Keeping It Cool: The Challenges of Food Storage in Hot, Humid Climates

Keeping It Cool: The Challenges of Food Storage in Hot, Humid Climates

Jan 31st, 2011 | By Samara | Category: Food, Storage | Print This Article

Keeping It Cool: The Challenges of Food Storage in Hot, Humid Climates

Food storage, food storage, food storage. It can begin to sound like a broken record. But it is one of the single best things you can do to protect your family no matter what comes down the proverbial pipe. But if you live in a hot and humid climate, such as the Gulf Coast regions and southeastern United States, you have special challenges to deal with.

The Good News
In some respects, the challenges you will face are nothing compared to the benefits. Unlike the northern United States, you will be able to grow fresh food most of the year without much trouble. Once you find that perfect schedule of what to plant and when, you could get a steady stream of goodies with several harvest times. If you really want to be creative, you can even implement winter gardening to ensure that you have harvest times throughout the whole year.

To maximize this benefit, keep your food as fresh as possible for as long as possible. You can do this, even in the heat, by creating a “cooler” made from two basic terra cotta pots, one larger than the other. Put the smaller pot in the larger one, fill the gap with sand, and saturate the sand with water. Then cover it with a cloth. To add additional insulation from the heat, bury the pot up to its rim. The evaporation of moisture from the wet sand will cool the air around the food and help keep it fresh.

Only use this type of cooler for fresh fruits and veggies though, as grain, beans, and long-term food storage is damaged by moisture, as we will discuss next.

The Bad News
Now for the downside of your chosen domicile. There are four enemies of food storage: light, heat, oxygen, and moisture. The southeastern parts of the United States have lots of all four. So your job, as a food storage aficionado, is to reduce these things as much as possible, wherever possible.

The easiest one to deal with is light. Since you will also have to contend with heat and moisture, do yourself a favor and eliminate the light issue all together. Make sure your food stores are not out in the open, but instead neatly packed away in your root cellar, basement, or pantry cupboards. If none of these options are available, at a minimum, avoid putting your food near a lamp or window, and throw a blanket over it.

Seal It
You can eliminate two threats in one by dehydrating your food, and then vacuum sealing it. The dehydration obviously takes care of most of the moisture, and the vacuum sucks all the air out of it. Invest in a good food grade system to process your food this way. Saving a little to buy a cheap vacuum sealer will hurt you in the long run if the quality is poor, since your food will be more likely to spoil and you would have lost your investment in the food.

This works best for fruits and vegetables. You can vacuum seal beans, rice, and just about any other food too, though there may be better solutions for those types of foods. The downside of this method is that food does lose some of its nutritional value from dehydration, so you will not want to use this method exclusively.

Can It
Traditional canning in mason jars is probably one of the best known food preservation techniques, and one that has been used successfully for a very long time. Pressure canners allow you to can a wider variety of food than traditional water bath canning, since it seals the food at a higher temperature. Of course, this has the same problem as dehydration, since some of the vitamins are destroyed through the process.

There is another option for canning goods that does not have this problem, though it takes a little more forethought and planning. This method works especially well for grains and beans which you don’t want to cook ahead of time, and can preserve food for up to 30 years. You may want to use glass jars that you have saved from foods you eat every day. You can also visit your local restaurant to see if they have leftover food-grade plastic buckets, or purchase large food-grade barrels. Once you have your containers, you will also need O2 absorbers, and ideally, Mylar bags.

Put the food in the jar, bucket, or barrel, add O2 absorbers, and seal airtight. This is one reason Mylar bags are helpful as you can use them to line the container, and then seal completely shut with a clam shell heat sealer. In a pinch, an iron (without steam) or flat iron like you use on your hair will work too for sealing the Mylar.

Mylar bags, O2 absorbers, and a good food grade bucket or glass jar, you will eliminate the light, moisture, and oxygen all in one. Then you only have to contend with heat.

Freeze It
The most obvious way to get rid of heat is to freeze your food stores. You will not need to remove the air, though it may still be helpful to vacuum seal food in order to prevent freezer burn. Light and moisture are non-issues as well.

