The Late Prepper

The primary goal of starting my new Substack, The Late Prepper, was to offer tips and create a forum through which people of different experience levels could share what they've learned along the way. In many ways it was self serving; I learn as much from the comments as I learn from anywhere else. The community is just getting started and it has already been extraordinarily useful. It has been a great blessing to me and my family.I never intended it to be a place where I could share geopolitical news demonstrating why we all need to start or continue prepping, but recent emails have made me change my mind, even if just a little. There are still millions of Americans who are not taking the coming challenges seriously enough, so every now and then I'll be posting articles that will hopefully invoke a sense of urgency. Like many, I'm late to the prepper game but there are far more people out there who do not yet appreciate how dire our situation really is.There are three things that drive me to the belief that things will get far worse than they are today in American society. The first is the fertilizer crisis which I'll allow Michael Snyder to detail below. The second is an incessant string of "dramas" that offer no moments of relief. I'm not referring to the frivolous dramas of the past surrounding celebrities that acted as distractions from real issues (though we saw that pop up again recently with the Will Smith slap). The dramas of today have real world consequences, whether it's Pandemic Panic Theater, the war in Ukraine, or supply chain issues inexplicably being allowed to continue.Today's dramas have an impact on our lives and it seems there is an endless string of them hitting us anew with every news cycle.The third driving factor is The Great Reset. It may very well be the overarching cause of everything else we're seeing in the world. As the globalist elites push for inflation and a breakdown of the capitalistic system, we are nearly powerless to address these enemies directly. Their power and wealth makes them untouchable to the rest of us. Nothing short of divine intervention seems capable of halting their destructive machinations.We are going to see food shortages at a massive scale unlike anything the vast majority of living Americans have ever experienced. It could cause a complete breakdown of society; as a people we are ill-prepared for true adversity on the home front at a scale like the one we face. There is already so much tension in this nation even though we still have an abundance of resources. How far south will Americans turn if there's no food at the grocery store or if they can't afford a gallon of gas?The old motto used by many in the past is to hope for the best but plan for the worst. I will never try to terrify people with overblown predictions of apocalypse, but I won't try to placate people by lying to them and saying everything seems to be heading in the right direction. It's not. We must be prudent, and that means getting ready for the food shortages and other points of turmoil that loom directly in our nation's path. That trajectory can still be changed, but I'm not holding my breath. Instead, I'll be holding onto my food, firearms, and supplies. If everything turns around and life goes back to normal, praise God! If things continue down this dark path, praise God for giving us the discernment to prepare as best we can for it.Here's Michael's article from The Economic Collapse Blog about fertilizer...The Global Fertilizer Shortage Means That Far Less Food Will Be Grown All Over the Planet in 2022I never imagined that I would be writing so much about fertilizer in 2022.  When I was growing up, there were only two things that I knew about fertilizer.  I knew that it helped stuff grow and I knew that it smelled bad.  But these days, experts are telling us that a global shortage of fertilizer could result in horrifying famines all over the world.  Right now, to a very large degree we are still eating food that was produced in 2021.  But by the end of the year, to a very large degree we will be eating food that was produced in 2022.  Unfortunately for all of us, it appears that a lack of fertilizer will mean that far less food is grown in 2022 than originally anticipated.Thanks to an unprecedented explosion in energy prices, we were already facing a fertilizer crisis even before the war in Ukraine, but now that war has definitely taken things to the next level.Under normal conditions, a great deal of the world’s fertilizer comes from either Russia, Belarus or Ukraine…A fertilizer shortage has added to growing concerns about the Ukraine war’s impact on the price and scarcity of certain basic foods.Combined, Russia and Belarus had provided about 40% of the world’s exports of potash, according to Morgan Stanley. Russia’s exports were hit by sanctions. Further, in February, a major Belarus producer declared force majeure — a statement that it wouldn’t be able to uphold its contracts due to forces beyond its control.Russia also exported 11% of the world’s urea, and 48% of the ammonium nitrate. Russia and Ukraine together export 28% of fertilizers made from nitrogen and phosphorous, as well