The Late Prepper with JD Rucker

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Walk into any grocery store in America right now and you’ll see it before you reach the meat case. Beef prices aren’t just high — they’re historic. And unlike most price spikes, this one isn’t going away next quarter, next year, or even the year after that.

This is not inflation. This is biology. And if you understand what’s actually happening in the American cattle industry, you still have time to get ahead of it.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Here’s where things stand as of mid-2026:

Ground beef hit a record $6.89 per pound earlier this year, and the USDA projects beef prices will climb another 10% through the rest of 2026.
Ground beef is up roughly 72% since January 2020, when it averaged about $3.88 a pound.
The U.S. cattle herd stands at 86.2 million head — a 75-year low. The last time the herd was this small, it was 1951 and the U.S. population was half what it is today.
Beef and veal prices rose 15% year-over-year in January — while chicken rose just 1.1% and milk was essentially flat.

Few in Washington are treating this like a crisis. Your grocery receipt knows better.

Why This Won’t Fix Itself

Most price spikes correct themselves. Supply catches up, demand cools off, prices settle. Not this one. Here’s why:

The drought gutted the breeding herd. Eight years of persistent drought across the Great Plains and Southwest destroyed grazing land and forced ranchers to sell off breeding stock rather than pay to feed animals on land that could no longer support them.

Cheap beef was the warning sign. Here’s the cruel irony: that wave of liquidation temporarily flooded the market with beef. The bargain prices Americans enjoyed a few years ago were the sound of the industry eating its own seed corn. The long-term damage to the herd’s reproductive capacity was hidden behind full meat cases.

Biology doesn’t do bailouts. You can print money. You cannot print cattle. Even if every rancher in America started rebuilding their herd today, new supply wouldn’t meaningfully reach grocery shelves until 2028 at the earliest. A heifer held back for breeding today is a steak in three years — that’s the production lag, and there is no shortcut through it.

And rebuilding isn’t happening. Record cattle prices should be incentivizing ranchers to expand. Livestock economists say it isn’t happening yet — and warn the herd may not have even hit bottom.

Then, there are the wars. The impact from Iran and Ukraine will be felt for a long time.

The pressure is stacking from every direction:

Roughly 75% of the U.S. beef cow herd is currently in drought conditions.
The New World screwworm outbreak disrupted live-cattle imports from Mexico.
Four meatpackers control roughly 85% of the fed-cattle market, and packing plants in Nebraska, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee have already closed or cut hours this year.
America has been losing its ranching base for decades — hundreds of thousands of cattle operations gone since the late 1990s.

The Late Prepper Playbook

If you’re just now waking up to this, good news: you’re late, but you’re not too late. The window between now and 2028 is your window. Here are four moves, ordered from cheapest to biggest commitment.

Buy the freezer before the beef
A small chest freezer runs $150–250 and pays for itself in one good sale cycle.
Grocery stores still run loss-leader promotions on ground beef and roasts. When they do, buy deep — not one package, ten.
Don’t tell me you don’t have space. A small chest freezer fits in a condo, a garage corner, an apartment closet.
Go half-cow or quarter-cow, direct from a rancher
Buying in bulk directly from a local rancher and processor routinely beats retail per-pound pricing — often dramatically.
You get better cuts, you know where your meat came from, and you’re supporting the exact people getting squeezed out of this industry.
Find a neighbor or two to split a half if a full share is too much. This is how it was done for generations.
Learn pressure canning
Freezers fail when the grid fails. Canned beef is shelf-stable for years and needs no electricity to keep.
A pressure canner is a one-time investment that lets you put up complete, ready-to-eat meals in jars.
This is the difference between a stocked freezer and true food security.
Freeze drying
Freeze dried beef, cooked or raw, can last 25 years if properly stored.
Freeze dryers are expensive but over time they pay for themselves versus buying freeze dried survival beef.
Pre-packaged freeze dried beef is fine, but I haven’t found any good ones yet.
Build a substitution strategy
The price divergence is the whole argument: beef up 15%, chicken up 1.1%, milk flat. The market is handing you a roadmap.
Stretch the beef you have: chili, meatloaf, casseroles, and soups turn one pound into two meals.
Rotate chicken, pork, eggs, and dried beans into the weekly menu now, so the habit is built before you need it.

The Bottom Line

The market is telling you the truth even when the headlines aren’t. The people who paid attention to tight cattle inventories two years ago are eating $4 ground beef out of their freezers right now. The people who waited are paying seven dollars a pound and complaining about it.

You’re not late until 2028 arrives and you did nothing.

Stock the freezer. Call a rancher. Learn to can. Change the menu.

The beef problem isn’t coming. It’s here. The only question is whether you get ahead of the next leg up — because the USDA says it’s coming, and this time, the biology backs them up.

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In this Survivopedia article, Alec Deacon warns that digital ID systems and centralized records create dangerous single points of failure for preppers, turning identity, movement, and access into dependencies that can be locked, corrupted, or weaponized when systems fail or turn against the individual.

Digital ID relies on phones, apps, networks, servers, and databases; a dead battery, locked account, outage, or data error can instantly cut off access that a physical document would still provide.
Centralized records link licenses, medical files, banking, taxes, benefits, and travel into one connected profile, so a single mistake or breach can cascade across every part of a person’s life.
Everyday digital trails—fuel purchases, pharmacy visits, food storage orders, travel patterns, and smart-device data—create detailed profiles that can later be used to pressure, price, deny, or expose someone during hard times.
Privacy and discretion are presented as normal and essential; broadcasting every purchase, location, and household detail is a modern habit that preppers must deliberately reverse.
Practical steps include keeping waterproof paper copies of licenses, passports, birth certificates, titles, medical summaries, and key account information in multiple secure locations.
Phone hygiene is critical: delete unused apps, restrict location and sensor permissions, use strong passcodes, and avoid logging everything through a single social-media account.
Separate email addresses and unique passwords for banking versus shopping limit damage if one account is compromised; avoid cloud-synced photos of pantries, safes, or home layouts.
Cash, local relationships with farmers and tradesmen, and correct physical records provide resilience that pure digital dependence cannot match, allowing a family to remain functional when systems treat people as data rather than citizens.

Read the full story:https://www.survivopedia.com/the-new-battle-for-your-data-why-preppers-should-care-about-digital-id-and-centralized-records/

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The most important prepper activity is to get spiritually prepared by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. After that, the next distant priority is making ourselves as healthy as possible while abundance is available.

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In the predawn hours of January 3, the lights went out across Caracas. No transmission towers were bombed and no power lines were severed. The blackout was accomplished through precise manipulation of the industrial control systems that manage the flow of electricity, synchronized with the American operation that pulled Nicolás Maduro out of his palace and, as ZeroHedge reported, onto a plane bound for an American courtroom. A capital city of millions went dark because someone, somewhere, typed the right commands.

That was a preview. Five months later, on May 5, the federal government quietly told every power company, water utility, and pipeline operator in America to plan as though the same thing could happen here. Not as a thought experiment. As a baseline operating assumption.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency calls the initiative CI Fortify, and buried in its bureaucratic language is one of the most remarkable admissions Washington has ever made. Operators are instructed to assume that in a conflict scenario, third-party connections such as telecommunications, internet, vendors, and service providers will be unreliable, and that threat actors will already have some access to their operational technology networks. Read that again. The agency responsible for defending American infrastructure is telling the people who run that infrastructure to plan as if the enemy is already inside, the phones are dead, and nobody is coming to help.

Read More: https://www.lateprepper.com

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The technocrats are getting their bunkers and preparing like things are about to happen. Should the rest of us be doing the same thing?

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The censorship regime is real. They're already playing in the UK. They're coming to America. And disguised within the debacle of censorship are the mechanisms to control more than just our speech.

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Here’s the list itself, though I recommend reading her whole article and using the links that she supplies:

Soap
Laundry products
Shampoo and Conditioner
Disposable razors
Band-Aids
First Aid supplies
Calamine lotion
Dish soap
Feminine hygiene items
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Baby wipes
Shower gel
Cosmetics if you use them
Coconut oil
Peroxide
Rubbing alcohol
Hand sanitizer
Bleach
White vinegar
Cleaning supplies
Garbage bags
Kitty litter
Pet food
Flea and tick medication for pets
Nail clippers/files
Lotion and moisturizer
Sunscreen
Extra filters and parts for your water filtration device
Spare parts for important equipment like canners or tools
Matches
Lighters
Long-burning candles
Batteries
Stationary/school/office supplies
Lip balm
Toothbrushes and toothpaste
Sewing/mending supplies
Hair elastics
Over-the-counter remedies for common ailments like heartburn, nausea, congestion, coughing, and pain relief
Insect repellant
Deodorant
Duct tape
Paper plates and disposable cutlery
Tin foil
Ziplock bags in a variety of sizes
Cotton balls and cotton swabs
Hardware like nails and screws for emergency repairs
Vitamins
Ammo…duh!!!

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Daisy Luther over at The Organic Prepper put together a very nice list of items that we may need in the event of long-term emergencies. We often think about food, water, meds, and ammo, but what about nail clippers?Here's the list itself, though I recommend reading her whole article and using the links that she supplies:1. Soap 2. Laundry products 3. Shampoo and Conditioner 4. Disposable razors 5. Band-Aids 6. First Aid supplies 7. Calamine lotion 8. Dish soap 9. Feminine hygiene items 10. Toilet paper 11. Paper towels 12. Baby wipes 13. Shower gel 14. Cosmetics if you use them 15. Coconut oil 16. Peroxide 17. Rubbing alcohol 18. Hand sanitizer 19. Bleach 20. White vinegar 21. Cleaning supplies 22. Garbage bags 23. Kitty litter 24. Pet food 25. Flea and tick medication for pets 26. Nail clippers/files 27. Lotion and moisturizer 28. Sunscreen 29. Extra filters and parts for your water filtration device 30. Spare parts for important equipment like canners or tools 31. Matches 32. Lighters 33. Long-burning candles 34. Batteries 35. Stationary/school/office supplies 36. Lip balm 37. Toothbrushes and toothpaste 38. Sewing/mending supplies 39. Hair elastics 40. Over-the-counter remedies for common ailments like heartburn, nausea, congestion, coughing, and pain relief 41. Insect repellant 42. Deodorant 43. Duct tape 44. Paper plates and disposable cutlery 45. Tin foil 46. Ziplock bags in a variety of sizes 47. Cotton balls and cotton swabs 48. Hardware like nails and screws for emergncy repairse 49. Vitamins 50. Ammo…duh!!!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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This is not a hypothetical problem reserved for Hollywood disaster scripts. Supply chain fragility, grid vulnerabilities, civil unrest, and cascading infrastructure failures are real and documented risks. The question is not whether disruption is possible. The question is whether you are prepared for it — and for those who depend on daily, weekly, or monthly medications, preparation requires a specific and deliberate plan that goes well beyond a 72-hour bug-out bag.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 6 in 10 American adults live with at least one chronic disease. A significant portion of those people depend on prescription medication to function — and in some cases, to survive. Without a plan, a prolonged grid-down or societal disruption scenario doesn’t just become uncomfortable. It becomes life-threatening. Here is a framework for thinking through your options now, while there is still time to act.

Option 1: Have an Honest Conversation With Your Doctor

The most straightforward starting point is also the most underutilized. Go to your physician and tell them exactly what you are concerned about. Be transparent. Explain that you are paying attention to global instability, that you have read about supply chain vulnerabilities, and that you want to begin building an extended supply of whatever medications you depend on. Ask whether a rotating one-year supply is feasible given your specific prescriptions.

Many doctors are more receptive to this conversation than patients expect — particularly in the current climate. Some medications can be prescribed in 90-day supplies rather than 30, which alone gives you room to begin stockpiling through careful rotation. The key principle is rotation: always using your oldest supply first and replenishing from the front, so nothing expires unused.

It is also worth knowing that expiration dates on pharmaceuticals are more conservative than they appear. A landmark study conducted for the U.S. Department of Defense tested medications well past their labeled expiration dates and found that 88 percent of tested drug lots remained stable and effective. Proper storage — cool, dry, dark, and sealed — extends viability considerably beyond what the label suggests. Your doctor can advise on which of your specific medications are good candidates for longer-term storage and which are not.

If your physician is dismissive or unwilling to engage with a medically reasonable request, that itself is useful information. A doctor who won’t work with a prepared patient may not be the right long-term partner for your health.

Option 2: Explore Telehealth and Long-Term Storage Medication Services

The telehealth industry has expanded significantly in recent years, and with it, access to physicians who operate outside the traditional brick-and-mortar model. Services designed specifically for preppers and self-reliant families now exist that allow patients to consult with licensed physicians remotely and obtain prescriptions for medications intended for long-term storage.

One such resource is Jase Medical, accessible through patriot.tv/meds. Their model is built around exactly this problem — connecting patients with physicians who understand the preparedness mindset and can work with them to build a meaningful pharmaceutical reserve. For those who have struggled to have this conversation with a traditional provider, this is a practical alternative worth exploring.

Option 3: Connect With a Compounding Pharmacy

Compounding pharmacies operate differently from chain pharmacies. Rather than dispensing mass-produced medications, they prepare custom formulations based on a physician’s prescription — mixing ingredients to the exact strength, dosage form, and delivery method a patient needs. For preppers, this flexibility is significant.

A compounding pharmacist can work with your doctor to create formulations that are better suited to long-term storage, or to produce a medication in a form that is easier to administer without typical medical infrastructure. They are often more willing than chain pharmacies to engage in extended supply planning, and they can prepare medications that may be difficult to obtain through conventional channels. Ask your physician for a referral, or search for an accredited compounding pharmacy in your region through the Professional Compounding Centers of America.

Option 4: Research Natural and Homeopathic Alternatives

For some chronic conditions, nature has provided options that predate the pharmaceutical industry by centuries. This is not a suggestion to abandon proven medication without medical guidance — it is a suggestion to know your alternatives before you need them.

Certain herbal and nutritional interventions have documented effects on blood pressure, blood sugar, inflammation, and anxiety. Berberine, for instance, has been studied for its effects on glucose metabolism. Hawthorn extract has a long history in cardiovascular support. Valerian root and magnesium have well-documented roles in sleep and nervous system regulation. None of these are drop-in replacements for prescription medications, but they may help bridge a gap or reduce dependency in a prolonged disruption scenario.

The right approach is to begin this research now, in consultation with a physician or naturopath who takes integrative medicine seriously, and to understand what a reasonable transition or supplementation plan might look like for your specific condition. Do not wait until the crisis arrives to discover that you had options you never investigated.

Option 5: Investigate International Pharmacy Access

Americans are often surprised to learn how differently pharmaceuticals are regulated and dispensed in other countries. In Mexico, Canada, and across much of Latin America and Eastern Europe, medications that require a prescription in the United States are available over the counter or through far more accessible channels. Many of these are chemically identical to their American counterparts — same active ingredient, same manufacturer, fraction of the price.

For those who travel, building a modest reserve through international pharmacy visits is a legitimate and widely practiced strategy. Cross-border pharmacy access from states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California is a long-established reality. Online international pharmacy options also exist, though they require careful vetting to ensure legitimacy and product quality. Research the specific regulations governing importation of your medications, understand what quantities are legally permissible, and treat this as one layer of a broader strategy rather than a standalone solution.

Option 6: Know the Veterinary and Agricultural Pharmaceutical Landscape

This option requires the clearest disclaimer of all: this is informational, not a recommendation, and nothing here should be acted on without thorough research and ideally professional guidance. With that said, the reality is that many medications used in veterinary and agricultural settings are chemically identical to human formulations. Amoxicillin, doxycycline, metronidazole, and other antibiotics are among the most frequently cited examples. Fish antibiotics, in particular, have long been discussed in prepper communities as a contingency measure.

The concerns are real and should not be dismissed. Dosing equivalency, purity standards, and the absence of FDA oversight for human use are all legitimate issues. But in a true grid-down scenario where no physician or pharmacist is available, and where the alternative is going without any antibiotic treatment at all, the calculus changes. Know this landscape exists. Understand the risks. Make informed decisions for your specific situation before a crisis forces an uninformed one.

Option 7: Reduce Dependency Through Lifestyle Modification

The most durable long-term strategy is also the one that requires the most discipline. Many of the chronic conditions that drive pharmaceutical dependency in America — hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, anxiety, and others — are significantly influenced by lifestyle factors. Diet, exercise, sleep quality, stress management, and body composition all play documented roles in the progression or regression of these conditions.

The prepper who spends the next 12 months reducing processed food intake, walking daily, cutting alcohol, managing stress through prayer and community, and reaching a healthier body weight may find that his medication requirements have decreased significantly — or disappeared. This is not wishful thinking. It is well-documented medicine. The bonus is that these changes also improve resilience across virtually every other dimension of preparedness.

Isaiah 40:29 puts it plainly: “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” That promise has always carried a cooperative dimension — we are called to steward the health and resources we have been given, not merely to ask for rescue when we have neglected what was within our reach.

Build the Plan Before You Need It

None of these options works as a last-minute solution. A doctor won’t build you a year’s supply of medication the week the grid goes down. A compounding pharmacy won’t be open after a prolonged infrastructure failure. The time to have these conversations, make these connections, and build these reserves is now — while the system is still functioning and while you still have options.

Chronic medication dependency is one of the most personal and serious vulnerabilities a prepper can carry. It is also one of the most solvable — if you take it seriously before the moment of crisis. Work through each of these options with your specific conditions and medications in mind, seek qualified medical input at every step, and build a layered plan that doesn’t depend on any single solution holding up under pressure. That is what genuine preparedness looks like.

Nothing in this article constitutes medical advice. Consult a licensed physician before making any changes to your medication regimen.

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Most prepping conversations focus on food, water, shelter, and security. Those are the right instincts. But there is a category of vulnerability that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, and for millions of Americans, it may be the most urgent one of all. What happens to the person managing high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, a thyroid condition, or a seizure disorder when the supply chain breaks down and the pharmacy down the street is no longer an option?This is not a hypothetical problem reserved for Hollywood disaster scripts. Supply chain fragility, grid vulnerabilities, civil unrest, and cascading infrastructure failures are real and documented risks. The question is not whether disruption is possible. The question is whether you are prepared for it — and for those who depend on daily, weekly, or monthly medications, preparation requires a specific and deliberate plan that goes well beyond a 72-hour bug-out bag.Read More: https://www.lateprepper.com/p/how-to-handle-chronic-medicationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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JD recently did an episode of The Late Prepper that addresses three ways Americans can prepare for food shortages.

Stockpile: Build up the cupboard and pantry
Preserve: Freeze dry or can everything, especially leftovers
Produce: Build a garden and get chickens

Here’s the story that inspired it:

Florida’s Oranges, America’s Beef, and Winter Wheat Are Harbingers of Coming Food Shortages

This article is inspiration for the latest episode of The Late Prepper titled, “Three Basic Moves to Make Ahead of the Coming Food Shortages.”

Once-symbolic industries that helped define American abundance now signal fragility. Florida’s citrus groves, long a source of national pride and economic vitality, face near-total erosion. Ranchers have liquidated herds amid persistent dry conditions and soaring costs. Wheat fields that should yield the staff of life stand parched and stunted. The question is no longer whether food prices will rise, but how sharply and for how long—and whether the underlying productive base can recover before broader consequences set in.

The Florida orange story is particularly stark. What was once an industry producing enough fruit for nearly every American now barely registers on the national plate. Citrus greening, a bacterial infection delivered by an invasive insect, slowly chokes the trees’ vascular systems. By the time symptoms appear, the damage is irreversible. Decades of hurricanes, freezes, and suburban development have accelerated the retreat of groves, but the disease remains the mortal wound. California and imports may fill some gaps, yet the loss of Florida’s historic production capacity cannot be waved away by substitution alone.

Meanwhile, cattle producers confront biology and weather in unforgiving tandem. The nation’s herd has been culled relentlessly since drought scorched pastures and feed costs climbed. Rebuilding takes years—cows must be retained rather than sent to slaughter, and calves must mature. With supplies tight, beef prices have already reached records and show little prospect of meaningful relief. The arrival of the New World screwworm near the border adds another layer of risk; this flesh-eating parasite can devastate herds if it crosses into Texas. Ranchers who have weathered cycles before now face a contraction that coincides with record domestic demand.

Winter wheat tells a parallel tale of environmental pressure. Hard red winter wheat, the high-protein variety essential for bread and everyday flour, depends on timely moisture across the Great Plains. Prolonged drought has left fields in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in poor condition, with good-to-excellent ratings plunging. Traders have responded by widening premiums for hard red over softer varieties, a market signal that tighter supplies and higher prices for wheat-derived products lie ahead. When the breadbasket struggles, the ripple reaches every grocery aisle and school lunch program.

Compounding these domestic woes is the global fertilizer crunch. Conflict-related disruptions in key shipping corridors have tightened supplies of nitrogen, phosphate, and other inputs at precisely the moment American farmers need them for planting and growth. Surveys indicate most producers anticipate shortfalls, forcing difficult choices between reduced application rates—which lower yields—or higher costs that squeeze margins. Diesel prices, already volatile, threaten to compound the burden for machinery-dependent operations.

These developments expose a deeper tension in modern agriculture. Reliance on just-in-time global supply chains for inputs, combined with environmental and biological pressures that defy quick political fixes, leaves the system brittle. Decades of policy that favored consolidation and export-driven models have not always prioritized resilience at home. When disease, drought, and geopolitical shocks converge, the illusion of endless abundance cracks.