Despite all its benefits, freezing foods has several major drawbacks. First and foremost, freezers are not the cheapest form of square feet. Freezers are expensive to buy, and could break and need to be replaced. You also run the risk of the freezer accidentally being unplugged or turned off and the food spoiling. Finally, freezers require electricity, so a back-up power source would be needed, and you would not want to rely solely on anything electric for your food stores, even if you do have an off-grid power source. There are just too many things that could go wrong.
Of all the elements that damage food, heat tends to be the least of the evils. So as long as you are able to minimize oxygen, moisture, and light affecting your food storage, even in higher heat, you should be able to successfully store food for 3-5 years at least.

That being said, there are lots of things that you can do to keep your food cool even in a hot climate.

• Find the coolest room in your house – a shaded northeast corner is probably the first place you should look if you do not have a basement or root cellar.
• Ensure good air circulation and put in fans to cool the air of the space.
• Keep any lights off in the area unless they are absolutely needed.
• Use air conditioning in your home
• Install a geothermal system to optimize both your heating and your cooling

No matter where you live, it is important to store food, and to store it in a way that you won’t lose your investment through mold, rot, botulism, or oxidation. Even if you start small with one glass jar and a few oxygen absorbers, or by purchasing a few extra canned goods, start somewhere so you will be that much closer to being ready no matter what the future holds!

THE FINAL DAYS OF THE DOLLAR

Common Sense should tell you the economy is going to collapse, please get prepared!!!

Independent Living Presents

THE FINAL DAYS OF THE DOLLAR

1 0 Last-Minute
Preparations

You Need to Make Now

2010 Briefing

The Final Days O[ The Dollar

For 39 years the U.S. government has had an unlimited credit card, which has led to
insolvency. Foreign financiers of U.S. public spending are catching on that the U.S. dollar itself
is a massive Ponzi scheme - one that is now beginning to unravel to the point that soon it will
become impossible to deny.

Even the liberal Washington Post is sounding the alarm. In a November 14,2009
editorial, title "The Coming Debt Panic," the Post editorial board noticed that U.S. debt had
soared under the year of Obamanomics from 41% of the gross domestic product to a whopping
53%.

Peter Bernholz of the Center for Economics and Business at the University of Basel,
Switzerland, has analyzed the 12 largest episodes of hyperinflation, all of which were caused by
financing hug public budget deficits through money creation (20 hyperinflations have occurred
globally since 1980). Bernholz concludes that the "tipping point" for hyperinflation, based on
historic model, is when government deficits reach 40% of their annual outlays. For the record,
even with all t e phony budget gimmicks that vastly understate U.S. government spending, the
Obama Administration's own budget projections confirm deficit spending will amount to 40% of
the federal bu get.

As Federal Reserve Board Governor Richard Fisher (a rare voice of reason within the

central banking cartel) notes:

Throughout history, many nations. when confronted by sizable debts they were unable or
unwilling to repay, have seized upon an apparently painless solution to this dilemma:
monetization. Just have the monetary authority run cash off the printing presses until the
debt is r paid, the story goes, then promise to be responsible from that point on and hope
your sin will be forgiven by God and Milton Friedman and everyone else.

We know from centuries of evidence in countless economies, from ancient Rome to
today's Zimbabwe, that running the printing press to pay off today 's bills leads to much
worse problems later on. The inflation that results from the flood of money into the
economy turns out to be far worse than the fiscal pain those countries hoped to avoid

The US dollar is at risk of a deliberate, perhaps globally coordinated devaluation as a
last-ditch effort to stave off the solvency crisis. By declaring the dollar to be ''worth less," all
debtors (including the government) would be in a stronger position to service an otherwise
impossible deb structure in an environment of deflating asset values.

Interestingly, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke himself spoke of this scenario in

recent testimony before Congress:

... it's worth noting there have been times when exchange rate policy has been an effective
weapon against deflation. A striking example from U.S. history is Franklin Roosevelt's 40-
percent evaluation of the dollar against gold in 1933-34, enforced by a program of gold

purchase and domestic money creation. The devaluation and the rapid increase in money supply it permitted ended the U.S. deflation remarkably quickly ... the episode illustrates that monetary
actions can have powerful effects on the economy. even when the nominal interest rate is at or
near zer0, as was the case at the time of Roosevelt's devaluation.