as potassium, according to Morgan Stanley.Global hunger rose significantly in both 2020 and 2021, but what we are going to be dealing with in the months ahead is going to be completely unlike anything that we have dealt with in the past.In fact, one commodity expert that was interviewed by CNBC is extremely pessimistic about what is ahead…“All of this is a double whammy, if not a triple whammy,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. “We have geopolitical risk, higher input costs and basically shortages.”We have never seen anything like this before.Since the beginning of 2021, some fertilizer prices have “more than doubled”, and some fertilizer prices have more than tripled…Some fertilizers have more than doubled in price. For instance, Melek said potash traded in Vancouver was priced at about $210 per metric tons at the beginning of 2021, and it’s now valued at $565. He added that urea for delivery to the Middle East was trading at $268 per metric ton on the Chicago Board of Trade in early 2021 and was valued at $887.50 on Tuesday.And in some parts of the globe it is even worse.In Peru, fertilizer prices have experienced an “almost fourfold” increase…The global fertilizer squeeze exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is imperiling rice production in Peru, where the seed is a staple for tens of millions of people.Prices of the crop nutrient urea have surged almost fourfold amid supply scarcities, adding to cost inflation for growers, according to the Peruvian Association of Rice Producers.That same article goes on to explain that many farmers in Peru won’t be able to afford to plant crops at all this year.If that sounds familiar, that is because this is something that I have been warning about for months.In particular, here in the United States it simply is not going to be profitable for many farmers to grow corn this year, because corn needs a high amount of fertilizer.All over the world, far less fertilizer will be used in 2022, and that means that far less food will be grown.There will be famines, and one expert is even warning that food scarcity will “touch people in the lower income distribution in North America”…“We’re talking about an erosion of food security on a scale we have not seen for a long time, and I think it will touch people in the lower income distribution in North America,” he added.But as long as you have a decent income, you will still be able to go to the store and buy food in the months ahead.It just might cost you a lot more.During a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, farmer Ben Riensche warned that Americans could soon be paying a thousand dollars more a month for their groceries…“Soaring fertilizer prices are likely to bring spiked food prices. If you’re upset that gas is up a dollar or two a gallon, wait until your grocery bill is up $1,000.00 a month, and it might not just manifest itself in terms of price. It could be quantity as well. Empty Shelf syndrome may be starting.”Can you afford to pay $1,000 more for groceries every month?If not, you better stock up now while prices are still relatively reasonable.Of course there are certain things that you will not be able to stock up on because they simply aren’t there.Shortages are intensifying all over the country, and in particular we have seen an alarming shortage of pasta begin to happen in certain stores.  The following co

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One of the most important aspects of preparing for whatever is to come is putting yourself in the best situation possible. Whether you're living in an urban, suburban, rural, or wilderness setting, you may feel different levels of security and anxiety based on the circumstances that continue to present themselves. Some sort of collapse, whether it's economic, societal, governmental, or a combination, seems to be very possible. I'd put it at a 30% chance that it will happen in the coming years or even months. I'm an optimist. It could be closer to 99% but I like to hope for the best... and prepare for the worst.Some of us are pretty much stuck in our current situation. Family considerations prevent me from leaving Neo-Marxist California despite my strong desire to do so. I'm making the best out of the situation my family is currently in and seeking ways to improve that situation all the time. Others may look around, consider their resources, and decide that now's the time to break away and live off the grid.Then, there are those who prefer a more crowded setting because they feel the potential for assistance outweighs the benefits of being secluded. Perhaps you have enough friends and family locally that you want or even need to stay in close proximity with now or when the crap hits the fan.Whatever your situation is, now is a good time to assess three aspects of your living circumstances. Soon, we may not have the choices we have today. It's best to do an honest analysis as soon as possible. Here are three of the things to consider:Assets and LiabilitiesHow you prepare for whatever is coming is often a series of decisions based on what you have available and what you're missing. For example, we live in an area away from fresh