What's in YOUR PANTRY?

A few years ago, the Washington D.C. metro area was haunted by a man who was driving from town to town killing people at random.  These innocent victims were just doing the everyday things like filling up their cars at gas stations, waiting for the bus, coming out of the store from shopping at Wal-mart and Home Depot.

With 9-11 still fresh in their minds, the panic that plagued the people in this area was surreal.  I know, because I lived there.  My husband had filled up his car at the same gas station that someone had been shot and killed the very next day.  It was as if people were being hunted.  No one knew when or where this person would hit next.  News reporters began giving lessons on how to avoid sniper attack.  In public, people were always looking over their shoulders, hiding next to the gas pumps "just in case", walking in zig-zag, indirect lines to their car in the parking lot.

Eventually, many people stayed home entirely just to avoid the possibility that they could be the next victim.  No one wanted to admit it, but there was a lot of panic going on.  During that time, I too wouldn't go anywhere unless I absolutely HAD to.  This included the grocery store -- thankfully, we had a good enough supply of food in our pantry that this wasn't really an issue for us.

It occurred to me, that we never can fully predict what will keep us from having access to food.  It might be as simple as an illness or a car needing to be repaired that would keep you home for a few days.  But when emergencies come up that prevent you from buying food at the store for weeks (weather, electricity, transportation strike or other food shortages to name a few), it's ALWAYS wise to have several meals on the shelf that could be made without a trip to the store.  In fact, the recommendation is to have about 3 months' "regular" food (that you typically eat, canned or packaged) available at any time.