No thanks to hoarding food

I saw a thread on a food message board with this question: Seeing money's about to become worthless, what foods should we start hoarding?

Some of the answers spoke directly to his question: dried beans and lentils, MREs, root vegetables in the cellar, peanut butter, etc.

One reader took the question to task:

I was just outside a little while ago, and saw no sign of the sky falling. People may not have money to buy the nicer things in life, but I don't see anybody at risk of starving. Much of the food in the US is used for animal feed. Perhaps fewer animals will be grown for food, and there will be that much more food for people.

Another took a more ironic jab:

Staples like truffles, saffron, caviar and fois gras.

Others responded who have clearly thought about the question:

Coffee, cigarettes, and .22LR ammunition. (Useful in their own rights, and as alternate currencies)

Add razor to the list of essentials. I've long lived with an attache case containing important documents which I can grab in an emergency.

A reader named Mike said he has already taken matters into his own hands:

About a year ago I decided I wanted a six month food supply in case of some sort of SHTF (fertilizer hits the oscillator) crisis like we may be looking at now or in case I find myself unemployed. Now I have about 15 plastic milk crates in my spare bedroom filled with canned food, rice, dry beans, flour, bottled water, powdered milk, etc. I also purchased a deep freezer and have that filled with meat and leftovers. For about four months I made two shopping trips a week instead of one, which allowed me to quickly build up a food supply. I've been looking at websites such as beprepared.com and purchasing some freeze-dried foods to increase my food supply even further. I have to keep track of the dates on things and rotate the stock so nothing goes bad. Some items such as mayonnaise don't store well, and one has to be careful about the shelf life of foods..I've found that I sleep much better at night not worrying about what happens to me if I lose my job or if there is some sort of economic crisis and the food supply is disrupted.


TK: A reader named Greg tried to calm the nerves of the board:

Yup, this current media hysteria about the banks and the market and such is just that - hysteria. You'd think that it was 1929 again with all the natterers going on about the sitch 24/7. I've seen *much* worse in my lifetime, and I'm a young 'un relatively speaking (I'm 50). We've had terrible energy shocks in the 70's, stagflation with an economy basically
dead in the water in the Ford - Carter years, double - digit virtually Depression - era unemployment in the early 80's...

The market goes up, the market goes down. People with NO means made stoopid "decisions" in buying real estate, people live *way* beyond any reasonable means with credit cards, etc. A lot of the current hoo - ha IMNSHO is because there is now an entitlement mentality among many; there are NO guarantees and nobody *ever* said it was gonna be "easy"...now many want not just a bail - out to weather the tougher times, they want a free *hand - out*. Hey, I'd like some free dough for my DVD 'habit' and to help with my bar tab, maybe I should just ask!

95% of mortgage holders are still current, the vast majority of folks are still gainfully employed...and those are the people who will in the long run be paying the way of the deadbeats who were wrongfully given mortgages with bad credit, no money down, no understanding of the terms, etc...

And "food to hoard"? Ya gotta be *kidding*, food in the US is cheaper and more available than at *any* time anywheres in history. Otherwise what accounts for the huge amount of obesity in this country, *especially* among the poor...a time traveler from a century ago - or even from 1940 - would be pretty amazed to be set down in a ghetto or barrio or rural trailer park and told that those people are "poor".


TK: Right now in our empty nest household we have some apples, some craisins, some fresh potatoes, tostitos, some chicken breasts, various dips and condiments, etc. No dry beans, no .22 ammo, no dried milk not even any peanut butter. Also, I know the way to McDonald', where they still faithfully serve the $1 double cheese burger. I have to say that if we have too many more weeks like last week, though I may not be so quick to dismiss the sentiment of the survivalist crowd.

For now let's sit back and let the magic of the market work itself out....err, the magic of the market and the government rescue plan. What's a good price for a 50 pound bag of dry beans, by the way?

Perchlorate: regulatory determination

Go here for the just published docket from the EPA on perchlorate (rocket fuel byproduct in layman's terms) regulation. The comment period for pubic input ends Nov. 10. From the summary published Oct. 10:

This action presents EPA’s preliminary regulatory determination for perchlorate in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Agency has determined that a national primary drinking water regulation (NPDWR) for perchlorate would not present ‘‘a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public water systems.’’ The SDWA requires EPA to make determinations every five years of whether to regulate at least five contaminants on the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). EPA included perchlorate on the first and second CCLs that were published in the Federal Register on March 2, 1998 and February 24, 2005. Most recently, EPA presented final regulatory determinations regarding 11 contaminants on the second CCL in a notice published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2008. In today’s action, EPA presents supporting rationale and
requests public comment on its preliminary regulatory determination for perchlorate. EPA will make a final regulatory determination for perchlorate after considering comments and
information provided in the 30-day comment period following this notice. EPA plans to publish a health advisory for perchlorate at the time the Agency publishes its final regulatory determination to provide State and local public health officials with technical information that they may use in addressing local contamination.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 10, 2008.


TK: While the gist of the summary was to support EPA's position that a national drinking water regulation is not needed, it is interesting to see that EPA will make a public health advisory for perchlorate after analyzing comments. Also check out the Perchlorate Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk Characterization (on the federal docket) which is a 534 page pdf that refers to irrigation water and lettuce several times.

Chile: cautious enthusiasm

I had called our good friend Manuel Alcaino at Decofruit in Santiago, inquiring about the effect of currency swings on Chile's exporters. He was out when I called and I didn't get a chance to include his thoughts in a story I did for The Packer this week. I've posted this email to me on the topic for the benefit of Fresh Talk readers. From Manuel:


I think there is some cautious enthusiasm regarding the devaluation of the peso.

Today reached 650!!!

It is obviously an interesting scenario provided that there is no cataclysm.

The industry needs capital to operate, liquidity and the fruit needs to be sold upon arrival.

We still think that we are in better shape compared to other industries, such as high priced wines, expensive (gourmet) products, or industrialized goods.

People in the US and in Europe will continue eating, and our products (across the board) are first necessity. Still I believe that buyers will enter supermarkets with a restrictive attitude which might affect demand.

Oil is another interesting aspect, 70/80 U$ the barrel impacts positively the freight costs.

All in all they look as good things happening to the fruit export business (compared to other industries), provided as I said the conditions allow the system to operate.

In relation to diverting volumes, I see a recuperation of the volumes in the US but within normal overall figures. No radical changes. Don´t forget that the whole economy of the country is indexed to the dollar, so sales to Asia or Europe, are mostly conducted in US currency.