Wait a minute! Before buying food for your long-term stockpile, there are a few things you need to consider.
“I have no idea how much food I should prepare…”
“I might not have enough space…”
“How long is long-term?”
“I have to plan my short-term and long-term stockpiles separately, right?”
First of all, do not “stand out” in your neighborhood. I mean, we should not advertise the fact that we have an emergency stockpile. You don’t have to be secretive about it like Batman or anything, just don’t make a big deal out of it. Try to keep it on the down low. I know I’m not going to win any awards for compassion or generosity by saying this, and it may sound like I don’t care about my neighbors. But honestly, I don’t want a hungry mob gathering around my home, asking for handouts, during the zombie apocalypse. I try to be like the ant in the story “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” but if a massive swarm of grasshoppers shows up at my place to get food, then the food I worked so hard to stockpile is not going to last very long. I live in a fairly small apartment, and the amount of inconspicuous storage space that I have for my emergency stockpile is extremely limited. One very important factor when considering how much food you should get for your long-term emergency stockpile is: how much can you store without attracting a lot of attention? Find your low-key space, and the size of that space will help you determine the size of your long-term stockpile.
In a short-term emergency situation, I might still have room in my heart to give my food to my neighbors. In a short-term situation, I would expect to receive government help. But how about a long-term emergency situation?
Why do you need a stockpile that doesn’t stand out?
I suspect, because you’re reading this, that you take emergency preparedness seriously. Each person has their own set of opinions and ideas, and I’m sure some people have not prepared anything, yet. I hope that everybody has prepared at least enough food in their (short-term) emergency stockpile to last 3 days. With 3 days of food, we won’t panic and feel that we need to rush out to buy food, like we did during the coronavirus pandemic. But I am not talking about our short-term emergency stockpile right now; I’m speaking now to the long-term emergency stockpile. Check with your friends to see how many of them take emergency preparations seriously. I asked my friends, and I was shocked. It was difficult to find friends here in the U.S. who have prepared any food for emergencies. Is this the attitude only in my neighborhood? No, no, no… it’s the same in Japan. How frequently does Japan have big earthquakes? Tsunami? Hurricanes? Landslides? (Hint: often.) Even though natural disasters strike Japan, frequently, still many Japanese people have not prepared anything. It is my impression that most people aren’t thinking about long-term situations. I think long-term situations are too far from reality for them. When I was a child growing up in Japan, I saw scenes depicting starvation and hunger, in WW2 movies or TV anime episodes. Food scarcity was a harsh reality during WW2, and you can still meet survivors, to this day. I don’t know how many people in the world are dealing with food scarcity, now — probably a lot. I am very lucky to have time and money to prepare for a crisis. Sadly, many people do not realize how lucky they are, right now.
In a short-term emergency situation, I might still have room in my heart to give my food to my neighbors. In a short-term situation, I would expect to receive government help. But how about a long-term emergency situation?
In a long-term crisis, I will not be so kind. When the chips are down, I will not be able to donate the food from my long-term stockpile. My family is always the first priority for me. How about you?
How do you make space for your long-term stockpile without standing out?
Each home has its own style. If you have a big garage, closet or storage space, and you can set up your stockpile in a way that doesn’t attract attention, that would be best. I don’t have a big space, so I use curtains to hide my stockpile like this.
Also, I use a black metal box (post #22) in my garage, tucked away behind other stuff, so people walking by can not see it clearly.
As you know, you have to be careful about looters, too. A rental storage space near your home might sound like a good idea, but I’m not completely sure about safety. Setting up a stockpile is not always easy, and there are important considerations when it comes to other people. I sincerely hope that everyone will be ready for emergencies and that we can help each other without anyone being too much of a burden.
I will talk more about how much food we should get for our long-term stockpile, in the next post.
See you next time.