Observers may point to technological advances or alternative sourcing as solutions, and innovation certainly has a role. Yet history reminds us that productive land, healthy livestock, and favorable weather form the irreplaceable foundation. Neglect or mismanagement of that foundation carries consequences that compound over time.

The biblical account in Genesis 41 of seven years of plenty followed by seven of famine underscores the wisdom of stewardship and preparation in the face of uncertainty. Joseph’s counsel to Pharaoh was not panic but prudent storage and foresight during good seasons. In our own day, the prudent course lies in honest assessment of vulnerabilities rather than reflexive optimism that markets or government will simply adjust.

America retains immense agricultural strength—vast acreage, skilled producers, and research capacity unmatched elsewhere. That strength, however, is not self-sustaining. Restoring citrus groves, rebuilding cattle herds, and safeguarding wheat lands will require sustained attention to plant and animal health, water management, input availability, and trade policies that do not undermine domestic capacity.

Ignoring the warning signs in Florida’s empty groves, shrinking pastures, and thirsty wheat fields risks turning temporary hardship into structural scarcity. The stakes extend beyond grocery bills to the stability and self-reliance that have long defined the American experiment.

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America’s capacity to feed itself is under unprecedented strain. Florida’s orange production has collapsed by 95 percent from its 1996 peak, the national cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size since 1951 despite a population more than double that of the early postwar years, and severe drought across the Southern Plains is suffocating the wheat crop that supplies much of the nation’s flour. These are not isolated setbacks. They form a pattern of vulnerability that policymakers and the public ignore at their peril.Once-symbolic industries that helped define American abundance now signal fragility. Florida’s citrus groves, long a source of national pride and economic vitality, face near-total erosion. Ranchers have liquidated herds amid persistent dry conditions and soaring costs. Wheat fields that should yield the staff of life stand parched and stunted. The question is no longer whether food prices will rise, but how sharply and for how long—and whether the underlying productive base can recover before broader consequences set in.Read More: https://discern.tv/floridas-oranges-americas-beef-and-winter-wheat-are-harbingers-of-coming-food-shortages/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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As someone deeply invested in preparedness—stockpiling food, water, gear, and skills for whatever storms may come—I’ve come to a strong conviction. Overweight preppers especially need to take a hard look at extended water fasting as part of their overall readiness plan. This isn’t reckless advice. It comes with serious caveats. Always consult your physician before starting any fast. Do thorough research on proper protocols. Experts widely recommend full medical supervision for anything beyond 72 hours. And if you lack sufficient excess body fat, prolonged fasting risks muscle degradation and other complications. Done incorrectly, it can harm rather than help. But approached wisely, with monitoring and common sense, it offers powerful benefits that align perfectly with the prepper mindset.

Let me walk you through why I believe some preppers should seriously consider climbing aboard the fasting train. These insights come from my current experience, prior fasts, and a growing body of science and scriptural wisdom that points to fasting as both practical and profound preparation.

First, fasting builds genuine physical resilience—the kind that matters when supply chains collapse or daily life turns chaotic. Many of us in the preparedness community carry extra weight from years of abundant food and sedentary planning sessions. That excess becomes a liability in a crisis. Water fasting forces the body to burn stored fat for fuel, often leading to meaningful weight loss while triggering autophagy, the cellular “housecleaning” process where damaged components get recycled. Studies show improvements in insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, lower blood pressure, and better metabolic markers during supervised fasts. My own readings confirm this: blood pressure trending down, stable energy once past the initial adjustment, and a digestive system that feels reset.

Imagine a scenario where catastrophe hits—grid down, stores empty, movement restricted. The last thing you want is reduced mobility, high blood pressure straining your heart during stress, or insulin resistance making energy crashes more likely. Fasting gives you a head start on shedding that vulnerability. It’s proactive health maintenance, not vanity. Preppers already invest in firearms, generators, and long-term food storage. Why not invest in the most important asset of all—your own body? A healthier, leaner frame can hike farther with a bug-out bag, defend your family longer, or simply endure hardship without folding early. The anti-inflammatory effects and cellular repair that ramp up after several days could mean fewer chronic issues flaring up precisely when medical care disappears.

Second, fasting trains your body and mind for the involuntary food shortages that preppers know may come. In a real SHTF event, rationing becomes survival math. Families will face tough choices about who eats what. Having practiced extended water fasting removes the panic and physical shock of sudden calorie deprivation. You learn the rhythm: the first few days of adjustment, the mental fog lifting as ketones rise, the surprising mental clarity that follows. I’ve experienced it now multiple times. Once you’ve walked through that valley voluntarily, a future forced fast feels less like crisis and more like familiar territory.

This preparation extends practically. You can conserve family rations by fasting strategically, allowing children or elderly loved ones priority access to limited stores. Solo preppers gain the confidence that they can stretch supplies dramatically if needed. The metabolic flexibility developed during a water fast—shifting efficiently from glucose to fat and ketones—means your body wastes less energy panicking over empty cupboards. Science backs the adaptation: after glycogen depletes, fat mobilization kicks in strongly, and the brain runs cleaner on ketones. That edge could be the difference between functioning effectively for weeks versus collapsing after days. Preppers stock months of food, but training the body to need less for periods builds redundancy that no pantry can match.

Third, and perhaps most importantly for many in our community, fasting deepens spiritual connection and mental fortitude. The Bible repeatedly shows fasting as a discipline for humbling oneself before God, seeking clarity, and gaining strength against overwhelming odds. Jesus fasted 40 days before launching His ministry. He told His disciples that certain spiritual battles require prayer and fasting. Old Testament figures like Moses, David, Esther, and Nehemiah turned to fasting in times of national crisis or personal need. It wasn’t casual dieting—it was deliberate denial of the flesh to draw nearer to the divine.

Even for those approaching it secularly, the neurological benefits are real. Elevated ketones and norepinephrine during extended fasts often bring sharper focus, reduced anxiety, and a profound sense of calm. In my experience on day 10, prayer flows more naturally. Distractions fade. You confront your own weaknesses without the numbing buffer of constant eating. That mental and spiritual toughness prepares you for the fear, uncertainty, and moral decisions a collapse will demand. Preppers talk constantly about mindset. Fasting forges it in fire—teaching dependence on something greater than daily bread, whether that’s faith in God or simply inner resolve.

Of course, balance and wisdom remain essential. Not everyone should attempt this. Those with certain medical conditions, low body fat, or who are pregnant or nursing must steer clear or proceed only under close doctor oversight. Electrolyte management, hydration, and careful refeeding matter enormously to avoid refeeding syndrome or other setbacks. I track my vitals daily because preparation without prudence is foolishness. The goal isn’t suffering for its own sake but strategic strengthening.

As I continue this fast, watching the numbers and listening to my body, the conviction grows stronger. Preparedness isn’t just about beans, bullets, and bandages. It’s holistic—body, mind, and spirit aligned for whatever lies ahead. Water fasting, when done responsibly, delivers on all three fronts. It trims physical weakness, builds adaptive resilience against hunger, and sharpens the inner compass we’ll all need in dark days.

If you’re an overweight prepper staring at potential hard times, consider adding fasting to your training regimen. Start small if needed—intermittent fasting or shorter water fasts—to build tolerance. Research deeply. Get medical guidance. Then experience for yourself what days of disciplined denial can unlock.

I don’t know exactly when this current fast will end, but I already know it won’t be my last. The clarity, the health markers, the spiritual depth—they all point toward a tool too valuable for serious preppers to ignore. The fasting train isn’t a fad. For those willing to board it wisely, it may prove one of the most practical and powerful preparations we can make.

Stay vigilant, stay healthy, and keep building that readiness—inside and out.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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Here I sit on day 10 of a pure water fast, sipping nothing but H2O while my body quietly shifts into a deeper state of ketosis. My blood pressure has dropped nicely, ketones are holding steady in that elevated range that signals fat-burning mode, and my blood sugar remains low and stable. I feel clearer-headed than I have in months. Hunger pangs faded days ago. I have no firm end date in mind. I’ll stop when it feels right—maybe soon, maybe not. My previous longest water fast hit 15 days, cut short only by an unavoidable business lunch. This time feels different. It feels purposeful.As someone deeply invested in preparedness—stockpiling food, water, gear, and skills for whatever storms may come—I’ve come to a strong conviction. Overweight preppers especially need to take a hard look at extended water fasting as part of their overall readiness plan. This isn’t reckless advice. It comes with serious caveats. Always consult your physician before starting any fast. Do thorough research on proper protocols. Experts widely recommend full medical supervision for anything beyond 72 hours. And if you lack sufficient excess body fat, prolonged fasting risks muscle degradation and other complications. Done incorrectly, it can harm rather than help. But approached wisely, with monitoring and common sense, it offers powerful benefits that align perfectly with the prepper mindset.Let me walk you through why I believe some preppers should seriously consider climbing aboard the fasting train. These insights come from my current experience, prior fasts, and a growing body of science and scriptural wisdom that points to fasting as both practical and profound preparation.First, fasting builds genuine physical resilience—the kind that matters when supply chains collapse or daily life turns chaotic. Many of us in the preparedness community carry extra weight from years of abundant food and sedentary planning sessions. That excess becomes a liability in a crisis. Water fasting forces the body to burn stored fat for fuel, often leading to meaningful weight loss while triggering autophagy, the cellular “housecleaning” process where damaged components get recycled. Studies show improvements in insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, lower blood pressure, and better metabolic markers during supervised fasts. My own readings confirm this: blood pressure trending down, stable energy once past the initial adjustment, and a digestive system that feels reset.Imagine a scenario where catastrophe hits—grid down, stores empty, movement restricted. The last thing you want is reduced mobility, high blood pressure straining your heart during stress, or insulin resistance making energy crashes more likely. Fasting gives you a head start on shedding that vulnerability. It’s proactive health maintenance, not vanity. Preppers already invest in firearms, generators, and long-term food storage. Why not invest in the most important asset of all—your own body? A healthier, leaner frame can hike farther with a bug-out bag, defend your family longer, or simply endure hardship without folding early. The anti-inflammatory effects and cellular repair that ramp up after several days could mean fewer chronic issues flaring up precisely when medical care disappears.Second, fasting trains your body and mind for the involuntary food shortages that preppers know may come. In a real SHTF event, rationing becomes survival math. Families will face tough choices about who eats what. Having practiced extended water fasting removes the panic and physical shock of sudden calorie deprivation. You learn the rhythm: the first few days of adjustment, the mental fog lifting as ketones rise, the surprising mental clarity that follows. I’ve experienced it now multiple times. Once you’ve walked through that valley voluntarily, a future forced fast feels less like crisis and more like familiar territory.This preparation extends practically. You can conserve family rations by fasting strategically, allowing children or elderly loved ones priority access to limited stores. Solo preppers gain the confidence that they can stretch supplies dramatically if needed. The metabolic flexibility developed during a water fast—shifting efficiently from glucose to fat and ketones—means your body wastes less energy panicking over empty cupboards. Science backs the adaptation: after glycogen depletes, fat mobilization kicks in strongly, and the brain runs cleaner on ketones. That edge could be the difference between functioning effectively for weeks versus collapsing after days. Preppers stock months of food, but training the body to need less for periods builds redundancy that no pantry can match.Third, and perhaps most importantly for many in our community, fasting deepens spiritual connection and mental fortitude. The Bible repeatedly shows fasting as a discipline for humbling oneself before God, seeking clarity, and gaining strength against overwhelming odds. Jesus fasted 40 days before launching His ministry. He told His disciples that certain spiritual battles require prayer and fasting. Old Testament figures like Moses, David, Esther, and Nehemiah turned to fasting in times of national crisis or personal need. It wasn’t casual dieting—it was deliberate denial of the flesh to draw nearer to the divine.Even for those approaching it secularly, the neurological benefits are real. Elevated ketones and norepinephrine during extended fasts often bring sharper focus, reduced anxiety, and a profound sense of calm. In my experience on day 10, prayer flows more naturally. Distractions fade. You confront your own weaknesses without the numbing buffer of constant eating. That mental and spiritual toughness prepares you for the fear, uncertainty, and moral decisions a collapse will demand. Preppers talk constantly about mindset. Fasting forges it in fire—teaching dependence on something greater than daily bread, whether that’s faith in God or simply inner resolve.Of course, balance and wisdom remain essential. Not everyone should attempt this. Those with certain medical conditions, low body fat, or who are pregnant or nursing must steer clear or proceed only under close doctor oversight. Electrolyte management, hydration, and careful refeeding matter enormously to avoid refeeding syndrome or other setbacks. I track my vitals daily because preparation without prudence is foolishness. The goal isn’t suffering for its own sake but strategic strengthening.As I continue this fast, watching the numbers and listening to my body, the conviction grows stronger. Preparedness isn’t just about beans, bullets, and bandages. It’s holistic—body, mind, and spirit aligned for whatever lies ahead. Water fasting, when done responsibly, delivers on all three fronts. It trims physical weakness, builds adaptive resilience against hunger, and sharpens the inner compass we’ll all need in dark days.If you’re an overweight prepper staring at potential hard times, consider adding fasting to your training regimen. Start small if needed—intermittent fasting or shorter water fasts—to build tolerance. Research deeply. Get medical guidance. Then experience for yourself what days of disciplined denial can unlock.I don’t know exactly when this current fast will end, but I already know it won’t be my last. The clarity, the health markers, the spiritual depth—they all point toward a tool too valuable for serious preppers to ignore. The fasting train isn’t a fad. For those willing to board it wisely, it may prove one of the most practical and powerful preparations we can make.Stay vigilant, stay healthy, and keep building that readiness—inside and out.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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In uncertain times, countless families stockpile food for potential emergencies only to discover later that their carefully gathered supplies have become unusable. A recent video from the preparedness community highlights the five most common and costly mistakes preppers make with food storage.Addressing these errors can mean the difference between having dependable sustenance when it matters most and facing empty shelves or spoiled goods at a critical moment.Read More: https://www.lateprepper.com/p/the-5-worst-food-storage-mistakesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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The decision between buying commercial survival food and making your own ultimately comes down to four key factors: cost, space, time, and dedication.

As preppers, we all want reliable long-term stores that will sustain our families when supply chains fail. Honest self-assessment of these four elements helps you build smarter, avoid wasted money, and create a plan that actually fits your life.

Cost: DIY Often Wins Big Over Time

Commercial freeze-dried meals typically cost $7–$14 per serving, with many entrees averaging around $11–$14 for a two-person pouch. In contrast, home-processed food from bulk staples, garden produce, or even leftovers can drop your per-meal cost dramatically — sometimes to under $1 when using a home freeze dryer after the initial investment.

Basic pressure canning requires minimal upfront cost (a quality canner under $100 plus jars and lids), while a home freeze dryer runs $2,000–$5,000. Yet many users report breaking even within 18–24 months through massive savings on #10 cans and reduced food waste. Canning leftovers or dehydrating bulk rice, beans, and grains offers some of the cheapest calories available to preppers.

Space: Similar Storage Needs, Different Prep Demands

Once sealed and stored, both purchased buckets/pouches and your own mylar-bagged or canned goods require roughly the same footprint — often estimated at about one cubic foot per person per day for a complete caloric diet. The real space difference shows up during preparation.

DIY methods demand a dedicated workspace for cooking, blanching, canning sessions, or running multi-day freeze-dry cycles. If you live in a small apartment without a garage or basement, this can become a serious constraint. Commercial options let you stack buckets and forget them until needed.

Time: Buying Wins for Speed and Convenience

Nothing beats the convenience of purchased survival food. A few clicks online or a quick pickup delivers ready-to-store supplies with 25–30 year shelf lives. Making your own requires hours — sometimes days — of shopping bulk ingredients, cooking, processing, packaging, and labeling.

Gardening or homesteading adds even more time from planting through harvest and preservation. If your schedule is already packed, buying gets you prepared faster while you slowly build DIY skills on the side.

Dedication: The Real Deciding Factor

Dedication here isn’t just about wanting to survive — it’s about committing to the ongoing work. Canning, dehydrating, and especially maintaining a garden or livestock require consistent effort, learning curves, equipment maintenance, and store rotation.

Those willing to invest that time gain tremendous benefits: complete control over ingredients, customization for dietary needs or family tastes, and the deepest self-reliance. Beginners or time-strapped households often start with commercial kits for immediate peace of mind.

The Smart Hybrid Approach Most Preppers Choose

Many experienced preppers use a layered strategy: Buy quality commercial buckets and pouches for a solid base of quick-deploy calories and variety. Then layer in home-canned goods, mylar-packed bulk staples (rice, beans, wheat), and freeze-dried favorites from your own kitchen as skills and time allow.

This hybrid method balances convenience with cost savings and builds real preparedness without forcing an all-or-nothing commitment. Start where you are today — even small consistent actions compound into serious security.

Bottom line for The Late Prepper: If budget is tight and you have the dedication and workspace, lean heavily into making your own. If time is your scarcest resource, invest in reliable commercial supplies to get protected quickly. Most of us land somewhere in the middle — and that balanced path often proves the most sustainable and effective.

Whatever route you choose, the most important step is action. Build stores your family will actually eat, rotate them regularly, and keep learning. Preparedness isn’t about perfection — it’s about being ready when it matters most.

Have questions about your specific setup — budget, space constraints, or preferred preservation methods? Drop them in the comments or reach out. We’ll help refine your plan.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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The decision between buying commercial survival food and making your own ultimately comes down to four key factors: cost, space, time, and dedication.As preppers, we all want reliable long-term stores that will sustain our families when supply chains fail. Honest self-assessment of these four elements helps you build smarter, avoid wasted money, and create a plan that actually fits your life.Read More: https://www.lateprepper.com/p/should-you-buy-survival-food-or-makeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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Forward-thinking preppers are redefining what it means to invest. Instead of chasing paper gains in stocks or crypto alone, they focus on tangible assets that strengthen self-reliance today while preserving or even growing real wealth over time. These prepper investments deliver dual returns: they build survival capabilities for uncertain futures and often generate income, cut expenses, or appreciate in value even if “normal” times continue. It is not about speculation or get-rich-quick schemes, but about wise stewardship that echoes ancient wisdom.

The Bible offers a powerful model for this approach in the story of Joseph. Pharaoh’s dreams foretold seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph advised storing resources during abundance to survive the lean years ahead. As Genesis 41:35-36 records: “And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.”

Joseph’s plan turned potential disaster into security, proving that preparation during good times is both practical and faithful. Modern preppers follow a similar path by channeling resources into assets that feed, shelter, and protect families no matter what comes.

One of the strongest prepper investments remains land acquisition. Productive rural or semi-rural property serves as a foundation for food production, water access, and retreat space. Well-chosen acreage often holds or increases in value through appreciation and improvements, while allowing immediate use for gardening, foraging, or small-scale farming. Unlike speculative real estate flips, this land works for you daily, yielding harvests that reduce grocery bills and build long-term soil fertility.

Home improvements that double as value-adders offer another smart avenue. Installing solar panels or alternative energy systems can qualify for incentives, lower utility costs, and provide grid-independent power. A permanent backyard grill or outdoor kitchen enhances everyday living and resale appeal while ensuring cooking capability during outages. Expanding into a large garden or greenhouse boosts home equity through landscaping upgrades and delivers fresh produce year-round. These upgrades turn living space into a resilient fortress without sacrificing financial sense.

Livestock fits naturally into this strategy for those willing to invest time and initial capital. Chickens, goats, or bees require labor, yet they pay dividends quickly. Eggs, milk, meat, and honey generate savings on store-bought goods and can be sold locally for extra income. A small apiary, for example, produces marketable honey and beeswax while pollinating gardens for higher yields. Over time, these living assets create self-sustaining loops of food and revenue that strengthen household resilience.

Property fortification and a second home or homestead provide layered security. Reinforcing structures with storm-proofing, rainwater collection, or secure storage adds measurable value to any property. A modest second location—whether a rural cabin, fortified bunker, or working homestead—functions as both a vacation spot and backup retreat. Even without societal collapse, these properties retain strong resale potential and rental income possibilities, turning preparedness into an appreciating asset rather than a sunk cost. If the apocalypse doesn’t come in our lifetimes, second properties can be passed down.

Perhaps the most creative prepper investments involve starting businesses that build supplies on the backend while generating front-end profits. Opening a gun range or firearms training facility allows legal stockpiling of weapons and ammunition without raising red flags, all while serving customers and turning a profit. A small restaurant or food truck creates steady cash flow and the perfect mechanism to rotate and test long-term food storage supplies. Other strong ideas include livestock operation that sells food and supplies, an aquaponics farm producing fish and vegetables for market, or a seed-saving and heirloom gardening business that stocks vast varieties for personal use while shipping to customers. A woodworking shop can craft and sell durable goods while accumulating tools and raw materials that double as preparedness inventory. Each venture turns daily operations into strategic prepping.