The end of the dollar and the rise of precious metals and a global currency (or .globally
controlled currencies may be the ultimate outcome of the next phase of dollar depreciation.
Consider:

1. Bloomberg recently reported, "European Central Bank: council member Ewald Nowotny
   said a tri-polar global currency system is developing between Asia, Europe and the U.S.
   and that he's skeptical the U.S. dollar's centrality can be revived."

2. Shi Jianxun, a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University, wrote in the Chinese state
   newspaper People's Daily, "The U.S. dollar is losing people's confidence. The world,
   acting democratically and lawfully through a global financial organization, urgently
   needs to change the international monetary system based on U.S. global economic
   leadership and U.S. dollar dominance.

3. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have formed a new group to

coordinate their interests in the global economy.

4. On October 28, 2008, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed an alliance with
   China i which the two countries would use their own currencies in bilateral trade, thus
   rendering g U.S. dollar pricing/settling unnecessary.

5. Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat recently told Bloomberg news that

Asian nations were urging "China to consider whether or not China would open up its

banking system and allow the strongest currency in the world, which is the Chinese yuan,
to be the rightful and anointed convertible currency of the world.

• London Telegraph business editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warns that the International

Monetary Fund may resort to creating its own currency to fund the ever-growing demand

for bailouts. He writes, "The International Monetary Fund may soon lack the money to
bailout an ever growing list of countries crumbling across Eastern Europe, Latin

America, Africa, and parts of Asia, raising concerns that it will have to tap taxpayers in
Western countries for a capital infusion or resort to the nuclear option of printing its own
money.

6. Gold analyst Bob Moriarty said in an interview with The Gold Report: "The Middle
   East half already started to talk about not wanting to use the U.S. dollar anymore in
   currency transactions. It's too dangerous. So we're a lot closer to a default than anybody

in government wants to admit."

In this volatile environment, it's tough to make predictions with a great deal of specificity.

Thing is for sure, though: the number of new dollars that will be needed to keep our Ponzi

such me of a government and banking system going means that any dollars in existence

today are going to be worth a lot less in the future.

Although it is impossible to predict when or to what extent even the U.S. currency will be
devalued, it is possible to prepare for such an event now. Waiting until after it happens, when
there is a panic ,will be too late. This report will outline 10 preparations you should be making
now to secure our personal and financial safety during the unfolding currency crisis.

1. Get Out of Treasury Bonds

U.S. Treasury debt is on the verge of losing its "AAA" status due to years of accumulated
fiscal recklessness on the part of policymakers. Upon the assumption of Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac's obligations, America's credit "profile is now weaker because contingent risks have
become actual risks to the U.S. government," said John Chambers, managing director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor's . The credit default swap market is already effectively pricing m a ratings downgrade (something that would have been unthinkable Just a couple of years ago).

There's a good chance that foreigners will eventually start pulling out of the U.S.

Treasury bond market as inflation and the government's perceived credit risk rise. The U.S.
bond market has steadily risen over the past 20+ years as interest rates have fallen. But bonds
may finally be topping since the irrational panic buying began in late 2008. Bond prices may
now steadily drop as the government is forced to pay higher yields to attract new buyers (when
bonds with higher yields are issued, older bonds with lower yields correspondingly fall in value).

It's not just the horrendous Obama budget deficits. It's the lesser-known fact that $2.5

trillion in government IOUs - 36% of all marketable Treasury obligations - must be rolled over

in 2010.

In other words, the government needs an unprecedented amount of new buying interest to
step up to the late to keep its Ponzi finances going. (Economist John Williams believes that
even if the government taxed all incomes and corporate profits at a 100% rate, it would still be
running a deficit and, of course, still be facing long-term insolvency.) If the world's appetite for
U.S. debt dries up, the government will be forced to choose between defaulting on its obligations
or honoring them with inflation (and eventually, hyperinflation). Either outcome would be
catastrophic for holders of government bonds.

