My husband was reading in a catalog that we just received – it was a baking catalog. At the bottom of one of the pages was some fine print. He felt impressed to read it.
Now mind you, he is busy and usually does not spend his time reading the fine appear initially.
The company stated in that fine print why the prices for their baking mixes had risen so tremendously. They listed three reasons:
- alarming fungus has now attacked European wheat
- drought has greatly impacted the wheat harvest in the U.S.
- farmers were choosing to grow corn instead of wheat, because the price return was far better
As my husband shared these with me, we both had the same thought. The scriptures contain many prophecies about the droughts and famines which are coming. Can you envision a day when a man would rather have a wheelbarrow of wheat rather than a wheelbarrow of gold? Yet when food is scarce, this scenario does not seem too far-fetched.
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
“Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. . . . As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year’s supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness” (“If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 36).
What if tomorrow there were no more wheat? What then? What if there were nothing on the store shelves in the way of other foodstuffs? What then?
Just a few months back I took a trip across my state to my church’s cannery – a place where you can put up food to last for a while. I was surprised that the price of powdered milk had just doubled! When I asked why, I found out it was because the price of feed for milk cows had skyrocketed.
Do you know that less than 1 % of Americans are actually farmers? What if something disrupted our current food chain? Are you ready? Do you have food stored for a “rainy day” (or when no rain comes at all – much as now has happened for two towns that I know of which have run dry of water).
If you don’t yet have a system started, begin today! Go to the store and purchase in double at least one item. Every time you shop, purchase at least one additional item in double. You don’t have to go into debt to have a food storage system, but if the day comes when wheat is no longer available, will you be ready? Think how many foods rely on grains. The time is now to get serious about storing food … and water.
This blog will help you learn how. So check back often!
