fear is starting to grip ..

Mack12345 · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 02, 2008 Posts: 78

It seems to me that fear is starting to grip some of those most vulnurable to peak oils impending economic woes .
I work as a stocker at a major grocery store chain "yeah I know , laugh it up Razz

" and I have noticed HUGE spikeing in sales of easily stored non pereshables such as Rice, beans , canned meat .
One item that seems a bit off my personal radar but that in the last 6 months has more than trippled its sales volume is canned gravy .

In my observations it is the poorest people that are "stocking up/hordeing" . Its common to see a poor family pushing around a cart that is 50% non perashable canned goods "Spam, ect" .
I have even heard talk more than once recently amoungst coustomers "Grab a few more cans of chili to put back with the rest" , "Get a few more cans of spam if we dont eat it this month it will still be there ."

The tone smacks to me that the very poorest in our country "Single parent homes, Elderly/disabled fixed incomes" arent just worried about a energy crisis induced ression but are in fact down right terrified of a full blown depression .

Sales of fresh meats/produce plummeting while sales of canned/dried beans/rice/meats skyrocket ... people are getting a wiff of smoke from the burning house .

Muckingfess · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

As I belong to one of the groups you mention, fixed income senior, I have to say you are correct. Each time I go to the store I am thinking "just another can of tuna, or chili, or one more bag of rice, etc". It's amazing how this method can build your storage without hurting too much.

I recently had to go a month without transportation. I did just fine. My storage practices fed me nicely and a short walk to the convenience store filled in a gallon of milk, the only item I ran out of.

I now am continuing with my storage program as well as starting to add to the armory. you can never have enough ammo.
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Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1971

Wow.

Does that say it all, or what?

When Americans think LTFS, they think, "canned gravy."
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Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.

vision-master · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

I'm filling a closet with this kind of stuff. $100 here, $100 there with the above items.

Mack12345 · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 02, 2008 Posts: 78

Yeah at my store at least keeping canned gravy on the shelves has become a problem . Infact pretty much all canned meat/beans and dried rice/beans "esp in large size bags" have all become very hot items .. requireing much larger orders , more shelf space , ect .
At the same time fresh products "Meat/produce" is in a fairly sharp decline . Overall my stores sales are pretty stable but the money is being spent VERY differently than it was 6 months ago .
Fresh Meat/Produce, novilty items "Grils, oven mits , aprons, cookbooks,ect, ect " are all WAY down .. I have been around the grocery buisness a while now and i have never seen a slump in these respective items that is even close to this one .
Canned/dry Beans/Meat/vegatables have all simply went thru the roof in demand .. its everything my store can do to keep enough on the shelves .

The canned gravy still confuses me though ... why would a can of gravy be preferable to a can of chilli ?

:D

Man its really starting to scare me . I mean I really thing low scale hording has already started .

Duende · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:49 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

Canned gravy - the best thing since sliced bread?

Kingcoal · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:52 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

Processed grains like pasta or bulk rice could be worth their weight in gold in the future. They have a very long shelf life and contain a lot of carbs per unit volume and right now they are cheap. Stock up.
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Leanan · News Editor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 4533

That guy who wrote about surviving the collapse of Yugoslavia recommended canned gravy as a great investment. Better than gold. Because you can put it on anything and make it taste better. Can't eat gold.
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"The problems of today will not be solved by the same thinking that produced the problems in the first place." - Albert Einstein

Jack · Dark Lord Joined: Aug 11, 2004 Posts: 5089

Welcome to Peak Oil, Mack12345. I'll look forward to other reports from the front lines.

Cool

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Cochise · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 13, 2008 Posts: 51 Location: LA

Mack12345 · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 02, 2008 Posts: 78

Normaly this time of year we have a HUGE spike in fresh meats "Steaks, chicken , hamburger, hotdogs" due to the fact that a lot of folks in my area "South eastern tennessee" like to cookout/grill on the fourth of july holiday . Its just not panning out this year .. Hamburger meat and hotdogs are up a good bit but steaks, ect are pretty much flatlinned ... while spam sells so fast we cant order it fast enough .
Guess a lotta SpamBurger / Canned gravy cookouts this year Razz

Some of the coustomers in my store .. especiasly old timers that are on fixed incomes and have been around long enough to know when hardtimes are commin are pretty up front about the fact they are indeed hoarding food .

A nice old gentelman shopper that I routinely talk to every month arround the first of the month when he does his shopping now buys 7 cans of Spam , 7 cans of Tuna and 7 cans of catfood extra each month to "squirl away" as he puts it .
He says he started doing it after hearing talk that truckers might strike becase gas is so expensive and that if they did shelves might empty rapidly .
I asked him why those three items and why 7 of each and he said Spam for daddy "him" , Catfood for the baby "His cat" and Tuna becase the two of them both like it ... and in 7's becase its his lucky number .

vision-master · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:40 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

I've been buying by the case. Thanks for the headup on canned meat. Time to add to the stores. Razz

Good rice is getting harder to find.

socrates1fan · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 04, 2008 Posts: 284

Canned food is cheap.
People are trying to cut back but the idea of trucker strikes sort of freaks a lot of people out.
Meat is getting cheap though. Our local Meijer and Wal-Mart are selling meat at low prices and "buy 1 get 2 free!".

vision-master · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:58 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

IanC · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:22 am Post subject: Re: fear is starting to grip ..

Okay, I'm sold. Time to start stocking up.

I'm sure I could dig through the forum to find an exhaustive discussion of what to stock up on, but how about a top 5-10 list from some of you?

Seems like people like:

1. Canned meat ('n gravy).
2. Rice
3. Pasta
4. Cooking oil
5. canned vegetables
6. baking additives: salt, baking powder, yeast, etc.

Any more "must haves"?

Thanks!

-Ian