Ultimately, prepper investing is about aligning resources with reality. It honors the diligence of the ant in Proverbs and the foresight of Joseph, building stores during plenty so families stand firm when times tighten. By choosing assets that produce, protect, and appreciate, preppers secure not only survival but a measure of peace and prosperity—regardless of what the future holds.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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The Disasters Most Americans Ignore Until It’s Too Late

Most people prepare for dramatic, Hollywood-style disasters while ignoring the far more likely threats.
Power grid failures, supply chain disruptions, and cyberattacks are among the most realistic risks.
Short-term disruptions can quickly spiral into long-term crises if systems do not recover quickly.
Grocery stores, fuel systems, and banking all rely on fragile, interconnected infrastructure.
The first 72 hours of any crisis often determine how severe the situation becomes.
Preparing for common, realistic scenarios is far more effective than planning for rare extremes.
Awareness of these risks allows families to take simple, practical steps to protect themselves.

When most people think about disasters, they imagine dramatic events—massive earthquakes, apocalyptic storms, or cinematic scenarios that feel distant and unlikely. But history shows that the most disruptive crises are often far less dramatic and far more common. The real danger is not the spectacular event everyone sees coming. It is the quiet vulnerability built into the systems we rely on every day.

Grid Failure

One of the most overlooked threats is the fragility of the power grid. Electricity is not just about keeping the lights on. It powers water treatment facilities, fuel pumps, grocery distribution centers, hospitals, and communication networks. If the grid goes down for an extended period, the effects cascade quickly. Water pressure drops, food spoils, gas stations stop working, and communication becomes unreliable. What begins as a power outage can rapidly evolve into a full-scale societal disruption.

Supply Chain Collapse

Closely tied to this is the vulnerability of the supply chain. Modern logistics operate on a “just-in-time” model, meaning stores receive goods only as they are needed rather than maintaining large reserves. This system is efficient under normal conditions but extremely fragile during disruptions. We saw glimpses of this during the pandemic, when shelves emptied within days. A trucking slowdown, port shutdown, or fuel shortage can trigger similar outcomes. Most households are not prepared for even a short interruption in food availability.

Cyberattack

Cyberattacks represent another growing and often underestimated threat. Critical infrastructure—from pipelines to hospitals to financial institutions—is increasingly connected to digital systems. A successful cyberattack can disrupt fuel supplies, disable payment systems, or shut down entire networks. Unlike natural disasters, cyber events can occur without warning and may take longer to diagnose and resolve. For the average family, this could mean being unable to access money, fuel, or essential services at the exact moment they are needed most.

Catastrophic Weather

Severe weather events are often dismissed because they feel routine, yet they remain one of the most consistent causes of disruption across the United States. Hurricanes, winter storms, wildfires, and heatwaves regularly knock out power, block transportation routes, and isolate communities. What makes these events dangerous is not just their intensity but their frequency. Many families assume they will “ride it out” as they always have, only to find themselves unprepared when conditions worsen or recovery takes longer than expected.

Economic Collapse

Another commonly ignored risk is the fragility of the financial system. Most people assume that access to money is guaranteed, but banking systems depend on electricity, internet connectivity, and institutional stability. During certain crises, access to funds can be delayed or restricted. Even short-term disruptions can create panic, especially when combined with supply shortages. Financial preparedness—having cash on hand and reducing reliance on digital systems—can make a significant difference during uncertain times.

What ties all of these threats together is how quickly they can escalate. Disruptions rarely remain isolated. A power outage affects water systems. A cyberattack disrupts fuel distribution. A storm interrupts supply chains. These systems are interconnected, and when one fails, others often follow. This is why the first 72 hours of any crisis are so critical. It is during this window that panic sets in, resources become scarce, and the unprepared find themselves scrambling.

The good news is that preparing for these realistic scenarios is not complicated. In fact, it is far simpler than preparing for extreme, unlikely events. Storing extra food and water, maintaining basic emergency supplies, and having a plan for communication and shelter can cover the majority of likely disruptions. The goal is not to predict the exact crisis but to build resilience that applies across many situations.

Preparedness is ultimately about recognizing reality rather than fearing it. The systems we depend on are efficient but not invulnerable. By focusing on the disasters most Americans ignore, families can take practical steps that dramatically reduce their risk. When disruption comes—and eventually, it always does—the difference between chaos and stability often comes down to whether someone chose to prepare before it happened.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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Most people prepare for dramatic, Hollywood-style disasters while ignoring the far more likely threats.
Power grid failures, supply chain disruptions, and cyberattacks are among the most realistic risks.
Short-term disruptions can quickly spiral into long-term crises if systems do not recover quickly.
Grocery stores, fuel systems, and banking all rely on fragile, interconnected infrastructure.
The first 72 hours of any crisis often determine how severe the situation becomes.
Preparing for common, realistic scenarios is far more effective than planning for rare extremes.
Awareness of these risks allows families to take simple, practical steps to protect themselves.
Read More: https://www.lateprepper.com/p/the-5-most-likely-disasters-thatSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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The ongoing conflict in Iran, with its effective disruption of one of the world’s most critical chokepoints, reminds us that today’s biggest threats are often “non-emergency” disasters—prolonged supply-chain squeezes that erode normal life one delayed shipment at a time.

Here are the five practical steps they took—and that any household can follow right now—to build resilience against the slow creep.

Build a Rotating 90-Day Pantry Buffer

We can (and should) have freeze-dried and canned survival food for the long-term, but the first line of defense in a major supply chain disruption is the rotating pantry. Instead of waiting for empty shelves, we should stock up and plan for acquiring the foods our family already eats.

Aim for at least 2,000 calories per person per day for 90 days.
Prioritize shelf-stable, calorie-dense staples likely to face pressure: rice, beans, oats, canned meats and vegetables, nut butters, powdered milk, and cooking oils.
Watch signals tied to current disruptions—urea and phosphate fertilizer shortages are already tightening global agriculture. Stock a bit more of grains and oils while prices are still manageable.
Use the “first in, first out” rotation so nothing goes to waste. Add 5–10 extra familiar items to every normal shopping trip.

You don’t have to have 90-days stocked up immediately. For the sake of budget, build up over time. Just don’t take too much time; the food price spikes from the current situation with fertilizer will dramatically hit food prices in 5-10 months.

Secure Water and Reliable Filtration

Disruptions don’t always hit food first. Energy and chemical supply issues can indirectly affect municipal water treatment.

Store one gallon per person per day for 30–90 days in food-grade containers or stackable jugs.
Invest in a gravity-fed filter system that doesn’t rely on electricity.
Consider a secondary rainwater collection setup if local codes allow (even simple barrels for non-drinking use).

This can get expensive quickly. Depending on your proximity to natural water supplies, it may behoove you to stock up on more than 90-days worth.

Address Energy and Fuel Realities

Higher oil prices from Hormuz disruptions raise the cost of trucking groceries, running refrigeration, and producing everyday goods.

Stock extra propane for a camp stove or outdoor grill as a no-electricity cooking backup.
Consider a solar generator or battery system sized for essentials: refrigerator, lights, phone charging, and a hand-crank radio.
Learn simple no-cook meal recipes—overnight oats, canned tuna salads, nut butter sandwiches—so you can stretch resources without panic.
The sun itself can help you cook food, and not just from the energy it delivers to your generator. You can cook directly from sunlight with a good solar oven.

A best practice is also to practice skills and use items that require no power at all; a manual can opener is a good example (and have multiple for the long-term in case they break).

Invest in Skills Over Hoarding

Stuff matters, but skills multiply your options when supply chains stay unpredictable.

Started a modest backyard garden and raised beds with fast-growing greens, herbs, and a few calorie crops.
Learned basic water-bath canning and dehydrating from online tutorials and a knowledgeable neighbor.
Built quiet community connections—knowing who in the neighborhood gardens, keeps chickens, or has mechanical skills creates natural barter opportunities.

This used to be something we did as part of life. Our modern amenities combined with having the wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips made learning skills somewhat obsolete. Don’t be stuck not knowing how to do things if the internet and mobile connections go down.

Practice Financial and Mindset Discernment

The greatest danger in a slow-creep scenario is emotional spending that creates debt or waste.

Redirect a portion of your regular grocery budget into extra staples instead of panic-buying.
Track prices on vulnerable items (oils, cereals, imported goods) to spot trends early.
Cultivate a mindset of stewardship: preparation is responsible freedom, not isolation. It positions you to help others when the creep intensifies.

The best thing you can do financially, whether the crap hits the fan in the near future or not, is to eliminate as much debt as possible, preferably all of it.

Final Note

The slow creep is already underway. The encouraging truth? You still have time to respond with wisdom instead of worry. Start with one of the five steps this week. Build consistently. Turn uncertainty into quiet strength.

Above all else, become spiritually prepared. Knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, repenting, and being born again is the only true requirement. If you do that, then whatever this world throws out you will be fleeting compared to eternity.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lateprepper.com

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It won’t look like a Hollywood disaster. No blaring alarms, no sudden blackout. Just a quiet tightening: fertilizer prices jumping 28–32% in weeks because shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed to a trickle. Grocery staples becoming patchy. Fuel and shipping costs creeping higher. Spring planting pressures that could push food prices up later this year.The ongoing conflict in Iran, with its effective disruption of one of the world’s most critical chokepoints, reminds us that today’s biggest threats are often “non-emergency” disasters—prolonged supply-chain squeezes that erode normal life one delayed shipment at a time.Here are the five practical steps they took—and that any household can follow right now—to build resilience against the slow creep.Read More: https://discern.tv/the-slow-creep-catastrophe-how-to-prepare-for-non-emergency-disasters-on-the-horizon/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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And modernity is fragile.

The 2021 Texas winter storm didn’t care that millions of people had no idea how to survive without electricity. A prolonged cyberattack on the power grid wouldn’t pause for anyone who assumed their water would always run hot. A pandemic, an economic collapse, an EMP event, a cascading infrastructure failure — these are not fever dreams of paranoid hermits. They are documented historical patterns playing out on new stages. What separates the person who endures from the one who perishes in those moments is rarely gear alone. It is knowledge. It is skill. It is the capacity to act when every familiar support system has gone dark.

The internet is the greatest library in the history of human civilization. You can learn to suture a wound, identify edible plants, tan a hide, build a solar generator, or speak Morse code — all for free, right now. But that library depends on the same infrastructure you’re trying to learn to live without. The window to acquire these skills using the tools that make them easiest to learn may be shorter than any of us would like to admit. What follows is not a hobbyist’s checklist. It is a serious reckoning with what it means to be genuinely self-sufficient in a world that could, without much warning at all, stop providing for you.

Medicine Without a Doctor

Of all the comforts modernity has given us, none is more deeply assumed than pharmaceutical medicine. We take pills for blood pressure, for infection, for pain, for anxiety — often without the slightest understanding of what alternatives existed before the corner CVS. Should those supply chains fracture, a routine infection could become a death sentence for those who haven’t prepared accordingly.

This is where herbal and natural medicine stops being a quaint hobby and becomes a survival discipline. For centuries before synthetic pharmaceuticals, human beings managed illness through plant medicine — and much of what they used has since been validated by modern research. Garlic (Allium sativum) has well-documented antimicrobial properties. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) has been used for millennia to staunch bleeding and reduce fever. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) has demonstrated antiviral properties in clinical studies. Plantain leaf — the common “weed” you’ve probably been pulling out of your lawn — draws out infection and speeds wound healing. Usnea lichen, known as Old Man’s Beard, has been called “nature’s antibiotic” for its strong antimicrobial properties.

The prepper’s natural medicine cabinet should include working knowledge of:

Wound care: Beyond bandaging, you need to understand which plants serve as natural antiseptics. Raw honey — particularly Manuka — has been used clinically for wound dressing. Calendula makes an effective healing salve. A poultice of comfrey or plantain can draw out infection and reduce swelling. Knowing how to pack and dress a wound under pressure, without sterile hospital supplies, is a skill that saves lives.

Infection and fever: Echinacea and elderberry can help stimulate immune response during early illness. Willow bark contains salicin — the precursor to aspirin — and can be made into a tea for fever and pain relief. Learning to make tinctures (alcohol-based herbal extracts), infused oils, and decoctions (boiled plant medicines) means you can produce remedies from plants you’ve grown or foraged rather than depending on a supply chain.

Respiratory illness: Thyme and mullein have both demonstrated effectiveness as expectorants. A simple steam inhalation with eucalyptus can provide meaningful relief in respiratory infection. Knowing how to make a chest-clearing herbal steam is not folk nonsense — it is practical medicine that will matter greatly when the nearest emergency room is inaccessible.

Pain management: St. John’s Wort has been extensively studied for mild to moderate pain and nerve pain. Clove oil has been used for centuries as a topical analgesic, particularly for dental pain — a condition that becomes acutely serious in a world without dentists.

Beyond plant medicine, every serious prepper should pursue formal wilderness first aid certification. Courses offered through organizations like NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) or Wilderness Medical Associates teach you to manage trauma, fractures, dislocations, wound closure, and shock in austere environments without access to hospitals. A basic knowledge of CPR is table stakes. Knowing how to recognize signs of sepsis, how to improvise a tourniquet, how to manage a sucking chest wound, or how to reduce a dislocated shoulder — these are the skills that turn panic into action.

The Book of Proverbs says: “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3, KJV). It was true three thousand years ago. It is just as true now. The prudent man has a medicine chest that doesn’t depend on FedEx.

Food from the Land, Not the Store

The modern American has become so detached from food production that most children cannot name the plant a carrot grows on. We have reduced “food literacy” to knowing which aisle holds the canned goods. In a grid-down world, that kind of ignorance is dangerous.

There are two parallel tracks every prepper should pursue: foraging and cultivation.

Foraging for wild edibles is among the oldest human skills and one of the most perishable — because almost no one practices it anymore. The critical point that any honest guide must make at the outset is this: only roughly 5–10 percent of all wild plants are edible. The rest are either indigestible, unpalatable, or lethally toxic. Enthusiasm without knowledge is not just useless here — it is fatal. Elderberries and water hemlock can look similar to the untrained eye, and water hemlock is among the most violently toxic plants in North America.

That said, once learned, foraging transforms the landscape around you from inert scenery into a living pantry. Dandelions — despised by every suburban HOA — are entirely edible from root to flower and are rich in vitamins A, C, and K. Cattails, found near virtually any body of freshwater, have been called the “supermarket of the swamp” because every part of the plant — root, shoot, pollen head — is edible depending on the season. Wild garlic mustard, wood sorrel, lamb’s quarter, stinging nettles (once blanched), wild ramps, acorns (leached of tannins), and a vast variety of berries and nuts offer nutritional sustenance to those who know what they’re looking at.

The proper way to learn foraging is not by reading a single article or downloading an app. It is by going out with an experienced forager, plant by plant, in your specific bioregion, and building identification knowledge through repeated, confirmed observation. Purchase a high-quality regional field guide — the Peterson Field Guides series and the regional “Medicinal Plants” series (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest) are excellent resources. Learn the edible plants in your county before you need to rely on them. Know their toxic look-alikes. Know which parts are edible and which are not. Know which require cooking and which can be eaten raw.

Gardening and food production are the longer game. A kitchen garden that produces tomatoes and zucchini in the summer is a start. But survival gardening demands more: understanding how to save seeds (crucial, since hybrid seeds don’t reproduce true to type), how to extend growing seasons, how to compost and maintain soil fertility without synthetic fertilizers, and how to grow calorie-dense staples like beans, squash, potatoes, and corn alongside nutritionally rich greens and herbs. Learn your USDA hardiness zone. Know your last frost date. Know which crops can be stored through winter without electricity — root cellaring is its own discipline and an extraordinarily valuable one.

Hunting, fishing, and trapping round out the protein column. A hunting license is cheap. The skill it licenses is priceless. More preppers should be learning to track game, read wildlife sign, field dress and butcher large animals, and preserve meat through smoking, salting, and curing — without refrigeration. Fishing remains one of the most calorie-efficient forms of wild food procurement available. Learning to set fish traps and snares for small game multiplies your capacity for food acquisition dramatically, particularly when you cannot afford to expend all your energy on active pursuit.

Food preservation is the bridge between abundance and survival. Our ancestors understood this intuitively — they canned, fermented, smoked, dried, and pickled not as a hobby but as a necessity. Water-bath canning and pressure canning are learnable skills with a modest upfront investment in equipment. Fermentation — making sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, and lacto-fermented vegetables — requires nothing more than salt, water, and a clean jar. Dehydrating food for long-term storage extends shelf life dramatically. Learning to smoke and salt meat preserves protein when you have a surplus and no refrigeration. These are not lost arts — they are just temporarily unfashionable.

Water: The First and Hardest Problem

A human being can survive roughly three weeks without food. Without clean water, you have three days, and they will be miserable ones. This makes water procurement and purification the single most non-negotiable skill set in any prepper’s repertoire.

Municipal water supply depends on electricity for pumping and treatment. When the grid goes down, so does reliable municipal water — often within hours. Every prepper should understand multiple methods of water purification: boiling (the most reliable, kills virtually all pathogens), chemical treatment with iodine or chlorine tablets, mechanical filtration (gravity filters like the Berkey are excellent for base camp use; the LifeStraw and Sawyer Squeeze for personal, portable use), and UV purification (effective but battery-dependent).

Beyond purification, water sourcing is its own discipline. Rainwater harvesting — setting up barrels under roof downspouts — is legal in most states and provides a meaningful supplement. Knowing where every natural water source within a ten-mile radius of your home is located is basic operational awareness. Understanding how to read terrain to find water (look for vegetation, valleys, drainage patterns) is more advanced but learnable. Understanding how to dig a seep well or how to extract water from vegetation in dry conditions is the outer edge of the skill set — and worth knowing.

Mechanical and Trade Skills: The New Aristocracy

In the economy that follows civilization’s disruption, the person who can fix things will be among the wealthiest people alive. The person who can only consume them will be desperate.

Consider how completely we have abandoned the mechanical arts. The average American cannot change their own oil, replace a broken window pane, wire a light switch, fix a leaking pipe, or sharpen a hand saw. We call someone. We order it on Amazon. We let the warranty handle it. All of those options disappear the moment the infrastructure that supports them goes dark.

Basic automotive mechanics is a starting point. Understanding how an internal combustion engine works, how to do a tune-up, replace belts and hoses, fix a flat, diagnose basic electrical problems, and maintain a fuel system could mean the difference between mobility and being stranded. In a prolonged crisis, older vehicles — those without complex computerized systems — will be more valuable than newer ones, because they can be repaired with hand tools by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Carpentry and basic construction become essential when you need to repair or fortify shelter. Knowing how to frame a wall, install a door, patch a roof, build raised garden beds, or construct a root cellar is not just practical — it is leverage. The person with these skills will be in demand in any community trying to rebuild.

Plumbing and electrical basics — understanding how your home’s water supply and drainage system works, how to shut off water at the main, how to replace a fixture, how to wire a simple circuit or install solar panels — make you capable of maintaining a habitable home without calling a professional.

Blacksmithing and metalworking are longer-term skills that reward serious investment. The ability to fabricate and repair tools from raw steel is, in a truly extended collapse scenario, foundational to any community’s capacity to function.

Sewing and textile repair seem mundane until you consider that in a world without manufactured clothing supply chains, the person who can make and repair garments from raw material — or even just mend what exists — provides an extraordinarily valuable service. Learning to sew buttons, patch tears, reinforce seams, and eventually construct basic garments by hand is not optional in a prolonged crisis.

Gunsmithing basics deserve mention here as well. Firearms are the prepper’s primary tool of defense and a critical hunting implement. Understanding basic cleaning, maintenance, jam clearing, and common repairs — and, for the advanced, handloading your own ammunition — is the difference between a weapon that functions reliably and a club.

Fire, Shelter, and Navigation: The Ancient Basics

It would be easy in a long article on practical skills to breeze past what every wilderness survival instructor knows are the true fundamentals. They deserve serious attention.

Fire craft is more complex than it appears. Starting a fire with a Bic lighter is trivially easy. Starting one in wet conditions, at high altitude, without modern fire-starting tools, using materials you have gathered from your environment — that requires practice. Every prepper should be proficient with a ferrocerium rod, should understand the principles of tinder preparation, fire lay construction, and fire management for both cooking and warmth. Fire starting is a perishable skill — meaning it degrades with disuse. Practice it regularly.

Shelter construction — knowing how to build an effective improvised shelter from natural materials — addresses the immediate threat of exposure, which kills far faster than starvation. Understanding the principles of insulation, moisture management, wind protection, and ground insulation allows a person to survive nights in conditions that would otherwise be lethal.

Land navigation without GPS is a skill that has been nearly exterminated by the smartphone. The GPS signal can be jammed, can fail, can run out of battery. Map reading — the ability to interpret topographic maps, understand contour lines, identify terrain features, and correlate what you see on a map with what you see on the ground — combined with compass use, including declination adjustment and triangulation, is fundamental. This is not a difficult skill to learn. It simply requires investment and practice. Navigating by the stars — celestial navigation — is a deeper skill that requires more study but provides complete independence from any manufactured technology.

Communication When the Grid Is Gone

In a communications blackout, information is power — and the person with a working radio that can send and receive across distance holds enormous community value.

Ham radio — amateur radio — is the prepper’s communication answer. With over 750,000 licensed operators in the United States and six million worldwide, the amateur radio network is genuinely robust, and the equipment is increasingly affordable and capable. A Technician class license from the FCC requires roughly ten hours of study and opens access to regional VHF and UHF networks. A General class license opens HF (shortwave) frequencies and enables communication over continental distances — the ability to reach operators hundreds or thousands of miles away without any internet or cellular infrastructure.

