Choosing Between Food & Healthcare

We live in Southeastern Virginia. We’ve already had one major flooding incident in our area recently, and we are bracing for more. It rained every day for seven straight days. And we were dangerously close to the path for Hurricane Joaquin. We are expecting non-stop rain for the next several days. Our ground is already saturated, and the rivers and creeks are overflowing. It is inevitable that our area is going to flood.

This is deceptive rainstorms we’ve been facing. We’ve all been warned to treat it like we would a major snowstorm. We are not expecting massive thunder or lightning, or even high force winds. The rain will be a constant, steady downpour, not too heavy, maybe even at times fairly light. But with the saturated earth, and overflowing waterways, our roads will flood, power will go out, and homes are in danger of flooding, as well.

I volunteer part-time for a local non-profit that provides access to free healthcare for the poorest residents of our community. Most of our clients are single mothers with multiple children, with no job, or father in sight. They depend upon programs like food stamps, and charities like ours, to provide for their children. This week these families were invited to come in to receive free dental care. As our doors opened many families began to call in to cancel their appointments. They explained that it was the first of the month, and they had just received their food stamps. They needed to hurry up and get to the grocery store.

When I heard that families were canceling their much-needed, and much-wanted dental care to go grocery shopping I was confused. Why couldn’t they go to the store after the dentist?

Someone more compassionate and astute than I explained that food stamps only buy certain foods. 

There is a storm coming and the first items in the store to go will be the milk, eggs, bread, and cereal – the exact things that food stamps can buy. Our clients needed to get to the store before these items were gone, because they couldn’t buy other items.

I went to the store after work and realized just how right my co-worker was. I looked around and noticed that the shelves were barely stocked, and customers were quickly buying up the obvious basics. It was a very humbling moment for me. Families were giving up precious healthcare to get milk and bread. The poorest of families couldn’t get to the store yesterday when the shelves were full. They had to wait for their food stamps. Meanwhile, individuals like me, that didn’t need to wait for the first of the month and could have better prepared in advance, were keeping these families from gaining access to the essential foods they needed.

It made me think twice about which items I purchased. If I bought a loaf of bread it may keep a needy family from getting it. I have a generator I can pull out and use if necessary (I truly hope it doesn’t come to that). If that happens, I will be able to cook for myself. But a family on food stamps won’t have a generator if they lose power. Food stamps don’t always buy fruits and vegetables, but I can. I made sure I got items I could eat raw, without the stove, oven, or refrigerator. A family that can’t buy fruits and vegetables needs the bread for sandwiches when the power goes out. I left the bread at the store.

Compassion and consideration for those less fortunate than me – one more reason to better plan my food storage and emergency preparations for the future.

Is Your Home at Risk in a Natural Disaster?

(This informational blog is brought to you by Hikingware.com, reminding you that even though natural disasters cannot be avoided, they can be planned for. Do your planning NOW, with help from Hikingware.com.)

Wildfires have ravaged more than 8 million acres in the U.S. in 2015 alone. And in just the first two weeks of May, nearly 150 tornadoes touched down in the U.S.

Many American homeowners might still be surprised at the risk their homes face of getting hit by a natural disaster in the near future. A report released this week by real estate research firm RealtyTrac found that 43% of U.S. homes and condos — that’s a total of 35.8 million homes — are at a high risk or very high risk of at least one type of natural disaster. The report examined 2,318 counties nationwide and assigned each a score of natural disaster risk score from 0 to 300 based on their risk of wildfire, hurricane, flood, tornado and earthquake; the higher the score the higher the risk of natural disaster.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that there were three times as many natural disasters from 2000 through 2009 as there were from 1980 through 1989, of which nearly 80% were due to climate-related issues. Furthermore, “during recent decades, the scale of disasters has expanded due to increased rates of urbanization, deforestation, environmental degradation and to intensifying climate variables such as higher temperatures, extreme precipitation, and more violent wind and water storms,” the study authors note. The impacts of this trend are devastating the natural environment, people’s lives and their homes: “Since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards,” a report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, an independent, non-governmental humanitarian organization studying displacement, reveals. “This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second.” That’s unlikely to change anytime soon. The report notes that “the trend over decades is on the rise,” meaning that more people are displaced from their homes now than in previous decades. By one estimate, twice as many people are displaced from their homes because of natural disasters than were in the 1970s.