If you believe the U.S. government is going broke, then you have to believe that
ultimately the value of its IOUs will collapse. And if you want to hedge yourself against and
profit from sue an eventuality, there are easy ways to do so: ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury
(TBF) and Rydex Inverse Government Long Bond (RYJUX). There are other inverse-bond
vehicles which employ leverage, but the unleveraged options give you plenty of upside potential.

One caution about shorting bonds: The bond market is highly manipulated by the

Treasury department, the Federal Reserve, and major foreign governments, who engage in such

things as "swap s" and outright monetization to conceal and offset weak investor demand. And
the big establishment ratings agencies (the same ones that conspired to help blow up the
mortgage-based securities bubble by slapping "investment grade" ratings on subprime garbage)
dare not formally downgrade the "AAA" rating on U.S. debt. The market will probably beat the
politically compromised rating agencies to the punch.

The main thing for most investors is just to get out of long-term fixed-income instruments
that are denominated in U.S. dollars. Stay liquid and diversity into alternative assets.

2. Invest Some of Your Cash in U.S.-Creditor Currencies

The next great currency may be the Chinese dollar-the "yuan," also known as the
"renminbi." The Chinese currency had been artificially pegged to the U.S dollar, depressing its
value. But now Chinese authorities are starting to let it rise gradually. It is believed by currency
analysts to be least 40% under priced vs. the U.S. dollar.

We are now running a current account deficit (the difference between what we consume
and what we produce) of 7% annually, made possible only by the perceived value of our dollars
and the relative weakness of the currencies of our trading partners. Our Asian creditors are
absorbing hundreds of billions of our excess dollars and hoarding them, which has kept the dollar
from falling as hard as it otherwise should against their currencies. But if (when) China and
Japan lose the' appetite for dollars, their currencies will skyrocket (along with prices for
heretofore cheap Asian-produced doodads at Wal-Mart).

The currencies of emerging Asian economic powerhouse nations such as India and China

would seem to ave strong fundamentals going for them in relation to the dollar. In April 2008,
a new mutual and called the Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX; 866-MERK-FUN;
http://www.merkfun/d.com was introduced. It holds several Asian currencies. The largest weightings
belong to: Chinese yuan (44.0%), Hong Kong dollar (10.6%), Japanese yen (10.6%), and Korean
won (10.6%). his fund may be one alternative way to shelter yourself from the U.S. debt
crunch and its stationary unwinding besides owning gold and silver - the only true sound
money.

The Chinese currency is still being artificially suppressed. So investing in it hasn't been
very rewarding up to this time. But when the currency starts to float more freely, which it
eventually should, owning it could be very rewarding.

3. Open an Offshore Bank Account

Putting our money in someone else's hands is never without risk, but banking overseas
is not necessarily any riskier than banking in the United States. After all, the dollar is losing

value and FDI "insurance" is little more than a house of cards. In actuality, having some of
your money 0 shore can be much safer than having it all at risk within the U.S. legal, tax, and
monetary regime.

There s no truly sound currency in the world today. But at least one stands a decent
chance of retaining value in the crisis years ahead - namely, the Swiss franc. It is famous as a
safe-haven cu ency due to Switzerland's political stability, monetary prudence (at least relative
to most countries), and long history of avoiding international conflicts. There's also a fair
amount of gold in Swiss bank vaults!

If you ave some serious cash, you should consider opening up a Swiss bank account -
not only to get some of your wealth denominated in francs, but also to protect it to some extent
from possible asset grabs in the U.S. A firm to contact to learn more about Swiss investments
and related compliance issues unique to Americans is Zurich-based NMG International Financial

Services (+41 44266 21 41; www.mng-ifs.com). (We do not recommend annuities or any other

fixed income' vestments, regardless of the currencies in which they are denominated, but look
for other investment options.)

4. Keep a Foreign Currency Stash

The chances of you actually needing to use a foreign currency as spending money in the
United States ay seem at the moment to be slim. But the chances of foreign currencies rising
in value again the U.S. dollar are pretty good. So holding foreign cash in limited quantities can
be a good way to stay liquid without being tied to the dollar.