The important thing about ham radio is that it must be practiced regularly to be useful in crisis. Many preppers purchase a radio and let it sit in a drawer. This is nearly useless. Getting licensed, joining local emergency preparedness nets, practicing the equipment, and learning how to operate under field conditions — including solar-powered charging of equipment — turns a radio purchase into a genuine capability.

Beyond ham, every prepper should understand how to signal for help without electronics: signal mirrors, ground-to-air signals, whistle codes, and the basics of Morse code. These are durable skills that require no battery.

The Psychological Dimension

No skills list is complete without acknowledging the dimension that determines whether all other skills can actually be deployed: mental resilience. The statistics from wilderness survival emergencies are sobering. People with more gear and more theoretical knowledge than their rescuers have died because they panicked, made poor decisions under stress, and could not tolerate uncertainty.

Mental fortitude — the capacity to remain calm in the face of genuine danger, to prioritize clearly when everything is wrong, to tolerate discomfort without becoming paralyzed, and to lead others when leadership is desperately needed — is itself a learnable and practicable skill. Meditation, deliberate exposure to discomfort (cold showers, fasting, difficult physical training), scenario planning and mental rehearsal, and the cultivation of what military psychologists call “stress inoculation” — these are not soft concerns. They are the operating system on which every other skill runs.

Community is equally critical. The lone wolf prepper is a Hollywood invention. Real resilience in crisis has always been communal. Know your neighbors. Build relationships with people who have complementary skills. Understand how to negotiate, de-escalate conflict, and maintain social cohesion under pressure. The ability to build and maintain trust in a community that must cooperate to survive is itself one of the most valuable skills on this entire list.

The Window Is Open — For Now

We live in an extraordinary moment. Every skill described in this article can be learned through free YouTube videos, downloadable PDFs, online courses, and community workshops — right now, today. The knowledge of centuries has been digitized and made accessible. The herbs our great-grandmothers used, the construction techniques that built this civilization, the navigation methods that opened continents — all of it is available for the learning.

That window is only open because the grid is still running.

This is the irony the casual observer misses: the very technology that might one day fail us is, right now, the most powerful tool we have for preparing to live without it. Every hour spent learning to start a fire from friction, to identify plantain and yarrow and elderberry in the field, to suture a wound, to read a topographic map, to operate a ham radio, to preserve a harvest — every one of those hours is an investment that cannot be repossessed, cannot be jammed, cannot be taken down by a cyberattack. Skills live in the body and the mind. They do not require a signal.

The American tradition of self-reliance — the frontier ethic that shaped this nation’s character — was never just philosophy. It was practice. It was the daily engagement with the real world that produced competent, capable, adaptive human beings. The progressive project has spent a century building systems that replace that competence with dependence. The irony is exquisite: the more we have been taught to trust “the experts,” the systems, the government agencies, the supply chains — the more catastrophically helpless we become when any of those fail.

The old wisdom is not obsolete. It is waiting. And the time to retrieve it is now, while the internet still works, while the courses are still accessible, while the seeds can still be ordered online and delivered to your door. Lay up wisdom as a man lays up provisions: before the storm, not during it. “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,” counseled Solomon; “consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest” (Proverbs 6:6–8, KJV).

The ant does not wait to see the storm. It works while the season is good.

So should we.

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There is a peculiar arrogance embedded in modern American life — the assumption that the lights will always come back on, that the pharmacy will always be stocked, that the grocery store shelves will always be full, and that a repairman is only a Google search away. We have outsourced virtually every competency our grandparents possessed to a complex web of systems, services, and supply chains that most of us couldn't begin to explain, let alone sustain. We have become, in the precise and damning sense of the word, helpless. Not by nature, but by design — by the seductive convenience of modernity.And modernity is fragile.Read More: https://discern.tv/skills-all-preppers-should-be-learning-today-before-something-devastating-happens/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Bugging out should only happen when your home becomes untenable—roads, strangers, and limited gear make fleeing far riskier than most realize.
Your home gives you unmatched advantages: full supplies, legal self-defense rights, neighborhood knowledge, and community ties that no temporary location can replicate.
Water storage and purification systems can sustain a family for months without relying on outside aid.
Long-term food stockpiles, alternative cooking methods, and basic gardening turn your pantry into a reliable lifeline.
Home fortification—reinforced entry points, perimeter lighting, and defensive tools—keeps threats at bay while you ride out the crisis.
Backup power, medical kits, and sanitation backups ensure comfort and health even when utilities fail for weeks or longer.
Preparation is an act of wisdom and responsibility, protecting those you love by building stability where you already stand.
When every other option fails, bugging out remains the final desperate measure—not the first impulse.

In an era when headlines warn of storms, supply disruptions, civil strain, and uncertainty on every front, the urge to grab a bag and run can feel instinctive. Yet survival experts across decades of real-world disasters consistently deliver the same hard-earned truth: bugging out is the last option. Preparing to bug in—to stay put, fortify your home, and sustain your family where you already live—offers the clearest path to safety and stability for the vast majority of scenarios.

The difference between the two approaches is stark. Bugging in means sheltering in place at your residence, using every resource already under your roof. Bugging out means abandoning that roof for an unknown destination, carrying only what fits in a vehicle or on your back. History and practical analysis show that the former wins far more often. Your home already contains the bulk of your food, water, clothing, tools, and medicine. Leaving it behind forces you into a mobile existence filled with variables you cannot control.

Consider the simple realities of travel during crisis. Roads clog within hours of any major alert. Fuel stations empty. Bridges and exits become choke points. Families with children, elderly relatives, or pets move slower and draw more attention. Strangers on the highway may be desperate or opportunistic. Meanwhile, your house sits empty—an invitation to looters. The data from hurricanes, wildfires, and blackouts repeatedly demonstrates that those who stayed prepared at home fared better than those who joined the exodus too early.

Home carries legal and tactical edges that vanish the moment you leave. In most jurisdictions, the right to defend your property and family is clearest behind your own doors. You know every corner, every weak point, every vantage. Neighbors who know and trust you become allies rather than unknowns. Community networks—church groups, local contacts, mutual-aid agreements—function best when people remain in place. Bugging out severs those ties and replaces them with isolation on unfamiliar ground.

The default choice, then, is clear. Shelter where you stand unless a specific, immediate threat renders the house itself unlivable. Government guidance from agencies like FEMA reinforces this principle through shelter-in-place recommendations. Plastic sheeting and duct tape for sealing rooms, basic kits for short-term isolation—these are starting points, but true preparation goes far deeper.

Water tops every list for good reason. An average person needs at least a gallon per day for drinking and hygiene. For a family of four facing two months of disruption, that means hundreds of gallons stored safely. Large tanks, bathtub liners, rain barrels, and purification tablets or filters turn potential shortages into manageable supply. Rotate stock, learn gravity-fed systems, and practice using non-potable sources for cleaning. When city pipes run dry, your home becomes its own well.

Food follows closely. Stock shelf-stable staples—rice, beans, oats, canned meats, freeze-dried meals—that last years when stored properly. Rotate inventory through normal meals so nothing goes to waste. Add a wood stove, propane backup, or solar oven so cooking continues without electricity. Seeds, gardening tools, and basic livestock knowledge stretch supplies indefinitely. The goal is not bare survival but sustained nutrition that keeps strength and morale intact.

Security cannot be an afterthought. Reinforce doors and windows with simple braces or boards. Install motion-sensor lights and basic alarms—even tripwires with bells for low-tech warning. Firearms, ammunition, and maintenance supplies belong in the plan, stored responsibly and practiced regularly. Melee tools and multi-purpose implements double as both defense and repair items. The prepared home projects quiet strength that deters rather than invites trouble.

Power independence keeps life livable. A generator wired safely to the breaker box, paired with rotated fuel, covers essentials. Solar panels, batteries, or even hand-crank devices handle lighting and communication. Flashlights, headlamps, and candles with reflectors prevent total darkness. HAM radios or crank-powered receivers maintain contact with the outside world when cell towers fail. These systems do more than provide light—they preserve the rhythm of daily life that prevents despair.

Medical readiness saves lives when hospitals overflow. Stock individual first-aid kits scaled for trauma and illness: tourniquets, hemostatic agents, antibiotics, pain relievers, and prescription refills where possible. Learn basic skills—wound care, splinting, CPR—through community classes or reliable manuals. Sanitation backups matter equally: five-gallon bucket toilets, cat litter for odor control, and burial plans keep disease at bay when sewers stop working.

Long-term sustainability separates the merely stocked from the truly prepared. Practice 72-hour no-power weekends at home to test systems and reveal gaps. Build relationships with nearby families who share the same values. Develop skills—mechanical repair, food preservation, first aid—that reduce dependence on outside help. The home that can garden, filter water, defend itself, and care for its own becomes a fortress of self-reliance.

Faith and wisdom align here. The prudent man sees danger and prepares, much like the ant that stores provisions in summer. Protecting your household is not fear-driven but stewardship-driven. It honors the responsibility given to provide and defend those entrusted to your care. When the world outside grows chaotic, the prepared home stands as testimony to foresight rather than panic.

Of course, circumstances can force a change. A house on fire, a mandatory evacuation order with credible enforcement, or direct threat that overwhelms defenses may require leaving. In those rare moments, a pre-packed vehicle with routes mapped, fuel cached, and a destination secured becomes the bridge to safety. But that plan exists only as the final contingency—never the primary strategy.

Preparation begins today, quietly and steadily. Assess your space. Inventory what you already have. Add one category at a time—water this month, food next, security after that—until your home can carry the family through weeks, then months. The peace that comes from knowing you can stay put is worth every effort.

Bugging out remains the last option because it trades certainty for hazard. Preparing to bug in for as long as possible honors reality: your strongest position is almost always the one you already occupy. Build it strong. Stock it well. Defend it wisely. In doing so, you give your family the greatest gift possible when trouble arrives—the ability to remain exactly where they belong.

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Bugging out should only happen when your home becomes untenable—roads, strangers, and limited gear make fleeing far riskier than most realize.Your home gives you unmatched advantages: full supplies, legal self-defense rights, neighborhood knowledge, and community ties that no temporary location can replicate.Water storage and purification systems can sustain a family for months without relying on outside aid.Long-term food stockpiles, alternative cooking methods, and basic gardening turn your pantry into a reliable lifeline.Home fortification—reinforced entry points, perimeter lighting, and defensive tools—keeps threats at bay while you ride out the crisis.Backup power, medical kits, and sanitation backups ensure comfort and health even when utilities fail for weeks or longer.Preparation is an act of wisdom and responsibility, protecting those you love by building stability where you already stand.When every other option fails, bugging out remains the final desperate measure—not the first impulse.Read More: https://discern.tv/bugging-out-is-the-last-option-so-prepare-to-bug-in-for-as-long-as-possible/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Stryker, known for manufacturing and distributing essential medical devices used in hospitals worldwide, confirmed on March 11, 2026, that a cyber attack disrupted its global Microsoft environment. This led to significant interruptions in order processing, manufacturing, and shipping operations. The company emphasized that connected products remain safe for use, but the attack—claimed by the Iran-linked group Handala and described as a destructive wiper operation affecting thousands of devices—underscores the fragility of supply chains in healthcare, especially amid escalating geopolitical tensions.

The video points out our heavy reliance on digital systems for banking, payments, supply chains, and hospital infrastructure. A large-scale cyber attack could halt these essentials, echoing warnings from World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab. In 2020, Schwab described such an event as potentially dwarfing the COVID-19 crisis, bringing power supplies, transportation, and societal functions to a standstill. He stressed the need for global collaboration to combat borderless cyber threats.

Adding to the intrigue, @unfilteredwkels notes BlackRock’s aggressive investments in critical infrastructure over recent months. The asset management giant has poured billions into energy systems, power grids, AI data centers, and related areas, positioning itself amid surging demand from AI technologies. For instance, BlackRock’s focus on energy infrastructure to power data centers reflects a shift where investors favor power providers over big tech for AI-related plays in 2026. CEO Larry Fink has been vocal about these opportunities, including workforce shortages in skilled trades needed for infrastructure buildout, raising questions about strategic foresight in a volatile world.

Meanwhile, Sweden—one of the most cashless societies—issued new guidance in early March 2026, recommending households keep around SEK 1,000 (about $110 USD) in cash per adult to cover a week’s essentials during crises. This move addresses vulnerabilities in highly digitalized payment systems, which could fail in disruptions, wars, or cyber events. The Riksbank’s advice includes diversifying payment methods, like multiple bank cards and apps, to enhance resilience.

The post doesn’t predict imminent doom but encourages pattern recognition. If digital grids falter, everyday life—from groceries to medical care—could grind to a halt. European countries like Sweden are steps ahead, preparing citizens for scenarios that could soon echo globally. As cyber threats evolve, tied to geopolitics and tech booms, individuals might heed these signals to bolster personal readiness.

In essence, this X post serves as a podcast-style alert, blending news with speculation to provoke thought. While some may dismiss it as alarmist, the substantiated events it references paint a picture of interconnected risks in our tech-dependent era.

Recognize Digital Dependencies: Our reliance on electronic systems for banking, healthcare, and supply chains makes us vulnerable; a major cyber attack could eclipse past crises like COVID-19.
Monitor Geopolitical Ties: Incidents like the Stryker hack, linked to international conflicts, highlight how business connections can invite targeted disruptions.
Track Financial Power Plays: BlackRock’s investments in energy and infrastructure could signal anticipation of grid strains from AI growth, benefiting those who prepare.
Heed Preparedness Advice: Follow Sweden’s lead by keeping cash and alternative payment options on hand to weather potential system failures.
Stay Informed Globally: Watch developments in Europe and beyond, as they often foreshadow worldwide trends in cyber and economic security.

Stay vigilant—digital resilience starts with awareness.

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In a recent video post on X, user @unfilteredwkels highlights a concerning cyber attack on Stryker Corporation, a major U.S. medical equipment supplier, and connects it to broader implications for our increasingly digital world. The post urges viewers to recognize patterns that could signal larger disruptions. Drawing from real-world events, it weaves together the Stryker incident with warnings from global figures and recent financial moves by powerhouse firms like BlackRock.Read More: https://discern.tv/cyberattack-headlines-are-being-dismissed-by-most-but-combined-they-point-to-real-threats/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Most Americans are only a few days away from serious hardship if supply chains or utilities fail.
Preparedness does not require a bunker, thousands of dollars, or years of experience to begin.
A basic emergency plan is just as important as physical supplies.
The first 30 days of prepping should focus on five core areas: water, food, light, communication, and basic safety.
Building supplies gradually prevents panic spending and helps families stay organized.
Simple items such as bottled water, canned food, flashlights, and backup batteries provide immediate resilience.
Starting small and building consistently is the most realistic path for beginners who feel late to preparedness.

Modern life has created an illusion of stability. Grocery stores are always stocked, power flows at the flip of a switch, and help feels like it is always one phone call away. But the truth is that most Americans live only a few days away from serious disruption if supply chains break down, if the power grid fails, or if a natural disaster strikes. The good news is that becoming prepared does not require extreme measures. In fact, the first 30 days of prepping can dramatically increase your family’s security with simple, practical steps.

Many people delay preparing because they believe it requires massive investment or specialized knowledge. That assumption stops people from taking the most important step of all: starting. Preparedness is not about building a fortress overnight. It is about gradually strengthening your household so that unexpected events do not immediately become crises.

First and foremost, preparedness during the first 30 days should include basic safety planning. Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors should all be checked and replaced if necessary. Families should discuss simple evacuation routes and safe meeting points if they must leave their home quickly. These conversations take only minutes but can prevent confusion and panic when time matters most.

Once you have a basic plan in place, the first priority for any new prepper should be water. Human beings can survive weeks without food but only a few days without clean water. A simple rule often recommended by emergency planners is one gallon of water per person per day. For a family of four, even a basic two-week supply means storing about 56 gallons. This may sound like a lot, but it can be achieved quickly with bottled water, refillable containers, or food-grade storage jugs. Along with storage, beginners should also consider simple water filtration or purification methods in case stored water runs out.

Once water is secured, the next focus should be food. The goal during the first month is not to build a year-long pantry. Instead, focus on assembling foods your family already eats that store well and require minimal preparation. Canned vegetables, canned meats, rice, pasta, peanut butter, and shelf-stable soups are excellent starting points. Freeze-dried food companies such as Heaven’s Harvest offer longer-term options as well, but beginners should first build a solid base of familiar, easy-to-rotate foods from everyday grocery stores.

Light and basic power should come next. Most people underestimate how disruptive a prolonged power outage can be. Without electricity, homes lose lighting, refrigeration, communication devices, and sometimes even running water. In the first 30 days of preparedness, every household should acquire several reliable flashlights, extra batteries, and ideally a few battery-powered lanterns that can light an entire room. Small solar chargers or portable power stations can also keep phones and radios functioning during emergencies.

Communication is another critical but often overlooked element of preparedness. During disasters, cell service may be unreliable or overwhelmed. A basic battery-powered or hand-crank emergency radio allows families to receive weather alerts and emergency information when the internet is unavailable. In addition, every household should have a simple family communication plan so members know where to meet or how to reconnect if separated during an emergency.

Medical readiness is another key step in the first month. A well-stocked first aid kit can handle many common injuries and illnesses when professional help may be delayed. This should include bandages, antiseptics, pain relievers, basic medications, and any necessary prescriptions. Many people also benefit from learning simple first aid skills, which can make a tremendous difference during emergencies.

Perhaps the most important lesson of the first month of prepping is that progress matters more than perfection. Too many people delay preparation because they believe they must do everything at once. In reality, resilience grows one step at a time. Each extra case of water, each additional can of food, and each new skill strengthens a household’s ability to handle unexpected challenges.

The goal is not fear. The goal is peace of mind. Prepared families are not constantly worried about disaster because they know they have taken reasonable steps to protect the people they love. In uncertain times, that kind of confidence is one of the most valuable preparations anyone can make.

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Most Americans are only a few days away from serious hardship if supply chains or utilities fail.Preparedness does not require a bunker, thousands of dollars, or years of experience to begin.A basic emergency plan is just as important as physical supplies.The first 30 days of prepping should focus on five core areas: water, food, light, communication, and basic safety.Building supplies gradually prevents panic spending and helps families stay organized.Simple items such as bottled water, canned food, flashlights, and backup batteries provide immediate resilience.Starting small and building consistently is the most realistic path for beginners who feel late to preparedness.Read More: https://discern.tv/the-first-30-days-of-prepping-a-simple-plan-to-protect-your-family/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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On today’s episode of The Late Prepper, JD was joined by Ira Bershatsky from https://advisorbullion.com to discuss the economy and other things, but with preparedness being on JD’s mind and heart a lot lately, the conversation swiftly shifted to survival.

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There are many naysayers in the preparedness world who claim everything you store for your preps need to have distinct utility. There are others who claim that barter items such as gold and silver will still hold prominence even in a SHTF scenario. Who's right?On today's episode of The Late Prepper, JD was joined by Ira Bershatsky from https://advisorbullion.com to discuss the economy and other things, but with preparedness being on JD's mind and heart a lot lately, the conversation swiftly shifted to survival.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Joseph recognized the coming crisis before it arrived and prepared during the years of abundance.Instead of storing only what was necessary, Egypt stored massive surpluses of grain.When famine struck the region, Egypt became the only reliable source of food.People from surrounding nations came to Egypt to buy grain because they had failed to prepare.Joseph used Egypt’s surplus not just to feed people but to strengthen the nation economically.Those who prepare in advance can help others and gain leverage when scarcity arrives.Preppers should think beyond survival and consider how abundance can become a blessing and a resource.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Most Americans are already practicing basic preparedness without realizing it — savings accounts, smoke detectors, spare tires, and first aid kits are all forms of prepping, just never labeled as such.
The biggest barrier to preparedness isn't cost or complexity — it's the cultural stigma attached to the word "prepper," a caricature shaped by Hollywood and legacy media that has kept millions of sensible people from taking practical steps.
Effective preparedness follows a four-step sequence: assess your risks, make a plan, build your kits, and continuously improve — skipping straight to gear without a risk assessment is one of the most common and costly mistakes beginners make.
Realistic threats for most Americans are far less exotic than EMPs or nuclear events — house fires, home invasions, and regional natural disasters top the probability list and deserve preparation priority before anything else.
Personal health and financial stability are underrated preparedness factors; a chronic illness left unmanaged or a household with no emergency fund represents a vulnerability no amount of canned goods can offset.
A meaningful emergency foundation can be built for under $100 — roughly 30 cans of food, a few gallons of water per person, and a battery-powered emergency weather radio cover the core needs for short-term regional emergencies.
FEMA itself recommends households be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours without outside assistance, a figure updated upward after repeated real-world disasters demonstrated that government response consistently takes longer than people expect.
Self-reliance is not paranoia — the average American household has only about three days of food on hand, fewer than half have a written emergency plan, and most families have never discussed what they would do in an evacuation scenario.

Read More: https://discern.tv/youre-already-a-prepper-you-just-dont-know-it-yet/
Heaven's Harvest: https://patriot.tv/food

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Most people stockpile food, water, ammo, and generators. Almost nobody stockpiles soap.

In a real collapse scenario — grid down, supply chains frozen, civil unrest spreading — hygiene won’t be about comfort. It will be about survival. Infection, disease, morale collapse, and social breakdown all start with poor sanitation.

