Weird Place To Find Survival Food In A Disaster
Weird Place To Find Survival Food
In A Disaster
Did you know that during the Hurricane Sandy strike to New York City, that it forced even everyday people like you and me to go “dumpster diving” in search of food?
A friend of mine saw it with his own eyes when he was trapped in NYC by the storm.
In fact, in our continuing research on “survival food”, I wanted to share with you a true story of a valuable survival lesson my friend stumbled upon during Hurrican Sandy…
You see, my buddy, Adam, was traveling to NYC right before the hurricane hit and thought he could get out of the city before the Hurricane hit.
Unfortunately all flights were cancelled earlier than expected and Adam was stranded.
His first thought was of stocking up on food and water for the next 72 hours to 1 week.
But when he went down to the local grocery store, the shelves were just about picked clean (he got the last few gallons of water actually).
Faced with not enough food, he decided to check the local phone book for an alternative.
What he found, to me, is an amazing survival secret…
The Hidden Treasure Of Groceries
In Your Neighborhood
You see, while the local “big” grocery was ravaged by locals who don’t take disaster food storage as serious as you and I… the local ethnic stores were stocked full of food!
Adam found a treasure trove of food at a small, local Mediteranean grocery and stocked up on tons supplies for the duration of the disaster.
Here’s what to take away from this…
- If you’re traveling, always carry a small amount of “travel food” (eg. nuts, energy bars) with you so you’re not as desperate when disaster strikes.
- To stock up when an actual crisis hits, DON’T “follow the herd” down to the local big grocery. That’s where tensions run highest and violence can break out. Instead, look in the phone book for a local ethnic store that most people don’t even know about.
- Know which items to stock up on that will sustain you and your family the longest and keep you from picking through dumpsters for food.
Yes, even when you’re traveling, you need to put together a tactical “get home bag” in case a disaster strikes. You never know when it will hit and a true survivor and protector is NEVER unprepared, right?
As another example, Asian stores are plentiful and overlooked. Plus they have a large amount of dried food in them because most of it is shipped from their home country.
You want foods that you can pack away in your “bug-out bag” and will keep without refrigeration.
Don’t Make This #1 Mistake When
A Disaster Is Headed Your Way…
Never take chances when it comes to your protecting yourself and those you love in a disaster.
Most people just ignore the disaster warnings and think it will blow over and all will be back to normal in a day or two.
They’re too often wrong…. and families suffer loss as a result!
You and I aren’t like them.
You know that it’s what you do NOW that prepares you for any crisis.
Build your personal “bug-out bag” (like this) that you can store away now and you’ll take off a lot of stress knowing that your supplies are taken care of, even if you have to leave home.
In our guide, we also include ideas of the best survival foods for your bug-out bag.
Comment test
“look in the phone book for a local ethnic store” When is the last time you saw a phone book?
I have several phone books like many do including landline phones which is
better then cells in times of trouble. you also have many phone books on line
Dumpster diving after Hurricane Sandy wasn’t due to desperation but rather because New Yorkers aren’t going to pass up free food, Food doesn’t have to be ruined to be unsaleable, only cosmetically impaired.. Fairway, a large supermarket located in Red Hook, Brooklyn took a better tact and invited the community in to take food from their flooded premises. Given that the residents often occupy high rise projects that had no electricity (and hence no water on the upper floors) this was a God send.. Consumer loyalty has significantly increased.
Great advice! Also look for canned meats (SPAM, chicken, tuna); canned vegetables (get large cans); and canned fruits in syrup. Don’t worry about getting low-sugar or fat-free or low-salt: in a stressful bug-out situation you’ll need the calories to keep up your energy level.
Where I live there are several companies that drop off phone books at the mailbox once a year. I keep two and recycle the rest. One stays in the house and one goes in the car, just in case I need to find something or someone and there isn’t cell service.
This was suggested mostly out of my friend’s recommendation because he was traveling in the city and there was no power. No internet to look up a local store so he found a phone book in the hotel he was at and was able to look it up. You can of course see what’s in your own area with the internet now (pre-planning), but it’s good to also know that there are places you can still find a phone book outside of your normal AO, like offices, hotels, etc.
Interesting… and probably a good move to avoid looting anyway, eh?
This past week on my front door stoop. In our area they come on things called ‘homes’. lol
LOL! That’s funny Michael! 🙂
Actually, there are still some local public phones that have them saw one at a mall the other day. They’re still around and other places to check may be local convenient stores or other businesses that keep them handy for customers and employees.
