Listening to preparedness podcasts

I have started listening to some pretty amateurish radio broadcasts (via podcast) from preparedness radio. The hosts are not great at hosting, but the information is good. I will listen to them and pass along the stuff I learn.

Here are a few things:

1- Preppers.

Did you know that food storage and emergency preparedness websites, blogs, and businesses have taken off since 9-11 and Katrina? From what I've heard on the podcasts, many of those people really started their businesses after experiencing those disasters and wanting to get prepared. They didn't want to call themselves "survivalists" because that had a bad connotation, so the name "prepper" started being used. Now there is an American Preppers Network, made up of different chapters in most of the 50 states (for instance, Texas Preppers, Utah Preppers, etc.). They have blogs and websites and share information with each other.

2- Just in time delivery

Have you ever wondered how much food the grocery store has back there in that "employees only" section? The answer is: basically none. What you see is what you get. All their inventory is usually out on the shelves. That back room is mostly for tear-down of pallets and boxes.

So when an emergency or disaster happens, and people start buying up everything in the store, there is nothing to replace those goods until a truck comes. And if the trucks don't arrive, the store will be empty until the trucks start running again.

Wouldn't you rather have a nice stock of food in your own home, so you don't have to run to the store and fight with all the panicked people during a disaster? It is a smart thing to think about.

AND:

3- The type of stale jokes you will hear on preparedness radio network:

One man to another: "You better have a year's supply of toilet paper and feminine hygiene supplies, because if you don't, in a disaster your wife will leave you for the man who does."