water supplies. Unfortunately, we're very dependent on infrastructure staying intact, at least for running water. We've prepared with filters and some water storage, but I find myself always seeking more room and ways to store water effectively. I have my Alexapure filter system if I can find sufficient water around me, but I'm still looking for it. We even bought a kiddie pool that gave us fun for the little one and extra water storage if all hell breaks loose.Others who live close enough to fresh water that they can collect it whenever they need do not have such concerns. On the other hand, rural and wilderness settings can pose different liabilities if things go very south. It's a very good idea to take stock of what you have and don't have in your nearby environment when preparing for a collapse. That way you're making adjustments to your plan and the advice others are offering. If I lived by a river, I wouldn't be storing away nearly as much water, but I'd definitely be storing far more medical equipment knowing that if someone in my family gets very ill or injured, it's up to members of the family to try to make it better.Threats Around YouIn nearly every situation anyone is currently in, there will be threats that arise. These threats are normally other people who are desperate and who will do you harm if they think they can gain from you. I have tried to get to know and understand my neighbors for this very reason. I'm also aware of likely threats in nearby neighborhoods should things turn very south.An old work acquaintance once told me a story (to this day I don't know if he was kidding) about a conversation he had with his elderly neighbor. It was around the time Obamacare was rolling out and she told him she had stored away a couple hundred thousand dollars in gold and silver just in case there was an economic collapse. She asked him if he had gold and silver stored away, and he told her he did."How much?" she asked."A couple hundred thousand dollars worth," he told her."What a coincidence," she said. "Where do you store it?""In your house, just in case there's an economic collapse," he said.Seemingly nice people will do crazy things to survive. It's important to know who your threats may be and to be watchful when things turn south. By no means am I promoting paranoia or recommending turning in your neighbors because they looked a little too long inside your garage when it was open, but being aware can be very helpful in the wrong situation.AlliesThe most important thing for those who do not choose to live in solitude off the grid is to talk about all of this now with people you trust. Even those who aren't as aware as you about the current state of affairs and where we're headed will surely know that things aren't very good and they appear to be getting worse. You may help them to start preparing. Then again, they might surprise you and tell you about the network they're building.Local networks of trusted friends and family will be among your most important assets if the crap hits the fan. Groups will form with or without you. Many of these groups will be together with the sole purpose of taking from others. There are numerous other reasons you'll want to have a network and a plan, but protection from others is a big one.Start asking. Start talking about it. You may be surprised and find someone in your inner circle is already working on a plan. You may want to start building your own plan as well. Based on proximity, you may be able to help each other stock up on certain things. For example, if you know Bob has lemon trees in his backyard and they produce 500 pounds of lemons per year, this knowledge can help a proper network plan accordingly.Trying to be ready for everything is an impossible task and can cause anxiety. Instead, assess your situation and plan as best you can. Peace of mind goes a long way when things start getting really bad.

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It's no secret that meat prices have been going up for some time. It started a little bit before Joe Biden was installed into the White House as Pandemic Panic Theater caused some early challenges. But once the Biden-Harris regime got started, prices started rising steadily.Now, it's getting much worse. Most of the grain produced in America is used as animal feed. With fertilizer prices skyrocketing from the Ukraine-Russia war, so too is the cost of raising livestock. Add in the bird flu that's hitting America at the exact worst time and suddenly reliably inexpensive chicken is turning into a premium.We are in that moment in history when it's time to get stocked up every way you can on meats. Below are the best ways to make that happen, as I discussed on the latest episode of The Late Prepper. One omission from both this list and the show is meat that we can ourselves. This should not be viewed as a knock on those who can their own cooked meats. It's valid and some swear by it. I simply couldn't put it on this list because I have no personal experience with it. If you want to add canning meat to your personal list, by all means do so. Here's my list...Own ChickensGod gave us a wonderful gift with livestock and fowl. They're