In this episode of The Late Prepper, we break down the hygiene essentials you’ll actually need when the shelves stay empty. We discuss average shelf life, real-world effectiveness, how to store them properly, and why these items may become some of the most valuable barter tools in a crisis economy.

Because when things fall apart, the clean survive longer — and they trade better.

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Prepping isn’t just for rural homesteaders with acres and livestock. Millions of Americans live in apartments, condos, or rental homes — and many assume they’re at a disadvantage when it comes to preparedness. That assumption is wrong. In this episode, we break down practical, realistic apartment prepping strategies that work even under space, landlord, and legal constraints. Preparedness is about mindset first — square footage second.

Read More: https://basedunderground.com/apartment-prepping-a-practical-guide-to-building-resilience-when-you-rent/

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Most Americans think “food prep” means one thing: spend thousands of dollars on freeze-dried buckets and stack them in a closet like you’re preparing for the apocalypse tomorrow. That mindset is not only expensive — it’s strategically backward.
In this episode of The Late Prepper, we break down the Survival Food Hierarchy — a layered, biblical-minded preparedness approach that prioritizes wisdom, stewardship, and sustainability. If a disaster forces you into a long-term bug-in situation, the goal is simple: you should not be ripping open your 25-year emergency stash after three days without power.
Preparedness is not panic. It’s planning.

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So, you've got your bugout bags, food supplies, water, ammo, alternative power supplies, barter items, and Bibles. You downloaded and printed out important documents and how-to guides in case the internet goes down. You have your plan mapped out and you've done a test run with your family. You're as ready as you can be for whatever happens in the near future, right?

Well, maybe. With over 70% of Americans either unfit or suffering from some sort of major medical ailment, chances are you haven't made yourself and your family as ready as you can be in case crap hits the fan. Chances are you can start improving your health situation, whether that means getting more fit or securing long-term medical requirements such as meds and equipment.

Get Fit

The first challenge isn't easy for most. For some, it's a matter of motivation. For others, you're just not able to make yourself more physically fit based on age, wounds, or conditions. I have a friend in her 70s who simply cannot get around very easily. She neither has nor needs bugout bags but she lives in a nice town, had plenty of food and water, and she carries her .22 wherever she goes.

Another friend is a prepping maniac. I'm actually jealous about how well-stocked he is in his suburban home. The challenge is he's nearly 300 pounds and three of the four other members of his family aren't skinny. I had a long conversation with him over the weekend about what he'll do if things get really bad, even in his nice neighborhood. He said he'll grab his shotgun and defend his property. That's good, but it doesn't replace the need to become fit enough to walk long distances, gather supplies, or hunt.

My status as a "late prepper" who didn't get going until 2021 sent me down a similar path. I started stocking up on supplies incrementally. My wife started a robust garden. I started learning everything I could about survival and I haven't stopped. Then, the wakeup call came last year. I was helping a friend move a couch and realized I'm not the stout running back that I was in school.

I've wasted far too much time before making it important to get fit. I am calling on all of my readers to not make the same mistake I did. When should you start improving your health? Right now. Today. Get started. Don't stop. As I noted, motivation is often the missing ingredient when it comes to eating better, exercising, and changing one's lifestyle. Well, look around. Things are already going crazy and we haven't even gotten to Election Riot Season.

Are you able to walk 10 miles with a bugout bag on your back? Could you carry a loved one to safety? Chop down a tree? Build a shelter? Fight? If any of these things are physically impossible for you, then there's nothing you can do other than build relationship with local people who can help. But if you can't do any of these things and you have nothing holding you back other than your physical fitness, then it's time to get motivated.

I've been on the keto diet for a while, but mostly for the sake of brain function. I like being as smart as possible and ketones help me to achieve that goal. But recently I've realized that I need to take advantage of the fat burning aspects of ketosis. That means exercising. It's been slower than I'd like but I've lost 15 pounds since Thanksgiving with 40 more to go.

I'm not a fan of trying to "guilt" people into doing something, but this is an exception. Don't be that person whose only excuse for not being physically ready to face apocalyptic challenges is that you're to fat, too weak, or generally too unhealthy. If you have the means today to improve your health, do it.

And it's not just fat people like me. Even those who are pretty fit can always use improvements. We've all heard many times about eating healthier but what does that really mean? The whole foods craze (not to be confused with the Amazon-owned grocer) is a righteous one on many levels. Sourcing your food, buying local, eliminated processed foods, reducing or eliminating sugars, and staying clear of seed oils are all good starts. Exercise is obviously important as well. I'm neither a nutritionist nor a personal trainer but as a conspiracy theorist I can say that whatever it takes to build back up your God-given body is worth doing now more than ever.

Secure Meds

Many medications, both minor and life-saving, can be stored for long periods of time. Others can go bad quickly. Now is the time to determine what you'll need if pharmacies are either shut down or taken over by government, in which case you'll need to "qualify" for your meds. That's a discussion for another day.

Securing meds that you can store away such as antibiotics, pain medications, and chronic illness drugs requires a bit of "gaming the system." Generally, doctors and pharmacists want you to have a limited supply. Sometimes this is due to positive reasons such as the need to adjust doses. Other times it's simply an opportunity to add more doctor's visits to their billing. So securing long-term stores of prescription medications can be challenging.

If you trust your doctor, tell them the truth. You're concerned about things going crazy with the election or whatever and you'd feel more comfortable with a long-term supply of the meds you need. If they object, don't push it. Just thank them and move along.

If your doctor won't help you, there are a couple of options. You can research over-the-counter or nature alternatives to the medications you need. Or, you can go through a more "open minded" medical operation such as Jase. For transparency, they're a sponsor, but it's important to note that I made them a sponsor AFTER I started using them. I was a customer first before learning I could get referral bonuses for recommending them. They even gave me a promo code, "RUCKER10", so my referrals could get $10 off.

Their system is simple. Sign up for a telehealth call. Talk to your doctor about the meds you need. They prescribe them and have them shipped to your door. The "Jase Case" of antibiotics is incredible (I have two) and the chronic medications they offer for challenges like diabetes and heart conditions are robust.

For those who require medicines that expire quickly, it's time to research alternatives. Again, ask your doctor. Tell them your concerns and find out what they recommend if you no longer have access to the medications they prescribe. If that doesn't work, check online. I know there are life-preserving meds that many people need to take that may not have natural or OTC alternatives, but research as best you can.

No Fear

I'm always cognizant of the fact that my prepper discussions can often concern people, even make them fearful. Don't let it get to you. For Bible-believing Christians, we know that times will get challenging but there's a literal light at the end of the tunnel. It's a good thing to be physically ready for whatever is coming our way but that's exponentially less important than being spiritually ready. If all you can do is believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then it's more than enough.

Stay frosty and secure yourself and your family as best you can. If you fail because you did your best but it wasn't enough, then so be it. But if you fail because you didn't do your best to get ready, the end will be loaded with regrets.

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(End of the American Dream)—Something really weird is going on. Traditionally, prepping has been associated with those on the right of the political spectrum.

But now we are witnessing a dramatic shift. These days, many of the most hardcore preppers are actually on the left. These leftist preppers have become entirely convinced that we are headed for a catastrophic societal meltdown and they are determined to try to survive whatever happens. And we are starting to see leftist fears about the future being reflected in movies and television shows.

For example, a new apocalyptic disaster movie entitled “Leave The World Behind” is getting millions upon millions of views on Netflix…

If society actually did begin to completely break down, you probably would never know exactly how or why. You’d be aware that something was wrong, but the specifics would get cloudy once phones stopped working, the internet was severed, and media networks turned to dead air. Ominous late-night electronic shrieks from the sky; explosions in the distance; planes and boats plowing into the ground, and animals flocking in eerie patterns would only hint at the chaos. A whisper network of survivors might convey contradictory rumors, but how would you know if any of it was true? That’s the unsettling premise of Leave the World Behind, the new Netflix thriller that compounds its terror through uncertainty.

This is definitely a movie for preppers, and the trailer for the film is quite startling…

As you can see, this movie explores a number of topics that preppers have been concerned about for a long time.

But there is nothing “conservative” about this film at all.

It was made by leftists and it is meant to be watched by leftists. In fact, it is the very first movie from the production company that the Obamas have established…

In the movie, the characters have various theories for what’s causing these unsettling events: that it’s the work of hackers; that it’s a government conspiracy; that the US is at war with rogue forces using radiological weapons to make people turn against each other.

It’s based on a 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam, and directed, written and produced by “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail. It’s also the first feature film from High Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama in 2018.

So why in the world would the Obamas want to make something like this?

That is a good question.

Hopefully somebody will ask them.

Once upon a time, leftists tended to mock preppers, but now anxiety about the 2024 election is motivating many leftists to become preppers themselves…

Doomsday “prepping” is seeping into the mainstream as Americans of all ages and political persuasions are becoming increasingly worried ahead of the 2024 presidential election about the prospect of a civil war.

Hoarding food, water and weapons was once associated with libertarian extremists, but as a rematch between President Biden and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, seems all but inevitable in 2024, prepping has become a bipartisan activity, according to a Monday USA Today report.

“On the left, you have people afraid (Trump’s) going to declare himself dictator of the United States and people on the left are going to end up as targets in some sort of authoritarian system,” author Brad Garrett told the paper.

There really are lots of people out there that have convinced themselves that if Donald Trump wins the election he will make himself a dictator and establish a “fascist regime” in the United States.

Seriously, this is what they actually believe. And the fact that Joe Biden’s approval ratings keep getting lower only adds to their anxiety…

Only one-third of Americans gave President Biden a thumbs up on the job he is doing in the White House, according to a new national public opinion survey.

The president stands at 34% approval in a Monmouth University poll released on Monday, with 61% giving Biden a thumbs down on his job performance.

The president’s approval is at an all-time low in Monmouth polling since Biden took over the White House nearly three years ago.

Many liberals are anticipating that a “worst case scenario” is literally going to play out right in front of their eyes.

And Mark Zuckerberg appears to be one of them.

In 2020, his money played a major role in what we witnessed in the swing states, but this time around Mark Zuckerberg appears to be preparing for doomsday…

On a remote part of Kauai, the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, someone with a lot of money is bankrolling an extensive construction project.

It’s all very hush-hush. Security guards and cameras watch the perimeter of the 1,400-acre site, a six-foot wall blocks locals from peeking, and vetted workers are subject to strict NDAs preventing discussion of the work.

However, those NDAs don’t appear to have functioned as intended because a report in Wired claims the project’s patron is none other than Meta big cheese Mark Zuckerberg.

It is being reported that Zuckerberg’s survivalist compound has a 5,000 square foot underground bunker and will be “completely self-sufficient”…

The ranch will have at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms and a network of tree houses that connect some of the rooms, according to Wired.

Wired reports that the main residences will be joined by a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter that includes living spaces and an escape hatch. Sources told Wired the compound will be completely self-sufficient, with an 18-foot tall water tank and pump system and food production systems.

Even a radical leftist like Mark Zuckerberg can sense that really bad stuff is on the horizon.

And so he is taking action.

Meanwhile, ordinary Americans are buying gold from Costco at a staggering rate…

Wholesale retailer Costco sold more than $100 million worth of gold in the most recent quarter, with gold bars seeing high demand from customers.

“You’ve probably read about the fact that we’re selling one-ounce gold bars. We sold over $100 million of gold during the quarter” ended Sept. 30, Richard Galanti, the chief financial officer of Costco, said during an earnings call on Dec. 14. This was the first quarter of fiscal 2024 at Costco. The wholesale retailer started selling gold online beginning September. In an earnings call late that month, Mr. Galanti had alluded to massive demand for the product.

“When we load them [gold bars] on the site, they’re typically gone within a few hours.”

So why are so many people hoarding gold right now?

The answer is obvious.

Inflation is completely out of control and we really are on the verge of a full-blown economic meltdown. Of course our economic problems are only a small part of a much larger picture.

A “perfect storm” is now upon us, and it is going to get a lot more intense during the months ahead.

Before I end this article, there is one more thing that I wanted to mention, and it is a sure sign that we really do live in apocalyptic times…

Pope Francis has formally permitted priests to perform blessings for same-sex couples, a move that stops short of sanctioning same-sex marriages, but is still being heralded by some LGBTQ+ advocates as historic.

The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office released Monday reaffirmed its previous statements saying marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman. But the document says requests for blessings from same-sex couples should not be denied, so long as the blessing is not conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or with the clothing and gestures that are part of a wedding.

Did you ever think that you would live to see that?

But this is just the beginning. Things are going to get a whole lot weirder.

Millions upon millions of Americans can sense that we are heading into extremely chaotic times, and so they are feverishly getting prepared. Hopefully you are getting prepared too, because the clock is ticking…

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

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When I was in college, then later as a struggling new father and husband, we learned to eat very inexpensively. There were weeks when I could get by on under $10 with Ramen noodles (the Dollar Store often had them at $0.10 a package), cheap fresh veggies (a cucumber was practically a full meal for less than a quarter), and generic packages of processed meat.

It’s a lot harder to do that today with inflation and growing food scarcity, but here’s the thing. If the crap hits the fan in any of an assortment of highly possible ways, many of us will be stuck trying to feed our families without the resources to do so very well.

Eating insufficient amounts of food can harm us physically. But even those who have stored away emergency food or are living lifestyles that allows them to produce their own may find themselves with a different challenge. There can be psychological repercussions from major dietary changes. You or members of your family may find eating beans and rice every day drives you a little bonkers.

I am hopeful that the current trajectory of the nation and the world can be reversed, but I’m not going to sit around and assume it will all end well. Knowing this, we are currently practicing “lean weeks” in which we live off the survival food we have rather than ordering out or getting fresh food from the grocery store.

I discussed this a bit on today’s podcast. I referenced this article by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper:

Rock-Bottom Meal Plan for Those Weeks When Money Is Tight

Things are tough in America and they’re likely to get tougher. Many of us are forced to reallocate our money from one necessity to another and often, the thing that suffers first is our diets. If times are tight, you might find this article helpful.

It’s a meal plan created from recipes and strategies in my new paperback, What to Eat When You’re Broke. We released this in PDF format recently and readers loved it. We got so many requests to put it in hard copy format that we couldn’t say no! So, it’s available on Amazon now as a paperback.

The recipes in this article are all included in the book, which I’m selling just above cost. I hope you enjoy it, and please, give us a review on Amazon to help more people to see it when they’re searching for a way to feed their family during difficult times.

Flat Broke Meal Plan

This meal plan is per person per week. Multiply it by the number of people in your family. I’ve tried to make it as varied as possible, and there are a few things included that are not the cheapest on the market. They’ve been added for nutrient value.

Obviously, if there are allergies or foods that your family won’t eat, feel free to substitute.

I shouldn’t need to say this, but it’s impossible to write one meal plan that will work for every single reader. If you are vegan, gluten-free, diabetic, suffer from food allergies, eat keto, or strictly follow a particular nutritional lifestyle, this may not work for you.

With that being said, let’s look at our menu! Stars * indicate that the full recipe is available in the book and you might also have your own recipes for these items.

Breakfast

Day 1: Oatmeal with brown sugar and banana

Day 2: Cornbread* with butter and jam

Day 3: Leftover cornbread, sliced and heated with a butter and brown sugar drizzle

Day 4: Peanut butter and crackers, apple

Day 5: Rice cooked with milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon

Day 6: Biscuits and gravy*

Day 7: Scrambled eggs and toast OR homemade pancakes with fruit

Lunch

Day 1: PB&J, apple

Day 2: Pasta salad with tuna* (or canned chicken)

Day 3: Bean burrito

Day 4: Tomato soup* and crackers

Day 5: Cold peanut butter noodles with shredded cabbage*

Day 6: Tortilla pizzas*

Day 7: Leftovers

Dinner

Day 1: Beef and vegetable soup with frybread

Day 2: Baked beans with mac and cheese (canned and boxed easy meal for busy days)

Day 3: Fried Gnocchi* with canned marinara sauce

Day 4: Crockpot white chicken chili*

Day 5: Pasta with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese (add ground meat if it’s in the budget)

Day 6: Homemade pizza*

Day 7: Ham (slice an inexpensive canned ham or picnic ham and use the leftover for split pea soup), scalloped potatoes, Christmas beans

Six quick tips

Here are some ideas to make the meals more filling if this menu leaves you feeling hungry.

1.) Just add bread – whether it’s toast from grocery-store sliced bread, fresh homemade bread, frybread, or cornbread, adding some bread for sopping up sauces and broth makes meals feel more satisfying.

2.) Add more carbs – rice or pasta makes everything go a bit further.

3.) Add beans for more protein. When you’re making soup or chili, add one more can of beans to the pot.

4.) Baked potatoes make everything better. Looking for a cheap, filling, and tasty side? You can’t beat a baked potato. Top it with butter, sour cream or plain yogurt, and chopped green onion. Eating the skin adds fiber and other nutrients to your diet.

5.) Add cheap fruit. Bananas and bagged apples tend to be the least expensive fruit. Add one serving per meal to make it more filling and finish off on a sweeter note.

6.) Focus most of your money on one meal per day. If you fill up on less expensive items for breakfast and lunch, you can swing a better and more filling dinner.

This menu assumes that you probably have the basics in your kitchen, such as seasonings, spices, sugar, and cooking oil. In fact, you probably have much more than that. When I’ve reverted to this menu I am generally able to get very minimal groceries because I have plenty of canned goods and dry goods in my pantry. This just provides me with a great way to use them!

Don’t miss out on the paperback!

Help us make it to the top of the charts on Amazon by grabbing your copy this weekend! Your purchase means so much to me!

As well, please do me a favor and leave a quick review if you feel I’ve earned five stars. Doing this ensures that people searching for a book like this are able to find mine and it makes an enormous difference in sales.

I really believe that this book can help you (or someone you know who needs it) to get through hard times. In it, I share many of the strategies that allowed me to keep my children fed when I was a flat-broke single mama. Those times were difficult indeed, but my girls actually look back on that food and consider it their comfort food today.

Most of the recipes require little in the way of hands-on time, because, in addition to being broke, I was also working full time, then chauffeuring my daughters to various places after I got off work. I had a household to manage alone, laundry to do, and other requirements on my time so spending hours in the kitchen simply wasn’t an option. If you have more time, you can cut even more money off these recipes by making each component from scratch.

Here’s the table of contents. I tried to make the book a lot of fun!

Introduction
Frugalicious Philosophies
Flat Broke Grocery Shopping
Basic Batches
Ultimate Frugal Formulas
Cheap Eats
Pantry Raid
What a Crock
Food with a Future
Love Your Leftovers
Seasonal Savings
Lazy ala Daisy
About the Author

I hope you enjoy What to Eat When You’re Broke! Thank you so very much for your support.

What about you?

What do you eat when money is tight? Share your tastiest and most frugal meal ideas in the comments!

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Yes.

That's it. That's the article. Well, it could be, because IF you have the means and IF you have the space and IF you're physically capable of raising chickens, then you definitely should consider buying and raising them. I was saying this before eggs became so expensive in the United States that people started smuggling them from Mexican supermarkets. Now, it's really a no-brainer. Here are three reasons why...

Better Taste

For a long time I didn't really buy into the notion that fresh eggs were any better than store-bought eggs. Then, I tried some. My aunt raises chickens as does my wife's sister. Both of us had separate opportunities to try actual "farm fresh" eggs that were laid within 24 hours of us eating them by chickens who were raised in backyards. Don't let anyone tell you they are no different from grocery store eggs. It's not even really a comparison. Then, there are the health benefits which I'll leave for you to research, but I've heard farm fresh eggs are simply more nutritious.

Cheaper in the Long Term

Chickens are actually pretty cheap to buy. Building or buying a chicken coop can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars up to however much you want to spend on them. The feed and other regular expenses are rising, though they're not terribly expensive just yet. Compare that to the price of eggs and suddenly it's clear how around one egg per chicken per day can add up in the long-term to tremendous savings.

Indefinite Supply of Protein

Let's call it what how we see it. The powers-that-be are in the process of eliminating and eventually outlawing natural forms of protein that aren't insects. They want us eventually eating lab-grown meats or cricketburgers as our primary source of protein, and by "eventually" I hope everyone understands we're talking about months or years, not decades.

Chickens properly raised and cared for can produce anywhere from three or four eggs per week to an egg per day each. That's 5-8 grams of protein, not to mention other crucial nutrients, produced per chicken per day. Combine that with a freeze-dried protein bucket (promo code "prep2023" for 10% off or "prep2030" for 15% off orders over $777) and you'll have a long-term supply of real protein from real animals instead of relying on the government's mealworm lines.

If you're thinking about buying and raising chickens, you're not alone. According to the article below by Tyler Durden over at Zero Hedge, people are becoming more and more interested in the idea...

Egg Crisis Sparks Soaring Interest In Backyard Farms

Covid supply chain snarls turned millions of Americans into "preppers" overnight. The run on toilet paper, food, guns, ammunition, and other essential items for survival pushed millions to consider preparedness for a crisis.

Remember all those old-school preppers? The media used to refer to them as "extreme" and even called them "tin-foil hat conspiracy" folks, but during the shutdowns, those folks were right, and the mainstream media got it wrong.

The next shortage underway is eggs. Readers have seen our notes on supermarkets nationwide running out of eggs. The egg shortage is so severe that last week the US Customs and Border Protection reported that egg smuggling from Mexico erupted.