The states with the most homes in high or very high risk counties, according to the latest RealtyTrac report, include California (8.4 million homes at high risk), Florida (6.7 million), New York (2.4 million), New Jersey (2.3 million) and North Carolina (2.3 million). The cities with the most homes in high-risk counties are not surprisingly (due to their large number of homes): New York (3.5 million homes at high risk), Los Angeles (2.5 million), Miami (1.9 million), Houston (1.2 million), and Riverside-San Bernardino in Southern California (1.1 million). Buying a home in a high-risk natural disaster area is, of course, risky due to the increased likelihood of being affected. It may also be a bad financial move even if you’re heavily insured: “In lower risk natural disaster markets, home price appreciation is steadier and larger over the last 10 years,” says Daren Blomquist, the vice president of RealtyTrac. Home sales prices in counties with a low risk and very low risk for natural disasters increased an average of 6.6% and 9.5%, respectively, between 2005 and 2015. Meanwhile, home sales prices in counties with a high risk and very high risk for natural disasters decreased 2.5% and 6.4%, on average, over that period.

However, home values in high-risk areas tend to be higher than in low-risk areas, and over the last three years, home price appreciation has been stronger in higher risk counties than in lower ones.  And of course, many people have to live where their jobs are — disaster-risk area or not — so it’s important that they have sufficient insurance coverage to make sure they are protected in the event of a natural disaster.

Be Prepared For Every Situation

Aside from adequate insurance coverage, it’s important to remember that clean food and water may become scarce in the event of a disaster. That’s why we provide Propur water filtration systems, emergency MREsand food storage equipment to make sure your family is prepared for every emergency with clean water and safe, delicious meals. With HikingWare.com, you’ll be prepared for any situation with quality survival equipment from our online store.

Choosing the Right Food Storage Equipment

Whether you're on a quest to prevent food waste or you want to store emergency foods more efficiently, plastic, glass, and metal containers can do the job. But some food containers are safer and last longer than others when it comes to personal and environmental health. Long-term food storage is an important aspect of emergency preparedness and it can be difficult to manage food reserves for extended periods of time, so consider adding our MREs to your food storage kits to be fully prepared for every situation.

For those interested in the easiest ways to safely store foods for extended periods of time, we’ve put together the most important tips for storing and preserving foods.

•    Know the code. On the bottom of plastic food storage containers, you’ll find a tiny triangle with a number in it (resin identification code) ranging from 1 to 7, indicating the type of plastic. In general, the safest choices for food use are numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5. That's because number 3 is vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 6 is polystyrene and 7 can be various plastics. Some plastic containers with the resin codes of 3 and 7 may contain Bisphenol-A (BPA).

•    Go BPA free. BPA is a chemical used in manufacturing polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, including some food packaging. Since BPA can leach from plastic containers into foods and beverages, especially when the containers are heated, it may pose a potential risk to the environment and your health, notably your children's health.

•    Keep it cool. Though polycarbonate plastic is strong and long-lasting, it can break down over time from high temperatures and overuse. Never microwave foods in plastic food containers, including margarine tubs and restaurant carryout containers. Plastic containers from packaged microwavable meals shouldn't be reused after their initial use; they're safely designed for one-time-use only.

•    Recycle as appropriate. Not enough people are doing this! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. only recycled about 14 percent of plastic containers and packaging in 2012. Nearly 12 million tons was disposed! This can contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, impacting the health of the environment.

•    Go with Glass. Glass is overall a safer bet for food storage than plastic. Glass can be safely used for hot foods or liquids. (Ceramic, stoneware or stainless steel containers can be safe bets, too.)

•    Use and reuse. You can reuse glass containers since they don't pose harmful risks to environmental or personal health. They don't leach potentially harmful chemicals when in contact with food.

Canned Foods

And canned food, in particular, can stay safe for extended periods of time. In 1974, scientists at the National Food Processors Association in Washington, D.C., got their hands on several old cans of food. Janet Dudek, now semi-retired and living in Vienna, Va., was among the scientists who analyzed this old food. Her assignment was a can of corn, vintage 1934, that was found in someone's basement in California. When they opened the can, Dudek says, the contents looked and smelled pretty much like ordinary canned corn. Analysis showed that it had most of the usual complement of nutrients — although there were lower levels of a few, such as vitamin C. 

Results were similar for century-old canned oysters, tomatoes and red peppers in cans recovered from a sunken steamboat, buried in river silt near Omaha, Neb. Dudek says, as far as she knows, nobody actually tasted this food. That just wasn't done, she says. But they probably could have. "It would have been safe to eat if the can itself maintained its integrity," she says.

Following these simple guidelines for food storage can save you time, money and keep your family save from harmful plastics or spoiled food when it matters most. Make sure your family is prepared with emergency MREs and proper food storage equipment from Hikingware.com today!