essentially a way to turn land into protein. Milk, eggs, and meat are available to those with the resources, sufficient land, and the right circumstances. Anyone who CAN raise and keep chickens should do so as soon as possible. They are pretty easy to raise and tend, though there are definitely drawbacks such as noise and odor. It's challenging in residential areas, but it can be done. My aunt does it in her small backyard and my family has spent time helping to raise them. The fresh eggs are wonderful.The same goes for those truly blessed who can keep cattle. They require a lot more work and a lot more land, not to mention zoning issues that must be addressed in certain areas. But if you have what it takes, you should consider it.One quick note of warning: In a true "crap hits the fan" scenario with societal breakdown, there's an added risk of theft. Be prepared to defend your animals or to simply let them go to the marauding groups who may be roaming the land at the time.Store Frozen MeatThis is the easy button, albeit not the least expensive. Freezer space is a premium for many, so it can be challenging to store enough. Plus, freezers are dependent on electricity, so in a very poor situation if you do not have a sufficient generator whatever meat you have frozen that doesn't get eaten in time must be canned or wasted.Most frozen meats packaged in airtight bags can last for a couple of years. It's important to repackage meats you buy at the grocery store with their thin and air-filled plastic and Styrofoam wrappers. Make them airtight with a thick bags and a vacuum sealer before refrigerating. This reduces freezer burn, extends the overall storage life, and saves precious space.Buy Freeze Dried MeatsThis is the ultimate long-term solution for those with enough money to invest. Even if you have your own chickens or cows, you'll want some meat freeze dried in case of disaster that takes your livestock away. Moreover, the 25+ year shelf life is very attractive.Freeze dried meat retains much of its quality and most of its nutrients. It can be expensive and it's getting more expensive every week. It's for this reason that we're working towards launching our own organic freeze dried meat company. Those interested in get an alert when we launch should email me at [email protected] — if enough interest is there, we will get started immediately.Canned Meats are AcceptableThere's nothing wrong with certain canned meats, especially fish. I'm not a fan of canned chicken or beef, but I have a lot on hand in case things turn further south. I want to save my freeze dried meats for the very end, so canned meats will be the intermediary between frozen and freeze dried.Canned meat can go a long way as well when providing more flavor and texture to meals. Adding it to beans and rice, potato, or pasta dishes can help bring some normalcy back to what we expect will be a very abnormal society in the near future.Packaged Meats Work in a PinchJerky, meat sticks, pemmican, dehydrated cooked meats, and other types of packaged meats are generally heavily processed, low in quality, or both. Don't get me wrong. A good chunk of beef jerky can really hit the spot, but these types of meats are generally not great for feeding a family in the long term. I keep jerky in my bugout bags but we do not stock up on them for a bug-in situation.With that said, some of you might love the stuff.Fear NotAs I like to remind fellow Christians, things may get pretty bad in this world but our promise is for the next. Stay hopeful and be prepared, but most importantly pray and read your Bibles. Fear isn't required for those who know how the story ends.If you are interested in getting an email alert if (when) we launch our organic freeze dried meat company, please send me an email at [email protected]

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Let's be clear up front. By no means am I suggesting that calories aren't important or that we shouldn't be aware of the number of calories in foods that we purchase for long-term storage. It would instantly discredit me as a "late prepper" if I would say such a thing.What I'm suggesting, which goes against what the vast majority of preppers teach, is that determining how much food we have should not be a calculation of calories divided by 2,000. Since the recommended caloric consumption of an adult is around 2,000, most preppers look at that to determine how many days, weeks, months, or even years of food they have. I look at it differently. I count meals.One of our goals as we prepare for a potential cataclysmic downturn in the United States is to have enough food, water, and supplies to prevent dependency on government. If things continue to get worse and food shortages become so bad that we can't just run to the grocery store to feed our families, then we'll have two choices. We can either feed ourselves with the supplies we have or we can get in government-generated breadlines to accept whatever they want to give us. I don't want to stand in any lines and I don't want anything given to me by government because it always comes with a catch.Counting meals is slightly different from counting calories because it means planning