And why is that? Well, a dozen Grade A eggs in the US have topped $4.25 at supermarkets. In Mexico, a 30 count of eggs is about $3.40.

US egg prices have topped the national average gasoline per gallon price at the pump.

As a result of the egg crisis, internet search trends on Google show Americans are panic searching where to find egg-laying hens for their backyard.

The search trend "where to buy chickens near me" erupted to a near multi-decade high.

"Buy chickens near me" searches explode across the US.

Besides the Covid spike, "how to raise chickens" has spiked to levels not seen in a decade.

Over the last several years, food insecurity has pushed many Americans to create 'little backyard farms'- something their parents or grandparents did more than half a century ago. Living off the land was standard decades ago, but as metropolises sprung up, people relied more on a corporation (or even the government) to provide food.

Soaring distrust in government and corporations had transformed many into preppers following the pandemic shutdowns when some supplies were impossible to find. People don't want to be left empty-handed when the next crisis arises. This has led to a new generation of preppers and the normalization of being prepared.

Speaking of Beef

Okay, so nobody brought up beef but I will. We are getting into the beef business, expanding our thriving freeze-dried chicken business to include cows. We only bought 10 cows for our initial run so it's first come, first served. We have non-GMO cows that aren't getting the dreaded mRNA vaccines the powers-that-be are pushing now. Grass fed, grain finished. We'll be selling frozen steaks, ground beef, and roasts, PLUS we'll be selling long-term storage freeze dried beef chunks. If you want to be notified when we open for orders, go to my beef page.

Alternative Video Sources:

Rumble
Gab
Brighteon
Odysee

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America is on the path toward a massive Amoxicillin shortage. Anyone who has tried to get it recently either lucked out on the first try or had to search again and again for a pharmacy that could fulfill the prescription. We are on the verge of a full-blown antibiotic crisis and the Biden-Harris regime has it on the backburner. It's not that they don't want to fix it. It's that the United States is so beholden to China for pharmaceuticals that the regime doesn't have an easy fix.

Around 90% of the ingredients used to make drugs like Amoxicillin come from China. This is an ugly situation to be in with a supply chain crisis and tensions rising. Winter is coming. This isn't the time to be short on drugs that can prevent a simple infection from becoming life-threatening.

This is why we started working with a company that ships Amoxicillin and four other antibiotics to telehealth patients. Those who have read my work or heard my shows for the past year or so know that proper preparedness has been one of my biggest pushes and being prepared medically is on the top of the list. One does not have to be a full-blown "doomsday prepper" in a bunker to make common sense choices as negative situations continue to rise in America.

Of all the problems we face as a nation and as a people, this is the one that has the fewest options available for both our government and for individuals. We can debate the insanity of becoming dependent on China some other time. Today, we need to focus on solving the problem, and for individuals that means stocking up on antibiotics that can be stored long-term (use promo code "RUCKER10" for $10 off).

Medical professionals have been ringing the alarm bell of late, but the warnings are getting drowned out by a partnership between government, corporate media, and Big Pharma to focus solely on getting as many people to take the Covid jabs as many times as possible. There's money, power, and access on the line for those who are supposed to be revealing the medical truth and unfortunately for us the Covid jabs are the only priority. According to Prevention:

There’s no clear answer. The ASHP lists out several pharmaceutical companies that have reported amoxicillin shortages and noted that they didn’t provide a reason for the lack of supply.

But amoxicillin has “become restricted in the supply chain due to increased use,” says Stephanie Field, M.B.A., director of pharmacy business services at Corewell Health West. Meaning, demand for the drug has ramped up as a slew of illnesses circulate.

It’s also possible that supply chain issues that have plagued nearly every industry since the pandemic began are at play here, too, says Crystal Tubbs, Pharm.D., associate director of pharmacy services at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Shortages in general can be caused by supply/demand issues, shortages of raw materials or other ingredients needed to manufacture the drug, logistics interruptions and/or challenges with manufacturing facilities,” she explains.

According to Red State:

Translation: Big Pharma is too busy counting their billions from the utterly ineffective COVID vaccines they are still pushing to care about mundane drugs that actually work. The problem has become critical, as the Daily Mail notes.

The Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics joined forces to urge the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to declare a Public Health Emergency in order to assist strapped hospitals.

Declaring a state of emergency would allow Secretary Becerra to distribute financial assistance to states, work with companies to produce more treatments and supplies, loosen licencing requirements that will help alleviate healthcare staffing shortages, and expand hospital capacity.

Maybe if it was an issue among illegal immigrants they might care. But I digress.

A sick child’s parents have no patience for muddled supply chain blaming, even as earlier this year, hungry babies’ parents were in no mood for sanctimonious breastfeeding lectures in lieu of fixing the baby formula shortage. Considering the Biden Administration’s utter ineptitude in solving the baby formula crisis, perhaps we shouldn’t ask them to look at the amoxicillin problem.

We chose long ago to only work with sponsors who offered real solutions to our readers. This is why we're not promoting inconsequential sponsored products like "Lordships" or coffee mugs. Those can be extremely profitable, but we make sure all of our sponsors are making a difference for Americans, either with their products like storable antibiotics or their companies like Mike Lindell.

It's getting crazier and crazier out there. The midterm elections didn't offer much relief. With the Chinese Communist Party bent on opposing America as well as taking control of Taiwan, it's very likely we will see a full-blown Amoxicillin crisis someday soon. Now is not the time to rely on the Biden-Harris regime or Kevin McCarthy to fix things. In fact, there's NEVER a time to rely on government to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves.

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Editor's Commentary: I know the article below only qualifies as a true "late prepper" article for a handful if our audience, but it's an interesting read nonetheless if only to spark ideas that we can use in our lives. As much as I wish we could all just pick up from where we are, find a secluded homestead with all of the necessary survival gear already set up, and wait out the apocalypse quietly tucked away, that's just not reality for most.

I will be posting more articles with more useful tips and tricks. To be fair, I've been so busy during election season that I haven't had much time to work on my own preps, let alone offer tips. But the election is done so it's time for me to get into it all again, especially considering the election means we're closer now to whatever might make us use our preps.

For those who are actually considering moving to a safer area, it may behoove you to consider one of our newest sponsors and their amazing bunkers. I covered the article below in a short segment on the latest episode of The JD Rucker Show. Below is the article by J.G. Martinez at The Organic Prepper.

Most of us are not exactly farmers and will have a hard time growing or raising what we intend to eat if we just one day decide to start living off our harvests. It is a fact. Hunters and fishers obviously will have an edge after the collapse, but sadly, I am almost sure that in a tribal environment, my social position would not be too high.

That said, maybe joining a tribe after some age won’t be as romantic as it seems. Maybe a better idea, in order to live longer, is to stay low profile and semi-hidden, with only a few close friends and family nearby. At some age, you need some peace.

For many old-school survivalists of times already gone, the proper approach was a complete farm. The amount of work involved with this path is plenty.

The more land you have to take care of, the more problems!

I’ve seen this a few times. Hard-working people who made a few bucks with three or four crops in a row expanded their business by buying another farm somewhere else, and…bang!

With twice the land, their problems multiplied exponentially, and the need for further investment followed.

However, maybe for many of us, the ideal location is not a full-size homestead or a large compound.

A micro-retreat may be the solution.

The word “micro” suggests that something minimal should come to mind. My technical background immediately clicks when I think about anything related to a production facility, and I imagine a highly productive but compact environment.

I have always been fascinated by those overlanders’ custom-built rigs over a Mercedes Unimog chassis. They are compact and space-efficient but comfortable enough for prolonged stays. This is a remarkable example of a well-done micro-habitat.

Also, think about the tiny house movement. Some of those properties are designed for boondocking – living away from civilization and services. (Want to know how to keep your family fed when you have to use a micro-retreat? Check out our free QUICKSTART Guide to building a 3-layer food storage system.)

A micro-retreat doesn’t have to be a micro-producer.

Depending on your family group, or whatever the flavor of “clan” you may have, you could craft a small place quite productive with proper planning, provided you know your climate and your skill level. You could even disguise it as a “vacation” property. The beauty of this is that nobody has to know that your gun safe is in a hidden portion of the basement in your “hunting cabin.” Or, nobody has to know that those PVC DIY empty shelves in your basement will be to grow microgreens to complement your food supply.

Such planning will make your life easier. There will be less investment to make, you will work smarter and not harder (something that will make your senior years more pleasant!), and generally, it will be much easier to keep your place clean and well-maintained.

A “micro-retreat” doesn’t mean you have to restrict yourself to the bare minimum land for your needs.

A plague could attack your crops. Someone could arrive unexpectedly, and you will need some extra. The ideal setup would be a place secluded enough, but where unexpected visitors will be able to stay, if needed.

As an example, you could think of a small greenhouse. You must think in terms of vertical expansion (upwards and downwards)if you want to keep the initial cost of a micro-retreat low enough and to maximize the space. I like to think the positive part of a small setup is that it will be much easier to keep hidden. Planting thorny bushes around will make it inextricable in a few years and will hide your orchard, gardens, and buildings. You may combine this with earthbag DIY construction that you can cover with dirt and some weed or grass grows over an ingenious layout, and it will be almost undetectable.

You may want it as a semi-permanent, permanent, or temporary residence.

The size will depend on what you want, what you need, and what you can afford. That’s the compromise.

Planning includes thinking thoroughly and drawing a sketch with the layout you believe you’re going to need. By dividing your needs into sections, or compartments, you will make sure it will be easier to make a much more complete analysis of what you need.

You need to know what is next to you!

Neighbors? A cliff?

A mountainside that could generate a mudslide? A lake? A river that could flood your place under several days of heavy rains? Hunting/fishing areas? And, by extension, you need to know what you don’t want nearby!

Try to keep things at a proper size using scaling.

What I like about the concept of a micro-retreat is that you don’t need too much space if you are on your own or have a small family. However, having space outdoors will be a big deal, even if your bedroom is a bunk bed on top of a study or desktop. And, if you build an area to hang out, even better.

You may want to use some advice from those who are professionals at living in small spaces.

Use vertical space.

You may even think on three levels, provided you’re in a place with plenty of sunlight:

Level 1: A terrace with a pergola on top. Place solar panels here for Level 3. Have planters all around with spices or flowers. This level could double as a place to drink coffee, have dinner, or hang out. Or work as a watchtower. Make it easy to access with round stairs. Build it pretty, and make sure the water collected by this roof is collected.
Level 2: Maybe some tanks for tilapia or more plants that don’t need too much sun? Perhaps you may want to start the microgreens growing at this level?. A secondary walk-in pantry? Materials storage, like plumbing, wiring, and car spare parts? Your woodworking shop? Butcher room? Smoker/dry food storage?
Level 3: This is a basement.

(Want uninterrupted access to The Organic Prepper? Check out our paid-subscription newsletter.)

Here are a few final thoughts of mine on micro-retreats…

LED grow lights, a small pump for the water/nutrition solution mixture, and shelves with the greens will improve your capabilities to produce highly nutritive vegetables in a reduced space. You don’t need to dig too much. Just do good research on this topic.

Even better, if you can afford more than one, isn’t it always a good idea to have some redundancy in your survival assets? Why not build yet another micro-retreat in a place further away, just in case, then?

You don’t have to “think big.” Especially if the economy forced you to do with what you have.

Wise use of small spaces can be a challenge but very rewarding in the end as well. Let us know what you think in the comment section below and keep tuned for more!

Have you considered a micro-retreat?

What do you think about going small-scale for survival? Have you thought about downsizing instead of creating bigger and more elaborate plans? What do you see as the pros and cons?

Let’s discuss the concept of micro-retreats.

About Jose

Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.

Follow Jose on YouTube and gain access to his exclusive content on Patreon. Donations: paypal.me/JoseM151

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Editor's Note: We do everything we can to filter through the various opinions when it comes to prepping. There is no universally agreed upon strategy. Everyone must assess their own situation and come up with a plan. All we can do is offer some guidance.

For today's (long overdue) episode of Late Prepper, I referenced the article below by Kevin Hughes at Natural News. As I noted in the show, I don't completely agree with everything that's in the article but it's a good starting point, especially for those who are truly late to the game. Here's Kevin's article...

Stockpiling foods that can last for weeks or years is not just a smart way of beating rising food costs. It can also help you save money and be prepared for emergencies.

In the event of a long power outage, having even a small supply of long-shelf life foods, such as dry goods, canned goods and freeze-dried foods, can make a big difference. You’ll also be grateful to have a little extra food at home when you get sick and can’t go out to buy groceries. Because of inflation and rising food prices, keeping shelf-stable foods is a good investment.

Tips for stocking up on food

Remember to stock up on foods that you actually eat or drink. Don’t stockpile foods that you or your family members are allergic to or won’t touch.

When buying groceries, you should also know the exact quantity of food your family consumes on a regular basis; buy some extra. (Related: 10 Tips for stockpiling food.)

Foods from a supermarket or grocery all have an expiration date, which indicates when a food product will start to taste bad. However, some food products are still safe to eat well past their expiration date.

To determine if you should get rid of an expired food item or not, look for signs that the food has gone bad. Bloated or leaking cans, signs of mold or insect damage and a foul odor are just some warning signs that a product is no longer safe for consumption.

You should also stock up on ingredients that you often use in your recipes, like herbs and spices and canned sauces. If your family likes to drink tea or coffee, stock up on them as well.

Pay attention to the foods you want to stockpile and learn to experiment in the kitchen. Before buying plenty, try cooking with a certain food or product to make sure that you really like its taste and you’ll consume it.

Dry goods like salt, sugar, grains, flour, rice and dried beans can be stored at room temperature. Remember that dry goods are historically crucial food supplies that you need to store in bulk for months or years. To prolong their shelf life, you can store them in Mylar bags or other airtight containers.

Ways to extend the shelf life of foods

There are many ways to extend the shelf life of foods in your stockpile. Here are some tips to follow:

Store food in a cool, dry place. Be mindful of the temperature; some foods are fine with room temperature while others prefer freezing temperatures.

Check the humidity in your storage area. Wheat, flour and other dry goods should be stored in a place with little to no moisture in the air. Fresh foods like fruits and vegetables require a specific humidity level to extend the time they can be in storage.

Fats react with oxygen and easily go rancid, so choose foods with low fat content. These foods will keep for long in storage.

Consider reducing oxygen in your storage area since oxidation causes food to spoil quickly.

Use tightly sealed containers to reduce oxidation and make food last longer.

Store foods away from direct sunlight and in airtight containers.

Foods with a long shelf life

When SHTF, having a stockpile of shelf-stable foods will help you and your family survive.

Here’s a list of the best long-shelf life foods to store:

Foods that last 25 to 30+ years: White rice, wild rice, rolled oats, corn, buckwheat and red or white winter wheat; legumes like pinto beans, black beans, lentils and peas; waxed cheese; dehydrated fruit slices; freeze-dried eggs and instant coffee; white flour; dried corn like dent or flint corn; hardtack; soy sauce; and freeze-dried meals like MREs (meals ready to eat)

Foods that last 5 to 25 years: Raw molasses, powdered eggs, dehydrated carrots, ghee, powdered low-fat milk, powdered sour cream, canned goods, freeze -dried bacon and freeze-dried fruits

Foods that last 2 to 5 years: Virgin coconut oil, spices, mustard powder, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, pasta products, canned soup and chili, canned tuna, chicken and beef; pemmican, frozen eggs, jelly, jam, canned fruit, pickled veggies, peppercorns and flavored liquor

Foods that last 1 to 2 years: Regular beef jerky, bouillon cubes, canned tomato sauce, salsa and other tomato-based products; vegetable oil, whole powdered milk, peanut butter, dried raisins, cranberries and cherries; homegrown garlic, pancake mix, ground pepper, frozen broccoli, corn off the cob and vacuum-sealed frozen meat

Foods that last 3 to 9 months: Hard winter squash, long storage apples, long storage potatoes, brown rice, short storage potatoes, breakfast cereal, block cheese, farm-fresh (unwashed) eggs, granola bars, homegrown carrots or parsnips, supermarket garlic cloves, vanilla beans, storage onion, sausage, beer and packaged frozen meat

Foods that last a couple of weeks to three months: Sweet onions, minced jarred garlic, pears, short storage apples, supermarket eggs, regular squash, strawberries, walnuts, garden tomatoes, pumpkin, supermarket tomatoes and asparagus

Foods that last indefinitely: Salt, sugar, baking soda and baking powder, if stored properly

Raw honey, a healthy sugar substitute, can last forever.

Visit FoodFreedom.news for more articles like this.

Watch the video below to learn how to make your own storable food with a long shelf life.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

New study finds corn-based ethanol fuel is actually WORSE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT than regular gasoline.

Carbon taxes are here: World’s largest carbon capture pipeline to be constructed in the Upper Midwest.

BlackRock president: INFLATION will teach VERY RUDE lessons to today’s consumers.

Billionaire BlackRock CEO calls poor millennials “entitled,” promises them “scarcity inflation” (op-ed).

IMF WARNS: Rising shipping costs are affecting inflation, raising prices of everyday goods.

Sources include:

WND.com

AlJazeera.com

Brighteon.com

NATURAL NEWS

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As a "late prepper," I am often forced to sift through conflicting recommendations. I comb through 2-3 hours per day of videos and articles as I learn how best to prepare for whatever is to come. When I see contradictory material, I seek additional perspectives to see who is right. Thankfully, prepping isn't difficult so it doesn't happen very often.

Occasionally, I come across recommendations that are demonstrably bad. I wish I had documented them all, but I was able to compile this short list of things that preppers should definitely avoid. I'll accumulate other pieces of bad advice to share going forward, but here's what we've seen so far...

125 ml Water Packets

This particular piece of advice came from a prepper channel that I generally admire. Everyone makes mistakes, and this was a big one.

Several companies sell mylar packs with around 125 ml of water in them as "emergency water." While these may be useful in a bugout bag for the sole reason that they are less likely to get contaminated over several years, there's a big problem. They're a waste. A case of 64 of them is expensive, coming to around $28 per gallon. Considering that we need 1-2 gallons of water per day, that means someone would need several dozen of them to survive.

In a bugout bag, it may make some sense since we often pack our bags and let them sit for a long time, but if you're checking on your bag every few months then you can rotate out bottled water which is far more economical and can last for a long time.

Create a Post-Apocalyptic Gang

I'm not sure which show this was on but a site I read referenced the "Apocalypse Gang" that had chosen to only prepare for crap hitting the fan by accumulating guns, ammo, and burly men. Their idea was they wouldn't need to store food if they could just go around and take what they wanted from everyone else. This is, of course, a very bad idea.

However, it should act as a reminder that when society starts to collapse, there will be desperate people who will try to take what you have. Firearms, ammunition, and other self-defense resources are imperative in such a situation. It may be a bad idea to plan to rob everyone else, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare for when people try to rob us.

Prepackaged Food Buckets Are All You Need

The reason people buy prepackaged food buckets with various meals in them is for convenience. I can completely understand and appreciate pushing the "easy button" because not everyone wants to or has the time to get into canning, building our own food buckets, freeze drying, or sealing food away in mylar bags. Those who want to simply set it and forget it can visit our emergency supply sponsor, who has plenty of packages available.

From a financial perspective, it makes better sense to build your own buckets. For example, Augason Farms Rice is currently selling for over $60 for a 24 lb bucket. It's convenient and I bought a couple (granted, when I bought them they were $38 but even that is too expensive), but then I learned how easy and inexpensive it is to get my own 5 gallon buckets with lids, 5 gallon mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and bulk rice.

Many stores carry 25 lbs for $10-$15. The buckets at Home Depot are around $4-$8 with lids. Five-gallon mylar bags and oxygen absorbers can be under $5. To make what Augason Farms is currently selling for over $60 takes ten minutes and under $20.

I Don't Need to Be Entertained

In a long-term bugging-in situation, you'll want to be entertained, especially if power and internet are down. Most preppers recommend books, board games, playing cards, or dice among other things that can help pass the time and keep the family's mind off something other than the approaching apocalypse. Psychological health will be challenged in a societal collapse so don't expect to sit around and chat with the family all day, every day, as your way of coping.

My Pets Are My Backup Food Supply

There may come a time when we get so desperate, we're forced to look to unacceptable sources for food. I don't want to recommend it and I'm definitely not planning for it, which is why I won't link to the story that had a chart showing how many calories you can expect to consume from mid-sized family pet.

Only Buy Long Term Food

My plan is to have bug-in food that works in stages. For the beginning when we can't just go to the grocery store for our needs, we have what's available in our refrigerator and some of the expiring pantry items. When those run out, we'll move to our midterm storage items like canned foods, shelf-stable meals, and freezer items. When those are exhausted, I'll pull out the buckets and #10 cans of freeze dried long-term storage foods.

I've heard on a couple of occasions that you should just store food that will last for decades. I can understand why, but it's neither cost-effective nor practical. We will keep our long-term storage food items untouched until we have completely exhausted our more perishable food.

One brief note: the reason that I count my freezer items as midterm storage is because we have a solar generator to keep it running if the grid goes down. If we did not, I would include the freezer items with short-term storage foods because the likelihood of the grid going down seems very high in a crap-hits-the-fan situation.

Focus on Bugging Out Instead of Bugging In

It's funny because around half of the prepper items on the market today are designed for bugging out. Since the most likely scenario for most Americans is one where economic or societal collapse puts us in a bugging in situation, I prefer to make sure I'm stocked up at home.

