.....since it is related to firearms and survival type info, I'll post it here. Long story short, MRS. GF and I did our monthly shopping at COSTCO this morning, where we usually buy bulk items and bulk foods that we will use over the course of one/two months (i.e, paper towels, TP, detergent, bottled water, thick sliced bacon (yum!!), eggs, etc....). This is routine for us, and like many of you, we stock up on stuff we use in bulk.
As we were wandering down the bulk grain/rice/flour aisle, we spotted a group of men and women that stood out. The men were dressed in camouflage, the women/girls were clothed in what seemed like traditional Mennonite or Amish garb (long dresses, head coverings, etc..), and they were buying literally hundreds of pounds of rice, flour, pasta, in the large 40-50lb sacks and mega packages. We didn't pay attention, and went over to the next aisle when the original group came over and met up with another group who was pushing three dollies full of cooking oils, water, canned goods, spices, etc..
Mrs. GF wondered what was going on -- and all I could come up with was that these folks were probably fundamentalist preppers. Many religious sects (most notably the LDS (aka Mormons) in the US) advocate storing food for emergencies. When we were leaving we saw these folks packing their trucks and vehicles to the hilt with their high volume purchases. On the ride home my wife mentioned the fact that we should probably stock away some items for emergencies as well -- not in a high volume prepper sense, but enough to last a few weeks in case of a severe storm/hurricane and/or long lasting power outage.
Thinking on this for a few hours it makes sense. We have some bulk food items, but don't have a plan or shopping list for storing foods for the long term. My wife hits the grocery store every two days, and if that supply chain were to be interrupted for a week of two, we'd be SOL.
How many of you put away some emergency food items? and for what period of time do you prepare for? -- a week, a month? We do have an emergency kit that is recommended by FEMA, and that includes lights, batteries, medicines, freeze dried food, water, and medical supplies; but other than that, we're relying on what's in the pantry.
Just an observation from today's shopping trip that got my wife and me to think along the same lines -- specifically, that we should come up with some sort of short term emergency plan with regard to our food situation.