for a life of semi-normalcy. If and when the crap hits the fan, I do not want to be eating beans and rice every meal every day just because that's the only thing left once my pantry and refrigerator are empty. I want to make sure I have a strong variety of foods for an extended period of time. I want balance. That means I count meals.For my family, we've determined that a proper "meal" is at least one breakfast item, one or more lunch items, and a proper three-item dinner. So, a breakfast meal can be a bowl of oatmeal with some freeze dried fruits, for example. Lunch could be a can of chicken noodle soup and some pilot bread. Dinner would be one grain, one vegetable, and one protein.Counting breakfast meals is easy since it's not going to need the same variety as the other two meals. Many Americans today eat the same thing for breakfast pretty much every day, so it's not a huge change if breakfast is always oatmeal and fruits. That makes it easy to determine how many breakfast meals we have. But for those who want a nice variety, I recommend our sponsor's breakfast kit with pancakes, oatmeal, and scrambled eggs among other items.Lunch is similar, but with more variety. We have determined that three cans of soup and four pieces of pilot bread can feed us a proper lunch. Of course, lunch is often interchangeable with dinner but with slightly smaller portion sizes. Again, I'm going off the standard American eating model. In other cultures, breakfast or lunch are often larger than dinner.With dinner comes a bit more need for counting and calculations. I like to test everything rather than go off the recommended portion sizes on the packages. For example, a bag of rice says a portion size is 1/4 cup dry. We've found that for a proper, filling but not wasteful dinner, we need 1.25 cups of rice, or five servings, to feed our family of four.The vegetable portion of our dinner is a little less flexible. One can of green beans isn't quite enough but two cans is far too much, so we count a can of green beans as a single vegetable portion for our meals. As for the protein, we know that we won't be as flexible because of how quickly meat can go bad after its package is open, so we count it by weight. For example, a small can of corned beef is enough for two meals, likely a dinner followed by tomorrow's lunch. But one of the larger cans of beef can actually last for five full meals, which means we will have five meals in a row with that beef so we don't waste it to spoilage.The exception in all of these is when we have meals with multiple components in one container. For example, our sponsor's Traveler's Stew is legitimately good and cost-effective for long-term storage of about 20 meals. It already has the grains and the vegetables, but one should add meat to the meal for additional calories and protein.By looking at our food supplies as meals, we're able to balance it out properly. I made the semi-mistake of stocking up on beans and rice early. I say "semi" mistake because it's actually a good practice to have plenty available, but don't let that be the only food you stockpile. It's tempting because it's inexpensive and makes for a nearly complete meal, but we don't just want to survive. We want our family to live properly even after the crap hits the fan.After stocking up on rice and beans, it became necessary to balance it out by adding meats and vegetables. For dinner and often lunch, we want full meals. That means having the right components to fulfill our needs. We can't just count calories or there will be an imbalance. Variety is good for sanity and sanity is necessary for survival.Once I had an understanding of how much proper portions were to feed my family, I started a simple spreadsheet so I could track how many complete meals I had. I didn't get too detailed. I wanted to know how many breakfasts and lunches I had, plus how many servings of each of the three dinner components I had. By doing it like this, I quickly determined that I didn't have nearly enough lunches or dinner vegetables. If I didn't do this, during a long term food supply challenge we would have eventually seen our meals become less complete. Counting meals allowed me to stock up a balanced array of foods and made it easier to grow my supplies accordingly.One quick note: Don't let the quest for balance become a reason to not grab great deals. Just because I had plenty of rice on hand didn't mean I was willing to pass up on a $10 bag with 25 lbs. of rice. I hopped on that and bought four. It created an imbalance, but it was a smart move nonetheless. Now when I see a good deal on vegetables or meat, I won't have to balance it out with more grains.I know I can feed my family for a couple of hundred days. When I have extra funds, I add to this number by buying properly. I know what I need to buy based on counting meals, not calories. And I assure you we'll be more fulfilled this way than if we purchased 1.8 million calories worth of random, unmatched foods.We offer these podcasts and articles for free, of course, because getting ready is for everyone. If you’d like to support us, please consider our sponsors for emergency supplies as well as physical precious metals.

