24:10 PM | I don't have a prayer, lol! I was born a Mormon, and I live on the far side of a river that floods me in at least several times a year. I just finished using the last of my Y2K stuff . . . .
Rice is good (especially if you can find an oriental grocery). With all that rice, tomato paste is also good. When my mother died, she left a fifty-five gallon drum of split peas. At that point they were 40 years old, so I called the extension service, who said they were still good. So I filled up all her two quart canning jars and brought most of it home with me. Beans and lentils are also good staples. Dollar stores sell great dehydrated onions, for cheap.
For apartment dwellers: what you using that space under your bed for? Closet floors can be used a lot better than you're using them. Wicker baskets can be end tables and coffee tables.
Make sure your storage containers are FOOD GRADE. Store dried soup rather than canned soup.
The survivalist websites and camping websites sell lots of actually very good dehydrated stuff. One of my favorites was a broccoli cheese soup. Right now, I have on hand several gallon jars of a couple of kinds of dried mushrooms.
Think about getting a month or two or three ahead on your meds.
Remember to use what you're storing. . . . Put new purchases to the back, and use the oldest first.
You don't have to start big: every time you grocery shopping just add ten dollars worth of staples. You'll hardly notice.
All this is handy if one loses one's job, too.
Think about hydroponics. . . .
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Posted: 4/27/2008 1:41:47 AM | Ok, I often feel like I live on the far side of the moon, but this one really has me stumped. What is this Global Crisis and scare on stock piling food????
I have not heard anything except that rice was going to be hard to get in "other countries." Granted, I don't get to see the news much with my 20/7 lifestyle. I sleep the other 4 hours. When this was first posted last night I read it and asked 5 of my friends when I went to a meeting before work and none of them knew of any Global Crisis either, other than the one the media always has us in....The media has to be sitting back daily laughing their butts off as they report one BS crisis after another, then watch people running like chickens with their heads cut off to respond. The only crisis I know of is the fake gas shortage and BS raising of gas prices. This world has already gone to hell in a hand basket and a lot of leaders and policy makers need to be shot at dawn and may their eternal souls go straight to hell. The only reason they get away with this crap is because the majority buys the BS. This country has been primed for socialism for many years. And if you still think this is the Unites States of America where people have the truth and live free, you might want to start asking a 5 year old for advice, because they would be a lot better clued in. The USA no longer exists.
I don't mind the subject, or the thread, but I don't think this is the forum for it. | |
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Kixxie
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Joined: 1/31/2008
Msg: 18 | |
| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/27/2008 2:26:35 AM | I've been stockpiling for quite some time now for a couple of reasons. The initial reason was and still is, because it's a 70 mile round trip to and from the nearest Walmart or other grocery chain where I can get reasonably good prices for groceries. It only makes sense to stock up and make fewer trips. The second reason is the economy. The reaction from friends never cease to amaze me when they look at my "in home grocery store" as they put it.
As for dry food items that I stockpile.....there's quite a list
oatmeal, flour, sugar, kool-aid, powdered milk, baking powder, baking soda,
seasonings, pancake mix, yeast, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cornstarch, dry gravy mixes, pasta noodles, rice, beans (pinto, navy, etc), bullion cubes, crackers, instant potatoes, cake mixes, canned frosting, MRE's (because during those times without electricity (snow/ice storms, etc, my children still have hot meals), peanut butter, jelly, ketchup,mustard, cooking spray, vitamins and medications.
I haven't listed even close to all of the dry food items I stockpile, but I'm sure you get the idea lol. One of the main things I also keep on hand is gallon jugs of purified water. They're kind of a pain in the butt to store, but we have hard water here and use purified water on a regular basis. I wouldnt want that to have to stop due to a crisis of some kind.
Alot of people stockpile anything that's on sale. And, as it turns out, some of the items sit there and never get used. I've made a list of meals for a month, breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks a day along with drinks. That is how I determine which grocery ingredients to stockpile. That way, our menu doesnt change even if the economy takes a dive worse than what it already has. I've grown to absolutely love my foodsaver! And, this summer, there will be tons of canning of fresh fruits & veggies.
I keep stocked up on canned foods as well as frozen meat, but, I also stockpile non-food items:
2 extra tanks for my gas bbq grill, 2 extra gas cans , paper towels, toilet paper,
toiletry supplies (shampoo, deoderant, body wash, hand soap, hand sanitizer, etc.),
first aid supplies, material, light bulbs, lantern oil, lighters and matches, wax paper & aluminum foil, moth balls for those damned snakes lol, baby wipes, cleaning supplies (especially bleach). Again those are just some of the items I have stored up.
It really doesnt take long to build up a stockpile, if you make a list and spend a little out of each paycheck to purchase your needed supplies. Storage seems to be a big problem for some people to stockpile food. I have purchased those large garage organizer shelves and store food on them. Some stockpile items can be stored in the garage as long as they're in containers where bugs, snakes, mice, etc. can't get into them to hurt them. Those plastic totes you can buy @ Wal-mart for about $3.00 each do wonders! If you dont have a garage, be creative and MAKE some space. Even if you start out with a small stockpile, every little bit will help.
For those of you who have pets, it's also a good idea to purchase extra pet food.
I know alot of people associate "stockpiling" with being Mormon, which I'm not. It just seems to me that with today's economy like it is, people would want to be prepared for the worst, no matter what religion you are or are not. Am I a fanatic about it? No. I just simply dont want to have to tell the kids or myself that there is no food or other necessities that we need. If we get hit with a financial crunch worse than what we're already seeing, we'll be prepared. If not, it's still nice to go to the pantry to get what we need rather than to make a wasted trip to town for just a few things, especially with the rising prices of groceries and gas. | |
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| Stock Piling - bad word that. I like preparedness better.