With that said, we should all be prepared to bug out on a moment's notice. I have a plan for instant bug out scenarios where we only have time to grab our bags and run. I also have a plan for a quick bug out scenario where we know we're going to have to leave in hours or even days. Do not get so attached to your bug-in fortress that you're not willing to leave it if you have to because there are scenarios in which bugging in is simply not an option.

Conclusion

I generally only recommend prepping ideas when I have two or more experienced preppers validating them. If you hear something that sounds weird, double- and triple-check it. Like I said earlier, prepping isn't hard. You just have to be cognizant of who NOT to listen to before the crap hits the fan.

Image by Nestle via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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Every Friday on my show at Red State Talk Radio (listen live Monday through Friday at 2:00 pm Eastern), I answer email questions from listeners. Today, I asked for questions about prepping. I took the segment of that show in which I answer questions and isolated it here.

Below are the questions asked, edited only for spelling and punctuation. If any of them interest you, please take a listen to the podcast itself.

No name - You seem new to prepping so why should we listen to you?

Andy O. from outside Minneapolis - A comment on your Substack said that MRE's are a waste of money, but you had recommended them. Who's right?

Krissy - What do we do about prescription meds if things go south. I cannot survive without them nor can my husband.

No name - What scenarios do you see as most likely making us fend for ourselves? Do you recommend iodine for nuclear war?

Kyle from Denmark - Is Elon Musk a good guy or a bad guy?

Filemone - I have a large family in a crowded city. We have very close friends and family here and we are trying to take advantage of this fact since only one of us even has a big yard and none of us have a lot of space. What can we do to make sure we're taking care of each other?

Sam (Samantha) from Franklin PA - I'm getting mixed signals on gold and silver. Should I buy or should I not?

No name - We are very late to prepping and I have a few thousand dollars to spend. Pretend like we have nothing stocked up yet and tell me what to buy.

No name - Should we leave the city?

Vera from Texas - Our church started an emergency group for people to share their supplies but I've always heard to keep prepping a secret.

Jake from State Farm - I live alone but I have a young son nearby and I'm sure he and his mother will come to me if the apocalypse comes. I have 200 lbs of rice and 50 lbs of pinto beans. I know I need more but how long will that last? Should I buy a food bucket and if so which one?

Ann - How is your meat company coming?

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More Americans are starting to stock up on long-term food storage items, ammunition, and precious metals. This makes perfect sense considering the trajectory of the nation under the Biden regime combined with all of the turmoil that is erupting across the globe. Food shortages are coming, which means society may be on the verge of collapse in the United States in a matter of year, perhaps even months.

Perhaps even sooner.

But there's one important factor that far too few people are considering. One of the reasons I started The Late Prepper was to not only help others but to help myself and my family. The things I am forced to learn while operating The Late Prepper can be invaluable; I often learn much more from the community over there than I read in articles or watch in videos.

The factor that seems to be missing in many preparation plans, especially for those of us who are new to prepping, is what to do if the water runs dry. We are a society dependent on water infrastructure. When the water gets shut off, even for a short time, people tend to have no proper plan. It's the most vital component to survival in this life since we can die after 72 hours without water. Yet it seems like far too many people (including me) are dependent on the faucet continuing to spout forth water or the grocery stores having plenty on hand.

This is the problem that I believe will drive the most people to turn to government assistance like they did in the aftermath of Katrina. If water infrastructure breaks down, most people do not have a plan.

Now's the time to make one. On the latest episode of The Late Prepper, I clumsily tried to describe in 17 minutes how to secure water and why it's important. It's not me best show, not by a longshot, but I like to do things live so we're sticking with it. Hopefully there are some nuggets of usable information in there. If anything, hopefully I portrayed why it's so important to be ready for whatever is to come.

First and foremost, we need to be able to filter our water. Many use Berkey, but as I noted in a recent article and podcast, I chose Alexapure. Either works, and there are likely others that are nearly as good. Having a proper water filter expands your potential sources for water should the crap hit the fan. If you can get plenty of water from rain, streams, rivers, lakes, or ponds, then you're in better shape than most. All you need is a water filter and a decent amount of stored water and you're good to go.

For those of us who do not have a sufficient nearby supply, that means we have to store it. Considering humans need somewhere between one and two gallons of water per day, that means a lot of storage space. The containers to hold the water are not necessarily cheap. I keep about 350 16-oz bottles of water on hand for immediate needs. Beyond that, I've been getting collapsible 5-gallon containers since the stackable hard-plastic ones ones are so expensive. I also got a WaterBOB even though one of our sponsors sells one as well. The WaterBOB is bigger - no brainer there.

Those who can afford the price and space for much larger water storage should definitely get that now. A common size is 300 gallons, and while that sounds like plenty it would actually only last one or two months for a family of four.

The bottom line is this: Make a plan for what you will do if water infrastructure goes down. If you can't get water from the faucet and the stores are empty or inaccessible, there are only three options:

Make a plan that combines storage, filtering, and acquisition of water without standard infrastructure available

Become beholden to government

Not survive long

I'm being blunt about the options because water is THAT important. Don't wait. Get your plan together. When you're done, start looking for backup options. Without water, you're done.

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In the world of gravity water filtration systems, there are two names that rise far above everyone else. If you think one of those names is Brita, then I'm glad you're reading this and listening to the podcast because your standard water filters just won't cut it in a societal collapse and you need to know that now. Sure, they make the water taste better but that's just about it.

Berkey and Alexapure are high-dollar water filters that actually filter water. If things go south, as we expect they probably will soon, we could all find ourselves in a situation where we desperately need water to survive. You can only go about 72 hours without water before dying. If the water from your tap turns off or gets contaminated, you'll need to have alternative supplies of water and a way to filter it.

I set forth on the quest long ago of determining which of the two top water filtration systems were the best. I read reviews and watched plenty of comparison videos, and invariably they all said the same basic thing: Both filter systems are great. They work the same way, they're comparably priced, and the few real advantages for one or the other aren't really gamechangers.

One of the big differences is that Berkey is much more well known. When I finally made my decision last night, I did so knowing that my sponsor sells Alexapure but not Berkey. As much as I love supporting my sponsor, I chose to buy a Berkey (temporarily) because one of the arguments I heard in its favor made sense. There are more Berkey filters in circulation right now which means replacement parts will likely be easier to find in a crap-hits-the-fan situation. That tipped the scale for me to go to Berkey.

Then, I went to buy it. What I've seen in reviews that were made recently, some of them just a few days ago, is that both the Big Berkey 2.25 gallon filter and the Alexapure 2.25 gallon filter are around $270 each. Apparently, that changed dramatically. As of April 11, 2022, the Big Berkey is listed at BerkeyFilters.com at $387 ON SALE from $405. It was the same price without the discount on Amazon.

The Alexapure at our sponsor's site is still at $279.95, though they may follow Berkey's play and raise their prices as well. If they do, I'll be glad I bought it before the price hike.

One might say it's petty that I changed my mind over $109, but at this stage every penny counts unless you're rich. I bought the Alexapure. I also realized that the argument of more availability of replacement parts for Berkey is probably moot because in a true crap-hits-the-fan situation, how are we going to get replacement parts from them anyway? I ordered the bigger package of Alexaure with four filters and a pack of replacement parts, so I should be good to go with potable water for at least five years... assuming I can find water when the crap-hits-the-fan. That's another problem altogether, one I'll address in a future installment.

Buy your Alexapure Water Filter now.

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Many of the folks who follow this website and podcast are seasoned preppers who probably already know everything I'm about to post. In fact, they probably know a whole lot more than I do about the various "hobbies" people should consider taking up now that it seems like some sort of societal collapse is imminent.

For the rest of us who are just getting started, it can be challenging to change everything and take on a "prepper lifestyle." One of the first things I did after making my plan was to think of the various skills I would like to acquire before it becomes too late to do so easily. I replaced old "hobbies" with activities that can help me and my family survive. In a way, these activities have become hobbies themselves, though far more productive than watching Netflix or going bowling.

Here's a very incomplete list of things we all can consider doing to use our time that's not spent working or with family. Some of these activities are things that we can do WITH our families, so it can be doubly productive. I've grouped them into three basic categories — food, outdoors, and self-defense. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of others that could be added to this list, but I wanted to use this as a primer for others to list their ideas below.

Could you replace any of your current hobbies with some of these survival-productive actions?

Food Prep

Gardening - This is the ultimate way to establish food security that can last for a very long time, perhaps indefinitely.

Canning - I've never gotten into canning, though my wife has. She's starting again very soon.

Sprouting and Growing Microgreens - This is one of those little miracles I wish I'd known more about long ago. It's so easy, doesn't take much space, and even a non-green thumb like me can do it.

Dehydrating and Freeze Drying - For those like me who do not have a lot of outdoor space for a garden, I consider freeze drying or dehydrating food to be the most important. Freeze dryers are very expensive but dehydrators are not, but freeze dried food lasts years or even decades longer than dehydrated, it tastes better, and it retains more vitamins and minerals. On a side note, those interested in receiving an update when our own organic freeze dried chicken company is up and running, please email me at jdrucker@substack.com

Beekeeping - I know nothing about keeping bees. I just heard it was a great hobby and I love honey!

Outdoors

Camping - While I try to focus on securing for a bug-in situation, it would be foolish to not be ready if we're no longer able to secure our home. That means more than just having a bugout bag. It means having the skills necessary to survive and even thrive out in the world. Camping is the perfect way to practice, plus it can be fun for the whole family.

Hunting - It may become necessary to secure your own meat. If supplies run dry, that means going out and killing what you can find. It's not for everyone, but some of us actually enjoy hunting.

Fishing and Trapping - Just like hunting, but with less gunfire. Trapping and fishing can be relaxing as well. As with hunting, it's not just killing the animal. It's about learning the skills to properly collect the meat.

Survival Skills Practice - Even if you can't go out and do the things listed above, you should take time to practice survival skills. You may have the equipment to start a fire or secure a campsite, but do you have the skills? Make sure you do before you HAVE to make sure you do.

Self-Defense

Firearms Practice - If you own a firearm, you should be as proficient as possible with it. I used to take my kids shooting at least two or three times a month. When my little ones are older, I'll do the same.

Archery - This is often seen as a skill to have in lieu of a firearm. I consider it a separate and equally important skill to have, especially considering the ammunition can often be collected and reused.

Self-Defense or Martial Arts - Whether things collapse or not, being able to take care of yourself is becoming increasingly important. Things are getting crazy out there and oftentimes that craziness can find you in your own home. Be ready and well-practiced at taking care of yourself should someone want to do you harm.

One things I didn't mention in the podcast is that I've started devoting my reading time to two types of books: The Bible and survival guides. I haven't read a fiction novel in over a year, though I have many saved and ready to go should we get stuck bugging in for an extended period of time with limited forms of entertainment.

If you have time to sit around in front of the television, you have time to improve on your skills and current situation. The "prepper lifestyle" doesn't have to be all or nothing. Easing into it by replacing some current hobbies makes sense in today's rapidly devolving world.

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The primary goal of starting my new Substack, The Late Prepper, was to offer tips and create a forum through which people of different experience levels could share what they've learned along the way. In many ways it was self serving; I learn as much from the comments as I learn from anywhere else. The community is just getting started and it has already been extraordinarily useful. It has been a great blessing to me and my family.

I never intended it to be a place where I could share geopolitical news demonstrating why we all need to start or continue prepping, but recent emails have made me change my mind, even if just a little. There are still millions of Americans who are not taking the coming challenges seriously enough, so every now and then I'll be posting articles that will hopefully invoke a sense of urgency. Like many, I'm late to the prepper game but there are far more people out there who do not yet appreciate how dire our situation really is.

There are three things that drive me to the belief that things will get far worse than they are today in American society. The first is the fertilizer crisis which I'll allow Michael Snyder to detail below. The second is an incessant string of "dramas" that offer no moments of relief. I'm not referring to the frivolous dramas of the past surrounding celebrities that acted as distractions from real issues (though we saw that pop up again recently with the Will Smith slap). The dramas of today have real world consequences, whether it's Pandemic Panic Theater, the war in Ukraine, or supply chain issues inexplicably being allowed to continue.

Today's dramas have an impact on our lives and it seems there is an endless string of them hitting us anew with every news cycle.

The third driving factor is The Great Reset. It may very well be the overarching cause of everything else we're seeing in the world. As the globalist elites push for inflation and a breakdown of the capitalistic system, we are nearly powerless to address these enemies directly. Their power and wealth makes them untouchable to the rest of us. Nothing short of divine intervention seems capable of halting their destructive machinations.

We are going to see food shortages at a massive scale unlike anything the vast majority of living Americans have ever experienced. It could cause a complete breakdown of society; as a people we are ill-prepared for true adversity on the home front at a scale like the one we face. There is already so much tension in this nation even though we still have an abundance of resources. How far south will Americans turn if there's no food at the grocery store or if they can't afford a gallon of gas?

The old motto used by many in the past is to hope for the best but plan for the worst. I will never try to terrify people with overblown predictions of apocalypse, but I won't try to placate people by lying to them and saying everything seems to be heading in the right direction. It's not. We must be prudent, and that means getting ready for the food shortages and other points of turmoil that loom directly in our nation's path. That trajectory can still be changed, but I'm not holding my breath. Instead, I'll be holding onto my food, firearms, and supplies. If everything turns around and life goes back to normal, praise God! If things continue down this dark path, praise God for giving us the discernment to prepare as best we can for it.

Here's Michael's article from The Economic Collapse Blog about fertilizer...

The Global Fertilizer Shortage Means That Far Less Food Will Be Grown All Over the Planet in 2022

I never imagined that I would be writing so much about fertilizer in 2022. When I was growing up, there were only two things that I knew about fertilizer. I knew that it helped stuff grow and I knew that it smelled bad. But these days, experts are telling us that a global shortage of fertilizer could result in horrifying famines all over the world. Right now, to a very large degree we are still eating food that was produced in 2021. But by the end of the year, to a very large degree we will be eating food that was produced in 2022. Unfortunately for all of us, it appears that a lack of fertilizer will mean that far less food is grown in 2022 than originally anticipated.

Thanks to an unprecedented explosion in energy prices, we were already facing a fertilizer crisis even before the war in Ukraine, but now that war has definitely taken things to the next level.

Under normal conditions, a great deal of the world’s fertilizer comes from either Russia, Belarus or Ukraine…

A fertilizer shortage has added to growing concerns about the Ukraine war’s impact on the price and scarcity of certain basic foods.

Combined, Russia and Belarus had provided about 40% of the world’s exports of potash, according to Morgan Stanley. Russia’s exports were hit by sanctions. Further, in February, a major Belarus producer declared force majeure — a statement that it wouldn’t be able to uphold its contracts due to forces beyond its control.

Russia also exported 11% of the world’s urea, and 48% of the ammonium nitrate. Russia and Ukraine together export 28% of fertilizers made from nitrogen and phosphorous, as well as potassium, according to Morgan Stanley.

Global hunger rose significantly in both 2020 and 2021, but what we are going to be dealing with in the months ahead is going to be completely unlike anything that we have dealt with in the past.

In fact, one commodity expert that was interviewed by CNBC is extremely pessimistic about what is ahead…

“All of this is a double whammy, if not a triple whammy,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “We have geopolitical risk, higher input costs and basically shortages.”

We have never seen anything like this before.

Since the beginning of 2021, some fertilizer prices have “more than doubled”, and some fertilizer prices have more than tripled…

Some fertilizers have more than doubled in price. For instance, Melek said potash traded in Vancouver was priced at about $210 per metric tons at the beginning of 2021, and it’s now valued at $565. He added that urea for delivery to the Middle East was trading at $268 per metric ton on the Chicago Board of Trade in early 2021 and was valued at $887.50 on Tuesday.

And in some parts of the globe it is even worse.

In Peru, fertilizer prices have experienced an “almost fourfold” increase…

The global fertilizer squeeze exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is imperiling rice production in Peru, where the seed is a staple for tens of millions of people.

Prices of the crop nutrient urea have surged almost fourfold amid supply scarcities, adding to cost inflation for growers, according to the Peruvian Association of Rice Producers.

That same article goes on to explain that many farmers in Peru won’t be able to afford to plant crops at all this year.

If that sounds familiar, that is because this is something that I have been warning about for months.

In particular, here in the United States it simply is not going to be profitable for many farmers to grow corn this year, because corn needs a high amount of fertilizer.

All over the world, far less fertilizer will be used in 2022, and that means that far less food will be grown.

There will be famines, and one expert is even warning that food scarcity will “touch people in the lower income distribution in North America”…

“We’re talking about an erosion of food security on a scale we have not seen for a long time, and I think it will touch people in the lower income distribution in North America,” he added.

But as long as you have a decent income, you will still be able to go to the store and buy food in the months ahead.

It just might cost you a lot more.

During a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, farmer Ben Riensche warned that Americans could soon be paying a thousand dollars more a month for their groceries…

“Soaring fertilizer prices are likely to bring spiked food prices. If you’re upset that gas is up a dollar or two a gallon, wait until your grocery bill is up $1,000.00 a month, and it might not just manifest itself in terms of price. It could be quantity as well. Empty Shelf syndrome may be starting.”

Can you afford to pay $1,000 more for groceries every month?

If not, you better stock up now while prices are still relatively reasonable.

Of course there are certain things that you will not be able to stock up on because they simply aren’t there.

Shortages are intensifying all over the country, and in particular we have seen an alarming shortage of pasta begin to happen in certain stores. The following comes from an article that was just posted on All News Pipeline…

First, it was Eggs and now it’s also Pasta.

The eggs have been missing for well over a week now and yesterday morning I was surprised to see the pasta was also mostly bare. Also, some of the shelves have the old COVID trick of pushing everything together and up to the front of the shelf!

This is Sioux Fall SD!

No eggs for over a week!

Very little pasta left!

Of course the shortage of eggs is related to the shortage of pasta, because eggs are used in making pasta.

I have been trying to explain to my readers that this new bird flu pandemic is going to be a really, really big deal. As I mentioned yesterday, 28 million chickens and turkeys are already dead in less than two months, and things are already so bad that pasta is starting to disappear from our store shelves.

If things are this crazy already, what will conditions be like six months from now?

You might want to think about that.

I have been trying to sound the alarm about a coming global famine for years, and now it is here.

Global food riots have already started, but what we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

Like I said at the top of this article, for now we are still eating food that was produced last year to a large degree.

Just wait until we get to the end of this year and beyond.

It won’t be pretty.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, and I hope that this article will give you a sense of urgency to take action.

Unfortunately, most people still assume that everything will turn out just fine somehow, and so they won’t do anything to get prepared until it is far too late.

*It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

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One of the most important aspects of preparing for whatever is to come is putting yourself in the best situation possible. Whether you're living in an urban, suburban, rural, or wilderness setting, you may feel different levels of security and anxiety based on the circumstances that continue to present themselves. Some sort of collapse, whether it's economic, societal, governmental, or a combination, seems to be very possible. I'd put it at a 30% chance that it will happen in the coming years or even months. I'm an optimist. It could be closer to 99% but I like to hope for the best... and prepare for the worst.

Some of us are pretty much stuck in our current situation. Family considerations prevent me from leaving Neo-Marxist California despite my strong desire to do so. I'm making the best out of the situation my family is currently in and seeking ways to improve that situation all the time. Others may look around, consider their resources, and decide that now's the time to break away and live off the grid.

Then, there are those who prefer a more crowded setting because they feel the potential for assistance outweighs the benefits of being secluded. Perhaps you have enough friends and family locally that you want or even need to stay in close proximity with now or when the crap hits the fan.

Whatever your situation is, now is a good time to assess three aspects of your living circumstances. Soon, we may not have the choices we have today. It's best to do an honest analysis as soon as possible. Here are three of the things to consider:

Assets and Liabilities

How you prepare for whatever is coming is often a series of decisions based on what you have available and what you're missing. For example, we live in an area away from fresh water supplies. Unfortunately, we're very dependent on infrastructure staying intact, at least for running water. We've prepared with filters and some water storage, but I find myself always seeking more room and ways to store water effectively. I have my Alexapure filter system if I can find sufficient water around me, but I'm still looking for it. We even bought a kiddie pool that gave us fun for the little one and extra water storage if all hell breaks loose.

Others who live close enough to fresh water that they can collect it whenever they need do not have such concerns. On the other hand, rural and wilderness settings can pose different liabilities if things go very south. It's a very good idea to take stock of what you have and don't have in your nearby environment when preparing for a collapse. That way you're making adjustments to your plan and the advice others are offering. If I lived by a river, I wouldn't be storing away nearly as much water, but I'd definitely be storing far more medical equipment knowing that if someone in my family gets very ill or injured, it's up to members of the family to try to make it better.

Threats Around You

In nearly every situation anyone is currently in, there will be threats that arise. These threats are normally other people who are desperate and who will do you harm if they think they can gain from you. I have tried to get to know and understand my neighbors for this very reason. I'm also aware of likely threats in nearby neighborhoods should things turn very south.

An old work acquaintance once told me a story (to this day I don't know if he was kidding) about a conversation he had with his elderly neighbor. It was around the time Obamacare was rolling out and she told him she had stored away a couple hundred thousand dollars in gold and silver just in case there was an economic collapse. She asked him if he had gold and silver stored away, and he told her he did.