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With Joe Biden announcing recently that there will definitely be food shortages in the United States and people like me warning that it was coming for a while, it's clear that the need for personal food security has never been greater in the United States. There has always been hunger and even starvation, but it appears that food shortages are going to affect the majority middle class in America as well.When I started recording this podcast, I did so thinking I could get through the entire list of items I'd like people to stock up on immediately. Unfortunately, I barely made it through the food items before reaching my time limit, so in the beginning you'll hear that I was going to go through the whole thing. We'll cover the non-food items tomorrow.Here are the nine food items you need to stock up on now before they become scarce. Prices are already going up. For transparency, some of the links below go to our sponsor, My Patriot Supply, but I assure you I did not take their products into consideration when making the list. In fact, I made the list, did the show, and then thought as I was writing this article that I should probably include links to any of the products they happen to sell that I've tried and that I'd honestly recommend whether they were a sponsor or not.Beans and RiceThis is the obvious one. Well, two. I consider them to be one because the combination of amino acids found in each form complete proteins, an important necessity for survival.Beans and rice make for the perfect survival combo for two important reasons. They give you lots of calories necessary for survival at relatively low prices; excellent bang for the buck. They also can be stored with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers for a very long period of time.My Patriot Supply sells a 100-serving Beans Trio and Rice Kit. (Sponsored)Pasta and SaucesPasta is easy to store long-term. Sauce is a little trickier, but since we're talking about immediate needs, the shelf-life of 2-5 years for most sauces fits this list.We have to consider food fatigue when getting ready for food shortages. If someone wanted to survive off beans and rice with vitamin supplements for years, they probably could, but who wants to live like that? Pasta is a great change of pace.My Patriot Supply sells delicious Creamy Alfredo Pasta. (Sponsored)Canned and Otherwise Preserved MeatsI'm not a fan of canned meat. Cans of chicken or beef are often disgusting to me, with the odd exception of canned corned beef which I love. Canned fish is fine. I load my freezer with nothing but meat, but my worst nightmare for that is a grid collapse in which my backup electrical supply won't be able to keep the freezer going.I'm a carnivore within a family of carnivores, so having enough meat on hand is important. We'll obviously have to make sacrifices if things keep going south, so I'll have to bust out with the canned meat in such a circumstance. Thankfully, it's not terribly expensive as of right now.What I like better than canned meat is freeze dried meat. It's expensive and growing scarce, but I have a few #10 cans of it that will last a long time and act as great additions to emergency meals.For this, I'm going off-sponsor to recommend Mountain House, though as of right now they're out of stock. A good alternative is Augason Farms.MREsThis may not be a viable option by the time you read and/or listen to the podcast. The prices on MREs are skyrocketing. Ones that I bought on Amazon just a couple of months ago are up 50% or more today.There's a reason for this. Meals Ready to Eat are complete and therefore perfect for people who want to stock up for their immediate needs. Most of them are acceptable, but a few of them are actually quite tasty. Complete MREs come with everything from coffee and gum to a flameless heating sources to warm up your food.If I recall, I said during the podcast that MREs through My Patriot Supply were about $12 each when sold in a 12-pack (Sponsored). This is great compared to the $20-$30 you'll pay for one on Amazon. Since then, the price at My Patriot Supply has gone up a little bit. It's still cheaper than Amazon, but it's a sign of the times that they're going up. Everything is.For those who do not need the full package with all the goodies, I like shelf-stable foods. My favorite is KJ Poultry. They last 3-5 years without refrigeration and I've enjoyed all the flavors I've tried. They don't look anything like they look on the box, but they taste good and they're loaded with calories.Flour or Wheat BerriesThere is conflicting data about flour if you listen to the various prepper channels. Some say even in mylar bags you only get a couple of years out of it. Others claim up to 10 years with oxygen absorbers. I'm hoping for the latter because we have a lot of flour. Just as my family is made up of carnivores, we also love our bread and my wife bakes the best in the world.Wheat berries are a good alternative that everyone agrees can be stored for the long-haul. But they require milling which means either electricity or expending calories with a hand mill. We do keep some, but know that it's an additional inconvenience compared to just keeping flour.We like Bob's Red Mill; it's a little more expensive than others but if you can order it in bulk it's not too bad. One trick we learned that may or may not still be valid is to NOT order it through bulk packages. When we tried to order a 25-lb box, checkout wouldn't give us free shipping because you can't get free shipping on bulk. Instead, we ordered five individual 5-lb bags. Even though it was more expensive than the bulk version, the final price was actually less because of the free shipping.Thanks to a comment on this article, we learned that Bob’s Red Mill is “woke.” We don’t support woke companies, so we’re pulling this recommendation. Time to find a new flour supplier; please leave recommendations in the comments.Vitamin C Drink MixVitamin C isn't the easiest thing to get in a crap-hits-the-fan situation. It's ubiquitous