Okay, I am a little bit passionate about this topic. Sorry for the long post!
After reading Caribou's post here, giving us a head's up about COVID in January of 2020, I got busy, making sure that I had more of long term dairy stuff in my fridge, such as the irradiated milk and cream that has a much longer shelf life.
Food Irradiation: What You Need to Know
I talked to my daughter and took her to Costco, in late January and late February, telling her to get extras of things like T.P., paper towels, and things that I know she eats and uses regularly. She was unemployed at the time, and I wanted her to be prepared. If she were not prepared, then I would be impacted as well. I told her about something in China that had the country locked down and that it was likely to become world wide, so lets get foods stocked up for her. She does not believe in prepping, but she was right on board with it. She got through the initial lock downs very well with being prepared and stocked up. She is still using that rice from the 25 pound bag of rice that I strongly suggested she get. I consider that a big win!
I also began having a few conversations with friends at dog parks and otherwise, about this thing in China and what we might want to do to get ready for it. The responses and reactions from different people was interesting. One guy has a whole garden set up in his basement with grow lights, shelves, heat mats and keeps a freezer well stocked of all kinds of meats and prepared meals. He cooks all kinds of interesting foods from around the world and is always experimenting with making all kinds of things, such as his own cheeses, breads, sausages and interesting foods. Without ever saying we are preppers, I so got that he was. Other people looked at us like we were crazy and did nothing. I later heard that some people had relatives send them t.p. in the mail, because they just buy one package at a time. I had people say that this is how food shortages happen, people buying more than what they need to eat in a few days. OKay, then. Carry on!
I hoped that the pandemic woke some people up to prepping, and I believe that it probably did for some. I believe that people who were maybe LDS and had not been stock piling began to work on their long term pantries as reported to me by LDS friends. I saw some other groups where people said they had been told to prepare, but had just never bothered to, and where do I start? Beans and rice to start, then begin to fill in the gaps!
While I avoid water in plastic, I do believe it is wise to always have a few cases of it for emergencies. I keep looking for glass 5 gallon jugs (used in brewing) and prefer those for storing water, along with a dispenser. I do have plastic 5 gallon jugs, which I found for free, but I prefer glass for water storage.
Enough for now!