The Beginning Prepper

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen 

The other day, I was going through a storage cupboard to find things my late wife had purchased but never had a chance to use. A few were past the "use by" date, some from even before she passed away. A few canned goods were past due.

I took a notion to check online about expiration dates; it seems I heard that there is a kind of grace period. Very much so! In fact, if people check for damage, rust, bad smells, and so forth, most canned foods will last indefinitely.

Preppers are people who prepare for anticipated disasters, stockpiling food and such. My beginner level is unimpressive. Here are some thoughts on it.
Prepping pantry photo by Cowboy Bob Sorensen, modified with FotoSketcher
"People have safely used canned stuff that is sometimes decades out of date, Cowboy Bob. Why do they even have expiration dates?

I can think of a few reasons. One is they may be required by the government. Also, self-preservation in case something is damaged and the contamination is slow and a customer gets sick. Third, they are just trying to get people to throw something away and buy more, but I kind of doubt that.

As for expiration dates on other things, I won't address those except to say to use your own discretion. Anybody know about how long jars of goods will last? I'm thinking of things like pasta sauce and those kinds of jars.

We went off the trail, didn't we? Back to the canned things. The videos and sites I came across are from preppers. Those are people who prepare for disasters or emergency conditions. The first I heard of them was "Y2K," where people were afraid that there would be an apocalypse because computers were not programmed for the year 2000. This was parodied on The Simpsons. People were stockpiling food that would last long-term, getting guns and ammunition, packing bug-out-bags, and more. It would be nice to have space to store things beyond my one-bedroom apartment...

Ever notice that the "Zombie Apocalypse" idea is strictly Hollywood? Some believe that manufactured fiction.

Preppers crossed my radar again when my beloved wife Charlene was passing along "news" just after the 2020 election. She was told that Donald Trump would be triumphantly returned to the Oval Office by the military, Hillary Clinton was executed and what people were seeing was a clone, and other outlandish ideas. (I never found references from reputable sources for any of that stuff that amazed her.) There are rumbles that something is going to happen in September 2024 or thereabouts, so preppers are quite visible, especially on YouTube.

Note that preppers come in all sorts of varieties. Some are nuts, like those who float clone stories and fear zombies.

People may laugh at Christians who prepare for eventualities or go to doctors, misunderstanding and misrepresenting our faith. No, it is not unchristian or unbiblical to get treatment or be prepared. Going to extremes and even making the family suffer because more supplies need to be stuffed in the basement, yes, that is harmful. But there is nothing wrong with because cautious as long as those making preparations are living in their means.

As for me, I wonder a little bit if "something's coming" because many folks are agitated. I'm thinking of having stuff that will last a long time, and I can get into it when I feel like it. More, it will be useful if the power goes out for any length of time, we get hit with a blizzard, or something feasible. I'm just at the beginning prepper level. There are some weapons here, and I want another portable stove so I can heat up food without electricity.

I want to leave you with this. Have you seen that graphic with text about Grandma saving, washing, and reusing aluminum foil? It says we'll understand it ourselves through personal experience soon enough. Or something like that. Here is a video the preppers should watch. It has some food ideas from the Great Depression that sound good to me, and a few that I'll give a miss:

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