Widely recognized, easily exchanged, relatively stable currencies suitable for hoarding
include the Canadian dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc (arguably the world's soundest
currency). If you live in a state that borders Mexico and/or live in an area with a large Mexican
immigrant population, you might even keep some Mexican pesos, as they may come in handy at
some point.

In an environment in which interest rates around the world are extremely low, you're not
sacrificing mu~h by holding actual physical cash in your possession instead of having it tied up
in bank account , bonds, or other investments that could become "illiquid" in a financial crisis.
So instead of holding just U.S. dollars, hold foreign currency notes as well. They could gain
relative value en though they're not paying any interest.

5. Keep a Sliver Coin Stash

An "old” use for silver that may soon be discovered anew again is as money. Throughout
most of our history, silver has been widely used as money. Until the Coinage [Debasement] Act
of 1965, dimes quarters, and half-dollars were 90% silver. Bags of 90% silver coins (also

known also as "nineties" or "junk silver") are still sold by many coin dealers. They would be
especially use I for bartering and making relatively small purchases during an emergency.
Their value re ides in their actual metal content, which has long since surpassed their face value.
One of the best sources for this or other forms of low-premium silver coins, rounds, and bars is
Independent Living newsletter's in-house bullion service. Contact Independent Living
Bullion at 1-800-800-1865 or www.lndependentLivingBullion.com.

Not only is the fundamental case for higher silver prices even greater than the strong case
for gold, silver is also more convenient than gold to hold in amounts suitable for everyday
transactions. Silver coins will almost certainly continue gaining value ... or at least hold their
purchasing power over time even as dollars continually lose value. They can be converted back
into dollars when the time comes or used directly as money, if necessary.

6. Keep a Gold Coin Stash

Gold coins are most useful for protecting/storing/concealing larger amounts of wealth.

When the dollar decline enters the "panic" phase, that's when you'll see gold emerge as the
premier asset power.. (Of course, both gold and silver have been phenomenal investments over
the past decade already.) Explosive gains in the precious metals are certainly possible, but just
think of gold a insurance - as the worst-ease-scenario vehicle for protecting your dollar-
denominated wealth against a dollar devaluation.

Gold a today's price (still less than half the inflation-adjusted high seen in 1980) is cheap
relative to the protection it provides. Think of gold as "crisis insurance." Even if there is no
crisis and your other investments perform better than gold, you will be no poorer. But since fiat
currencies and various financial instruments can crash to worthlessness while gold cannot, gold

gives you a sense of security that helps you sleep well at night

Independent Living Bullion (1-800-800-1865; www.IndependentLivingBullion.com) is
a fantastic, 10 -cost service for obtaining gold bullion coins or bars.

Meanwhile, stay away from investing your "safe" money in rare coins. They are highly
speculative, involve very high premiums above their actual metal value, huge bid/ask spreads,
and usually come along with high-pressure sales tactics.

Keep a Food Stash

During an economic collapse, supply and distribution of the most basic necessities could
be disrupted. he most important concerns are food and water.

Stockpiling food just makes sense economically, even if there are never any shortages.

Think about it: If food prices rise 6% annually and you buy enough food to last you a year,
you're effectively getting a 6% discount by the end of the year. Another way of thinking about it

is that you're effectively getting a 6% tax-free return on your initial investment. As long as the
rate of food inflation exceeds the rate of return on a one-year CD at your local bank, stockpiling
makes economic sense.

Many types of food, properly stored, can last several years. The "best by" labels printed
on packaged foods can be misleading in that just because the date has passed, it doesn't mean
that the food needs to be thrown out. Eventually, it will start to degrade, but only very slowly.
Most foods will last much longer than the date stamped on them, even if they become slightly
less than "best^l"

If you keep your food away from high temperatures and keep any food that is not
enclosed in an airtight seal away from moisture and humidity, you can maximize its shelf life.
Obviously, purchasing foods with longer shelf lives means less care is needed in "rotating" food
stores (i.e., eat g your old stocks of food and replacing them with new food). The longer the
shelf life food you store for an emergency, the less time you have to spend replenishing and
rotating.