Posted: 4/27/2008 10:52:15 AM | Maybe out there in Sunny CA, but here in WI thre are very large Asian (Hmong) populations.
Uhhhh okay. There are a couple of misconceptions in that statment but I'll just deal with one: California has a rather sizable Asian population and Hmong is one of the languages printed on government documents, ads etc.
It is wonderful that for all these years groups of people have been able to enjoy foods from their homeland, which are imported. Now, during a time when those imports are going to slow or stop for a while, the foods of their new home will have to be adopted. Of course they will miss the special taste of the rice they love, but they will not starve if they make the adaptation.
Back to the main subject at hand.
I dislike the word stockpiling for this disussion although I guess that was the question: would we stockpile (meaning panic buying and hoarding, all in a negative context). What I see here for the most part is a systematic approach to being prepared for all that life brings--illness, injury, unemployment, storms, civil unrest.
For my part, I think that living in rural areas with grocery stores so far away, living in climates where weather could close us in for periods of time, having an immigrant mother who knew what it was to really do without during WWII--these things perhaps all contributed to adopting a lifestyle of being prepared so that I am able to sustain myself, and not be completely at the mercy of market cycles, imports etc. This was all before I became a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) and was able to learn how to do a better job of it. Having a personal garden, even if it's just a couple of containers in a sunny window, tucked under the apartment bushes or on the balcony of an apartment, has always been essential to me, no matter where I have lived as I transferred all around the country with my career.
I think 2 nutritious foods people can grow super easily are Swiss Chard (it grows just about year round if given household temps and sunlight, or a gro-light) and radishes. Radishes may seem like an odd choice, but both the bulb and leaves (nutritious) can be eaten. They give lots of flavor to vegetable soups and they grow so fast and in such a small amount of space and dirt that just about anyone can find a way to grow them. If times get tough, and you can't get to the market for fresh food, it's nice to have a bit of fresh to crunch on.
Garden seeds, staples, including toilet paper, food fats and medications are things I keep on hand. Even though we eat low fat, we should store some fats. When you aren't eating fresh and aren't eating meats, that's the first thing everyone runs out of. I've participated in experiments twice where we lived for 1 week to a month out of stored items. To a person, the thing that we ran out of first was fats -oils, crisco powdered maragarine or butter. The 2nd thing people ran out of was toilet paper. I read in a home ec publication that the average person uses 105 rolls per year. Hopefully that will be useful info to someone!
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/27/2008 12:23:38 PM | Oh and don't forget the handy old school food dehydrator.
Great way to dry and store stuff for future use in soups and such | |
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| Stock Piling
Posted: 4/27/2008 1:31:17 PM | I refuse to panic stock.
The shortages are not here it's in third world countries. Everyone buying up all the supplies here where we don't need it just makes the problem worse in my opinion. I'm not poo-pooing the idea that there will be shortages here in the future.. but I just can't buy into the panic.
I always have about a months worth of food on hand I think.. I have always bought stuff on sale and buy alot of it when it is on sale. I have a huge freezer and we get half a cow in the fall every year.
It's how I was raised (lots of kids in the family) and makes better financial sense.
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| Stock Piling - Wall Street Journal says
Posted: 4/27/2008 2:49:56 PM | Mae B wrote:
The shortages are not here it's in third world countries
That should come as a surprise to shoppers at Costco and Sam's Club
across the United States.
Sam's Club, Costco limit bulk rice purchases
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/24/rice.prices.ap/index.html?eref=time_us
The Wall Street Journal is encouraging people to "stock up".
As Brett Arends of the WSJ says, "This is not a drill."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
Load Up the Pantry
April 21, 2008 6:47 p.m.
Brett Arends - Wall Street Journal
I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
No, this is not a drill.
You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're
a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When
the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.
Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely
to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very
good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the
manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher.
People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know
how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in
Quaker Strategic)
Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a
sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your
standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even
the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about
4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.
Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average
American household is now running at 4.5% a year.
And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices
rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk,
cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs
have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by
5.4%.
These are trends that have been in place for some time.
And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may actually accelerate.
The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly
still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.
Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on. Kraft saw
its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins.
The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief
executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point.
The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and
India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that
means they want to eat more and better food.
A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive.
That's soaking up some of the corn supply.
You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will
keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish
to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in
bulk.
If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products
is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was
a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.
The good news is that it's easier to store Cap'n Crunch or cans of Starkist in your
home than it is to store lots of gasoline. Safer, too.
Write to Brett Arends at brett.arends@wsj.com | |
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| Stock Piling - Wall Street Journal says
Posted: 4/27/2008 3:07:01 PM | Recommended oil: coconut oil --> it's not only good for you, it will keep for about five years, unrefrigerated, without turning rancid. Since last year was the year I gave up transfats, this is a very good substitute.
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| Stock Piling - Wall Street Journal says
Posted: 4/27/2008 3:53:26 PM | You know, I've read about the supposed shortage, but there are things I don't understand.
While I live in a very large city, less than an hour out of town, there are rice fields as far as you can see. I personally know lots of people who have herds of beef cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, etc.. One of the crop our state prison system grows is sugar cane. Acres and acres of the stuff. The U.S. government has unbelievable stock piles of things such as cheese, peanut butter, and flour.
In the past we've seen shortages of coffee, or certain types of fruit, but that has more to do with weather or disease. There is always a correction within a reasonable period of time. So, how can there be a danger that there won't be enough food to eat? | |
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