It might sound disgusting ….. But you can also hit the local pet stores. The canned food is very eatable.
This is true, in my younger days I worked in a food distro. warehouse (Vitaroz). And on weekends I did my food shopping there first from damaged can goods at a dirt cheap price. eventually what was not sold was picked up by a dump truck.
Not that funny. I have a BA in criminal justice and lost my job a few years ago because of my GWI. anyway to make a long story short, I along with my family became homeless and our accounts were depleted. I eventually got into a rental thanks to the United Way veterans program. five years later I have still not recovered fully. homelessness can happen to anyone.
Man, i haven’t seen a public pay phone in ages either. I guess we’re pretty screwed out in my neck of the woods! Lol
If you have a truck stop anywhere close by ,there is always a pay phone in there for public use
What is GWI?
It is unofficially know as the Gulf War Illness. This is believed by many Doctors to have started with the same shots that immediately killed the lab rats, just before we were injected. If I am correct last I heard the count was over 300,000 vets infected are suffering today from the multiple ailments caused by this injection. I am not complaining about my country nor about my service. I love both my country and my service, I just want what every other veteran that suffers from the GWI wants, and that is a simple cure. But for that to happen the government has to admit what they exposed us to, Just like the agent orange with Vietnam Vets. With all this said, I just want to say GOD BLESS AMERICA and OUR TROOPS.
I really don’t recall why I even made this statement, and somehow turned the conversation in a different direction. I guess it is just one of my side affects (temp to mid term memory lost). and s**t happens.
Didn’t mean any disrespect Joe, and was just referring to the fact that phone books are still distributed. You’re absolutely right about hard times falling on anyone, and I wish you and your family the very best. I’m a strong advocate for support for my brothers and sisters in arms who are coming back from battle. The effects last far longer than the war itself… a lifetime… and we simply don’t do enough to help those who have sacrificed so much.
Stay strong brother. My prayers are with you and your family.
Thank you Jeff, and not to worry, I’m not offended. we are all here to give different point of views, while maintaining a peaceful conversation.
By the way Jeff, I am a fan of yours, get plenty of emails.
Great advice here, from the article and others in their comments! And ALWAYS keep at LEAST one easy to operate manual can opener! What is really convenient is to stock-up on the smaller cans of various foods with a pull-tab top for easy opening, less waste!
On GWI…. I was really pissed off when this came about and did extensive research on it. My daughter and future son-in-law were both in Iraq at that time.The facts were alarming.
The
GWI is actually the result of a vaccine for Anthrax. The
vaccine was made by a Swiss company that used the protocol of “oil in water” rather than “water in oil”. This method is rejected by almost all countries for any vaccine but
is cheaper to make the vaccine.
There were 20,000 doses made and delivered to the US which in turn gave them to soldiers in Iraq.
VA records report that there are roughly 19,500 cases of GWI reported and under treatment programs (as of a few years ago ).
The US government, Army, and Swiss maker rejected any correlation, responsibility, or wrong doing between the Swiss vaccine and GWI.
There is NO cure for GWI. It will give the veterans a life time
disability.
To this day, I check before receiving even the flu vaccine to make sure it was produced in the USA.
BTW: The US government has stock piled roughly 100 million doses of smallpox vaccine. Finding out where they were made is near impossible.
I use mine every day. All those I do business with is in the Phone Book. It is you that needs to wake up. Chances are you are one of those that relies on an electric gadget to get him any place. It is truly too bad as those that get directions from one of them usually gets hopefully lost.
Wow, the comments here are really old!
What you eat is all in your mind. Here’s a tip when you can’t find food even in the ethnic food stores. While people are killing each other over dumpster food you sneak down to the local pet store. Load up. Most of the things in their food is edible fish chicken beef pork. It may sound discusting but its better than starving and some of it doesn’t taste to bad. (don’t ask me how I know.)
would be a good idea to do a story on pay phones. I work in telecom…when pay phone trunk lines stay up in most disaster situation..they are stand alone and are self powered. Example in earthquakes they will shut down voice cell and local voice lines (texting will still work). However pay phones should still be in use
I have lots of phone books…I also have to drive 60 miles for groceries…
Its only a matter time to see if government can get any test results out of the vaccine to judge its effectiveness (risk factor included)
I am a regular at the local Asian Food market. They sell smaller varieties of beans( quicker to cook), just added quinoa. Prices reasonable too. I am thinking thermos cooked meals. Dry food boiling water seal in thermos overnight. No odor to attract people, until you open and eat.