today but can be very challenging to get during the apocalypse.We like orange drink mix AS LONG AS IT HAS A LOT OF VITAMIN C. You may be surprised how many citrus drinks do not have much Vitamin C in them. I get the #10 cans from My Patriot Supply (Sponsor) because they're one of the few that also gives some Vitamins A and D. Plus, it's delicious.Fats and OilsFats and oils are the long-term storage killer. Even in the refrigerator they go bad quickly. Olive oil can last a couple of years unopened, so in the immediate scenario it's one of the best. Here's a list of expected shelf-lives for oils.For longer term, I'm a fan of butter powder. In fact, I'm a fan of sprinkling a little butter powder on popcorn today. It lasts a long time if properly stored and in the apocalypse, it can provide the much-needed fats when regular oils have expired.I like Anthony's but I'd recommend repackaging it if you want to store it long-term.Egg PowderI've said it multiple times in this article and podcast but I'll say it again: Proteins are essential. Egg powder is extremely versatile and can be added to almost anything. It's also decent as a standalone egg alternative, though nothing can improve on the God-made perfection of a fresh egg cracked open and fried for breakfast.This is the ONLY product I'd recommend from ReadyWise. I know a lot of preppers recommend them, possibly because of sponsorship or because they're relatively cheap compared to other survival food companies, but as someone who has tried them I can tell you that they're not going to make you happy. I even had to tell one of my buddies who had sworn off freeze dried foods that if he tried some of

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I don't panic. That's just not my thing. The combination of my faith in God and years of seeing things through in my life and the lives of my family have taught me that there's a distinct difference between acting with purpose and freaking out. I prefer the former, and right now I'm making preparations for the purpose of addressing what I believe is happening in the world today.This is my first official article and podcast on The Late Prepper Substack. It's just a quick intro, but I one thing I didn't mention in the podcast is the format that I'll be applying to this Substack. There will be videos posted regularly that give hands-on advice to people who are either not very well prepped or who haven't really started prepping at all. These videos will also be turned into podcasts. I'll send emails to subscribers for each UNIQUE piece of content, so there's no need to worry that there will be separate emails for the videos, podcasts, and articles covering a single topic.With that said, here are the five basic reasons I'm becoming a prepper now. This is why I believe everyone should make the move at this time in history...* Things may hit the fan now or later - Long-time preppers have been warning us for decades that at any point, the s*** may hit the fan. They've always been right; only God knows what's coming and it makes sense to be prepared. But other than a brief time following the passage of Obamacare when we got some bugout bags and a couple of food buckets, I've never taken prepping very seriously. Today, I am because I'm cognizant of what's happening around us. Never in recent history has it seemed more likely that the s*** really may start hitting the fan soon. Pandemic Panic Theater, Ukraine-Russia, and whatever else they have planned for us can all change the world by the themselves. When combined, the results can and likely will be catastrophic.* If you don't do it now, you may not get a chance later -  There's a term that has been finally making its rounds on corporate media and at watercoolers across the nation, a term that too few ever thought about until recently. That term is "supply chain." With all of the strains being put on getting goods from manufacturers to distributors to retailers to consumers, we've already seen major changes. Here's the thing. When the dominos really start falling, the collapse will be sudden. We saw that with toilet paper in 2020. Now, apply that to pretty much everything else. Today we still have access to most of what we need. Tomorrow, that may not be the case.* Prices are going up - No need to explain. You're living through it just like the rest of us.* A proper prepper lifestyle is sustainable - Arguably the most important lesson I've learned over the last year is that prepping is not about having spare food to throw in the closet and forget about for 25 years. It's about building a life around maintaining proper levels of food and other items that we already eat and use. It's for this reason that I've been kicking myself for not getting into prepping earlier. Better late than never, right?* Joseph - The Bible tells us a story of sorrow and purpose when it describes what Joseph went through in his life. There are many extremely important lessons to learn from his story, but the most relevant to what we're talking about here is the way he prepared Egypt for famine. As those who know the story likely understand, this was all part of God's plan to preserve Israel, but at the time Joseph thought he was simply preserving Egypt. Some tell me it's sinful to be a prepper because it takes away from faith in God. I look at it as sustaining for the sake of God's plan in my life and the lives of my family.Tomorrow, I will be releasing another podcast that details why this took so long to put out. I have actually recorded several shows already, but the rapid changes that have been taking place just over the last two weeks prevented me from launching The Late Prepper when I wanted to a week ago. Again, better late than never, right?There will be plenty who do not buy into the notion that we should be doing anything to prepare for what's to come. Don't listen to those people. They simply want their friends and neighbors to be just as unprepared as they are so if the s*** hits the fan, they won't feel dumb for not getting ready.

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