"How much?" she asked.

"A couple hundred thousand dollars worth," he told her.

"What a coincidence," she said. "Where do you store it?"

"In your house, just in case there's an economic collapse," he said.

Seemingly nice people will do crazy things to survive. It's important to know who your threats may be and to be watchful when things turn south. By no means am I promoting paranoia or recommending turning in your neighbors because they looked a little too long inside your garage when it was open, but being aware can be very helpful in the wrong situation.

Allies

The most important thing for those who do not choose to live in solitude off the grid is to talk about all of this now with people you trust. Even those who aren't as aware as you about the current state of affairs and where we're headed will surely know that things aren't very good and they appear to be getting worse. You may help them to start preparing. Then again, they might surprise you and tell you about the network they're building.

Local networks of trusted friends and family will be among your most important assets if the crap hits the fan. Groups will form with or without you. Many of these groups will be together with the sole purpose of taking from others. There are numerous other reasons you'll want to have a network and a plan, but protection from others is a big one.

Start asking. Start talking about it. You may be surprised and find someone in your inner circle is already working on a plan. You may want to start building your own plan as well. Based on proximity, you may be able to help each other stock up on certain things. For example, if you know Bob has lemon trees in his backyard and they produce 500 pounds of lemons per year, this knowledge can help a proper network plan accordingly.

Trying to be ready for everything is an impossible task and can cause anxiety. Instead, assess your situation and plan as best you can. Peace of mind goes a long way when things start getting really bad.

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It's no secret that meat prices have been going up for some time. It started a little bit before Joe Biden was installed into the White House as Pandemic Panic Theater caused some early challenges. But once the Biden-Harris regime got started, prices started rising steadily.

Now, it's getting much worse. Most of the grain produced in America is used as animal feed. With fertilizer prices skyrocketing from the Ukraine-Russia war, so too is the cost of raising livestock. Add in the bird flu that's hitting America at the exact worst time and suddenly reliably inexpensive chicken is turning into a premium.

We are in that moment in history when it's time to get stocked up every way you can on meats. Below are the best ways to make that happen, as I discussed on the latest episode of The Late Prepper. One omission from both this list and the show is meat that we can ourselves. This should not be viewed as a knock on those who can their own cooked meats. It's valid and some swear by it. I simply couldn't put it on this list because I have no personal experience with it. If you want to add canning meat to your personal list, by all means do so. Here's my list...

Own Chickens

God gave us a wonderful gift with livestock and fowl. They're essentially a way to turn land into protein. Milk, eggs, and meat are available to those with the resources, sufficient land, and the right circumstances. Anyone who CAN raise and keep chickens should do so as soon as possible. They are pretty easy to raise and tend, though there are definitely drawbacks such as noise and odor. It's challenging in residential areas, but it can be done. My aunt does it in her small backyard and my family has spent time helping to raise them. The fresh eggs are wonderful.

The same goes for those truly blessed who can keep cattle. They require a lot more work and a lot more land, not to mention zoning issues that must be addressed in certain areas. But if you have what it takes, you should consider it.

One quick note of warning: In a true "crap hits the fan" scenario with societal breakdown, there's an added risk of theft. Be prepared to defend your animals or to simply let them go to the marauding groups who may be roaming the land at the time.

Store Frozen Meat

This is the easy button, albeit not the least expensive. Freezer space is a premium for many, so it can be challenging to store enough. Plus, freezers are dependent on electricity, so in a very poor situation if you do not have a sufficient generator whatever meat you have frozen that doesn't get eaten in time must be canned or wasted.

Most frozen meats packaged in airtight bags can last for a couple of years. It's important to repackage meats you buy at the grocery store with their thin and air-filled plastic and Styrofoam wrappers. Make them airtight with a thick bags and a vacuum sealer before refrigerating. This reduces freezer burn, extends the overall storage life, and saves precious space.

Buy Freeze Dried Meats

This is the ultimate long-term solution for those with enough money to invest. Even if you have your own chickens or cows, you'll want some meat freeze dried in case of disaster that takes your livestock away. Moreover, the 25+ year shelf life is very attractive.

Freeze dried meat retains much of its quality and most of its nutrients. It can be expensive and it's getting more expensive every week. It's for this reason that we're working towards launching our own organic freeze dried meat company. Those interested in get an alert when we launch should email me at jdrucker@substack.com — if enough interest is there, we will get started immediately.

Canned Meats are Acceptable

There's nothing wrong with certain canned meats, especially fish. I'm not a fan of canned chicken or beef, but I have a lot on hand in case things turn further south. I want to save my freeze dried meats for the very end, so canned meats will be the intermediary between frozen and freeze dried.

Canned meat can go a long way as well when providing more flavor and texture to meals. Adding it to beans and rice, potato, or pasta dishes can help bring some normalcy back to what we expect will be a very abnormal society in the near future.

Packaged Meats Work in a Pinch

Jerky, meat sticks, pemmican, dehydrated cooked meats, and other types of packaged meats are generally heavily processed, low in quality, or both. Don't get me wrong. A good chunk of beef jerky can really hit the spot, but these types of meats are generally not great for feeding a family in the long term. I keep jerky in my bugout bags but we do not stock up on them for a bug-in situation.

With that said, some of you might love the stuff.

Fear Not

As I like to remind fellow Christians, things may get pretty bad in this world but our promise is for the next. Stay hopeful and be prepared, but most importantly pray and read your Bibles. Fear isn't required for those who know how the story ends.

If you are interested in getting an email alert if (when) we launch our organic freeze dried meat company, please send me an email at jdrucker@substack.com

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Let's be clear up front. By no means am I suggesting that calories aren't important or that we shouldn't be aware of the number of calories in foods that we purchase for long-term storage. It would instantly discredit me as a "late prepper" if I would say such a thing.

What I'm suggesting, which goes against what the vast majority of preppers teach, is that determining how much food we have should not be a calculation of calories divided by 2,000. Since the recommended caloric consumption of an adult is around 2,000, most preppers look at that to determine how many days, weeks, months, or even years of food they have. I look at it differently. I count meals.

One of our goals as we prepare for a potential cataclysmic downturn in the United States is to have enough food, water, and supplies to prevent dependency on government. If things continue to get worse and food shortages become so bad that we can't just run to the grocery store to feed our families, then we'll have two choices. We can either feed ourselves with the supplies we have or we can get in government-generated breadlines to accept whatever they want to give us. I don't want to stand in any lines and I don't want anything given to me by government because it always comes with a catch.

Counting meals is slightly different from counting calories because it means planning for a life of semi-normalcy. If and when the crap hits the fan, I do not want to be eating beans and rice every meal every day just because that's the only thing left once my pantry and refrigerator are empty. I want to make sure I have a strong variety of foods for an extended period of time. I want balance. That means I count meals.

For my family, we've determined that a proper "meal" is at least one breakfast item, one or more lunch items, and a proper three-item dinner. So, a breakfast meal can be a bowl of oatmeal with some freeze dried fruits, for example. Lunch could be a can of chicken noodle soup and some pilot bread. Dinner would be one grain, one vegetable, and one protein.

Counting breakfast meals is easy since it's not going to need the same variety as the other two meals. Many Americans today eat the same thing for breakfast pretty much every day, so it's not a huge change if breakfast is always oatmeal and fruits. That makes it easy to determine how many breakfast meals we have. But for those who want a nice variety, I recommend our sponsor's breakfast kit with pancakes, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs among other items.

Lunch is similar, but with more variety. We have determined that three cans of soup and four pieces of pilot bread can feed us a proper lunch. Of course, lunch is often interchangeable with dinner but with slightly smaller portion sizes. Again, I'm going off the standard American eating model. In other cultures, breakfast or lunch are often larger than dinner.

With dinner comes a bit more need for counting and calculations. I like to test everything rather than go off the recommended portion sizes on the packages. For example, a bag of rice says a portion size is 1/4 cup dry. We've found that for a proper, filling but not wasteful dinner, we need 1.25 cups of rice, or five servings, to feed our family of four.

The vegetable portion of our dinner is a little less flexible. One can of green beans isn't quite enough but two cans is far too much, so we count a can of green beans as a single vegetable portion for our meals. As for the protein, we know that we won't be as flexible because of how quickly meat can go bad after its package is open, so we count it by weight. For example, a small can of corned beef is enough for two meals, likely a dinner followed by tomorrow's lunch. But one of the larger cans of beef can actually last for five full meals, which means we will have five meals in a row with that beef so we don't waste it to spoilage.

The exception in all of these is when we have meals with multiple components in one container. For example, our sponsor's Traveler's Stew is legitimately good and cost-effective for long-term storage of about 20 meals. It already has the grains and the vegetables, but one should add meat to the meal for additional calories and protein.

By looking at our food supplies as meals, we're able to balance it out properly. I made the semi-mistake of stocking up on beans and rice early. I say "semi" mistake because it's actually a good practice to have plenty available, but don't let that be the only food you stockpile. It's tempting because it's inexpensive and makes for a nearly complete meal, but we don't just want to survive. We want our family to live properly even after the crap hits the fan.

After stocking up on rice and beans, it became necessary to balance it out by adding meats and vegetables. For dinner and often lunch, we want full meals. That means having the right components to fulfill our needs. We can't just count calories or there will be an imbalance. Variety is good for sanity and sanity is necessary for survival.

Once I had an understanding of how much proper portions were to feed my family, I started a simple spreadsheet so I could track how many complete meals I had. I didn't get too detailed. I wanted to know how many breakfasts and lunches I had, plus how many servings of each of the three dinner components I had. By doing it like this, I quickly determined that I didn't have nearly enough lunches or dinner vegetables. If I didn't do this, during a long term food supply challenge we would have eventually seen our meals become less complete. Counting meals allowed me to stock up a balanced array of foods and made it easier to grow my supplies accordingly.

One quick note: Don't let the quest for balance become a reason to not grab great deals. Just because I had plenty of rice on hand didn't mean I was willing to pass up on a $10 bag with 25 lbs. of rice. I hopped on that and bought four. It created an imbalance, but it was a smart move nonetheless. Now when I see a good deal on vegetables or meat, I won't have to balance it out with more grains.

I know I can feed my family for a couple of hundred days. When I have extra funds, I add to this number by buying properly. I know what I need to buy based on counting meals, not calories. And I assure you we'll be more fulfilled this way than if we purchased 1.8 million calories worth of random, unmatched foods.

We offer these podcasts and articles for free, of course, because getting ready is for everyone. If you’d like to support us, please consider our sponsors for emergency supplies as well as physical precious metals.

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With Joe Biden announcing recently that there will definitely be food shortages in the United States and people like me warning that it was coming for a while, it's clear that the need for personal food security has never been greater in the United States. There has always been hunger and even starvation, but it appears that food shortages are going to affect the majority middle class in America as well.

When I started recording this podcast, I did so thinking I could get through the entire list of items I'd like people to stock up on immediately. Unfortunately, I barely made it through the food items before reaching my time limit, so in the beginning you'll hear that I was going to go through the whole thing. We'll cover the non-food items tomorrow.

Here are the nine food items you need to stock up on now before they become scarce. Prices are already going up. For transparency, some of the links below go to our sponsor, My Patriot Supply, but I assure you I did not take their products into consideration when making the list. In fact, I made the list, did the show, and then thought as I was writing this article that I should probably include links to any of the products they happen to sell that I've tried and that I'd honestly recommend whether they were a sponsor or not.

Beans and Rice

This is the obvious one. Well, two. I consider them to be one because the combination of amino acids found in each form complete proteins, an important necessity for survival.

Beans and rice make for the perfect survival combo for two important reasons. They give you lots of calories necessary for survival at relatively low prices; excellent bang for the buck. They also can be stored with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers for a very long period of time.

My Patriot Supply sells a 100-serving Beans Trio and Rice Kit. (Sponsored)

Pasta and Sauces

Pasta is easy to store long-term. Sauce is a little trickier, but since we're talking about immediate needs, the shelf-life of 2-5 years for most sauces fits this list.

We have to consider food fatigue when getting ready for food shortages. If someone wanted to survive off beans and rice with vitamin supplements for years, they probably could, but who wants to live like that? Pasta is a great change of pace.

My Patriot Supply sells delicious Creamy Alfredo Pasta. (Sponsored)

Canned and Otherwise Preserved Meats

I'm not a fan of canned meat. Cans of chicken or beef are often disgusting to me, with the odd exception of canned corned beef which I love. Canned fish is fine. I load my freezer with nothing but meat, but my worst nightmare for that is a grid collapse in which my backup electrical supply won't be able to keep the freezer going.

I'm a carnivore within a family of carnivores, so having enough meat on hand is important. We'll obviously have to make sacrifices if things keep going south, so I'll have to bust out with the canned meat in such a circumstance. Thankfully, it's not terribly expensive as of right now.

What I like better than canned meat is freeze dried meat. It's expensive and growing scarce, but I have a few #10 cans of it that will last a long time and act as great additions to emergency meals.

For this, I'm going off-sponsor to recommend Mountain House, though as of right now they're out of stock. A good alternative is Augason Farms.

MREs

This may not be a viable option by the time you read and/or listen to the podcast. The prices on MREs are skyrocketing. Ones that I bought on Amazon just a couple of months ago are up 50% or more today.

There's a reason for this. Meals Ready to Eat are complete and therefore perfect for people who want to stock up for their immediate needs. Most of them are acceptable, but a few of them are actually quite tasty. Complete MREs come with everything from coffee and gum to a flameless heating sources to warm up your food.

If I recall, I said during the podcast that MREs through My Patriot Supply were about $12 each when sold in a 12-pack (Sponsored). This is great compared to the $20-$30 you'll pay for one on Amazon. Since then, the price at My Patriot Supply has gone up a little bit. It's still cheaper than Amazon, but it's a sign of the times that they're going up. Everything is.

For those who do not need the full package with all the goodies, I like shelf-stable foods. My favorite is KJ Poultry. They last 3-5 years without refrigeration and I've enjoyed all the flavors I've tried. They don't look anything like they look on the box, but they taste good and they're loaded with calories.

Flour or Wheat Berries

There is conflicting data about flour if you listen to the various prepper channels. Some say even in mylar bags you only get a couple of years out of it. Others claim up to 10 years with oxygen absorbers. I'm hoping for the latter because we have a lot of flour. Just as my family is made up of carnivores, we also love our bread and my wife bakes the best in the world.

Wheat berries are a good alternative that everyone agrees can be stored for the long-haul. But they require milling which means either electricity or expending calories with a hand mill. We do keep some, but know that it's an additional inconvenience compared to just keeping flour.

We like Bob's Red Mill; it's a little more expensive than others but if you can order it in bulk it's not too bad. One trick we learned that may or may not still be valid is to NOT order it through bulk packages. When we tried to order a 25-lb box, checkout wouldn't give us free shipping because you can't get free shipping on bulk. Instead, we ordered five individual 5-lb bags. Even though it was more expensive than the bulk version, the final price was actually less because of the free shipping.

Thanks to a comment on this article, we learned that Bob’s Red Mill is “woke.” We don’t support woke companies, so we’re pulling this recommendation. Time to find a new flour supplier; please leave recommendations in the comments.

Vitamin C Drink Mix

Vitamin C isn't the easiest thing to get in a crap-hits-the-fan situation. It's ubiquitous today but can be very challenging to get during the apocalypse.

We like orange drink mix AS LONG AS IT HAS A LOT OF VITAMIN C. You may be surprised how many citrus drinks do not have much Vitamin C in them. I get the #10 cans from My Patriot Supply (Sponsor) because they're one of the few that also gives some Vitamins A and D. Plus, it's delicious.

Fats and Oils

Fats and oils are the long-term storage killer. Even in the refrigerator they go bad quickly. Olive oil can last a couple of years unopened, so in the immediate scenario it's one of the best. Here's a list of expected shelf-lives for oils.

For longer term, I'm a fan of butter powder. In fact, I'm a fan of sprinkling a little butter powder on popcorn today. It lasts a long time if properly stored and in the apocalypse, it can provide the much-needed fats when regular oils have expired.

I like Anthony's but I'd recommend repackaging it if you want to store it long-term.

Egg Powder

I've said it multiple times in this article and podcast but I'll say it again: Proteins are essential. Egg powder is extremely versatile and can be added to almost anything. It's also decent as a standalone egg alternative, though nothing can improve on the God-made perfection of a fresh egg cracked open and fried for breakfast.

This is the ONLY product I'd recommend from ReadyWise. I know a lot of preppers recommend them, possibly because of sponsorship or because they're relatively cheap compared to other survival food companies, but as someone who has tried them I can tell you that they're not going to make you happy. I even had to tell one of my buddies who had sworn off freeze dried foods that if he tried some of the other brands, he might change his mind. He did.

With that said, their eggs are pretty decent.

Dehydrated or Freeze Dried Fruits and Vegetables

Today, it's easy and inexpensive to get fruits and vegetables. That may not be the case soon, especially with fertilizer prices going through the roof. You'll need fruits and vegetables to enhance your diet with the necessary vitamins.

Canned vegetables can work for the short term. For long-term, I recommend freeze dried. Dehydrated is fine and much less expensive, but here's the thing. Freeze dried tastes much better, retains nutrients better, and lasts longer than dehydrated fruits and vegetables. If all you can get is dehydrated, so be it. If you can afford freeze dried fruits and vegetables, go that route.

My Patriot Supply has an excellent variety pack of fruits and vegetables. (Sponsor)

In Conclusion

Please don't wait. I've said it many times in the past but I need to reiterate that I have never been a "Chicken Little" alarmist about this stuff. I'm ringing the alarm bells now because it's a real threat. Food shortages are coming to America. The more food you can store away now, the easier it will be to survive without becoming a dependent of the government. Self-sufficiency is one of the keys to preserving our freedoms, and I'll always fight for that.

The other thing I'll always fight for is the faith. No matter how much food, water, and ammunition you have stored, it's all meaningless on Judgment Day. Making sure that you're spiritually prepared is infinitely more important than insuring your survival in this life.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lateprepper.substack.com

Anthony's Premium Butter Powder, 1 lb, Gluten Free, Non GMO, Made in USA, Keto Friendly, Hormone Free

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I don't panic. That's just not my thing. The combination of my faith in God and years of seeing things through in my life and the lives of my family have taught me that there's a distinct difference between acting with purpose and freaking out. I prefer the former, and right now I'm making preparations for the purpose of addressing what I believe is happening in the world today.

This is my first official article and podcast on The Late Prepper Substack. It's just a quick intro, but I one thing I didn't mention in the podcast is the format that I'll be applying to this Substack. There will be videos posted regularly that give hands-on advice to people who are either not very well prepped or who haven't really started prepping at all. These videos will also be turned into podcasts. I'll send emails to subscribers for each UNIQUE piece of content, so there's no need to worry that there will be separate emails for the videos, podcasts, and articles covering a single topic.

With that said, here are the five basic reasons I'm becoming a prepper now. This is why I believe everyone should make the move at this time in history...

Things may hit the fan now or later - Long-time preppers have been warning us for decades that at any point, the s may hit the fan. They've always been right; only God knows what's coming and it makes sense to be prepared. But other than a brief time following the passage of Obamacare when we got some bugout bags and a couple of food buckets, I've never taken prepping very seriously. Today, I am because I'm cognizant of what's happening around us. Never in recent history has it seemed more likely that the s really may start hitting the fan soon. Pandemic Panic Theater, Ukraine-Russia, and whatever else they have planned for us can all change the world by the themselves. When combined, the results can and likely will be catastrophic.

If you don't do it now, you may not get a chance later - There's a term that has been finally making its rounds on corporate media and at watercoolers across the nation, a term that too few ever thought about until recently. That term is "supply chain." With all of the strains being put on getting goods from manufacturers to distributors to retailers to consumers, we've already seen major changes. Here's the thing. When the dominos really start falling, the collapse will be sudden. We saw that with toilet paper in 2020. Now, apply that to pretty much everything else. Today we still have access to most of what we need. Tomorrow, that may not be the case.

Prices are going up - No need to explain. You're living through it just like the rest of us.

A proper prepper lifestyle is sustainable - Arguably the most important lesson I've learned over the last year is that prepping is not about having spare food to throw in the closet and forget about for 25 years. It's about building a life around maintaining proper levels of food and other items that we already eat and use. It's for this reason that I've been kicking myself for not getting into prepping earlier. Better late than never, right?

Joseph - The Bible tells us a story of sorrow and purpose when it describes what Joseph went through in his life. There are many extremely important lessons to learn from his story, but the most relevant to what we're talking about here is the way he prepared Egypt for famine. As those who know the story likely understand, this was all part of God's plan to preserve Israel, but at the time Joseph thought he was simply preserving Egypt. Some tell me it's sinful to be a prepper because it takes away from faith in God. I look at it as sustaining for the sake of God's plan in my life and the lives of my family.

Tomorrow, I will be releasing another podcast that details why this took so long to put out. I have actually recorded several shows already, but the rapid changes that have been taking place just over the last two weeks prevented me from launching The Late Prepper when I wanted to a week ago. Again, better late than never, right?

There will be plenty who do not buy into the notion that we should be doing anything to prepare for what's to come. Don't listen to those people. They simply want their friends and neighbors to be just as unprepared as they are so if the s*** hits the fan, they won't feel dumb for not getting ready.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lateprepper.substack.com

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