Unprocessed grains give you the most nutrition for your money. And when they are
stored properly ,they last almost forever. This makes them ideal for people who have the space
to store them. As medical and survival expert Bob Livingston wrote in the July 2009 issue of his
Bob Livingston Letter: "I bought a ton of brown rice 40 years ago and I am still eating it, after
raising my children on it. I used diatomatious earth to preserve it."

The point isn't that you need to erect a silo in your backyard to store 40 years worth of

grains. The point is that it's possible to store enough food to feed you and your family through
any potential crisis period. A year's worth or even a few months' worth of emergency food
supplies will give you a great deal of personal and financial security as compared to wholly
depending on just in time inventory" at the grocery store and the buying power of depreciating
dollars.

8. Secure Your Supplies of Drinking Water

Although water itself is more plentiful than dirt, covering some 70% of the Earth's
surface, potable fresh water makes up a small fraction of that. And the world's growing
population is rapidly consuming it. Lakes, rivers, and aquifers around the world are drying up,
while pollution in industrializing nations such as China and India IS rendering rivers and streams
too toxic for fish – let alone human consumption.

Without expensive new water infrastructure investments, millions may lack access to
running water in the years ahead. Scientists now warn that Lakes Mead and Powell - major
water sources or the Southwest - are on track to dry up completely within 13 years. Some 36
states in the U S. will face water shortages within the next few years, according to Environmental
Protection Agency studies.

One 0f the simplest and most important precautions you can take to preempt increases in
water costs an to stay safe during an emergency of any kind is to keep plenty of bottled water in
your home.

A lot people make the mistake of waiting until a disaster is imminent and joining in on
the mad rush to the grocery store, where shelves are already empty. You should have several
gallons of drinking water on hand at all times. Rotate in new jugs of water at least every six
months to ensure that your supplies stay fresh (plastic containers deteriorate over time and can
produce an unpleasant aftertaste).

What if you must rely on sources of water that may be impure?

Boiling water generally kills all potentially harmful bacteria and microbes. But it cannot

eliminate all harmful chemical pollutants that may be in the water.

In case boiling isn't possible or practical, keep some stocks of water purification tablets.

They can be bought fairly cheaply at most stores that sell camping gear and will make your life
immeasurably easier during a time when you need to ensure the safety of your water. You'll
probably see some purification tablets based on chlorine compounds and others on iodine; the
iodine tablets taste fouler but do a better job of killing parasites. (One trick is to mix sugar-free
Kool-Aid or other instant drinks into the water to mask the taste of the iodine.) Regardless, be
sure to follow the directions provided with the tablets.

A few drops of chlorine bleach can also be used, in a pinch, to sterilize water for
drinking.

Another great option is colloidal silver. Used by NASA to purify astronauts' drinking
water, colloid silver can be made in minutes with a home generator kit available through
Independent Living (call-877-371-1807). For $179, you can obtain your own generator, silver
rods, and a manual on the history and many uses of colloidal silver written by a medical research
expert. Colloidal silver is nature's best natural antibiotic and antiviral substance.

9. Keep a Well-Stocked Medicine Cabinet

Medica1 inflation is running rampant due to over-regulation and over-subsidization,
which encourages waste. With the federal government facing trillions in unpayable Medicare
obligations to Baby Boomers in the years ahead, rationing may be the only viable solution for policymakers.. Quality professional medical care may become impossible, or at the very least much more expensive, to obtain in the near future. Even drugstore items will be costlier and will perhaps even get rationed.

That's why a well-stocked medicine cabinet is essential. In addition to having plenty of
supplies of an prescription drugs you need, keep plenty of pain relievers, cough medicine, anti-
diarrhea medicine, and a fully stocked first-aid kit. Be sure especially to stock up on special
medications needed for any member of your family.

The homeopathic flu medicine Oscillococcinum ("OscilIo"), available over the counter,
should also be in your medicine cabinet. Oscillococcinum should be taken at the first sign of flu
or other viral infection. It helps stimulate your body's defenses and is typically effective within
48 hours (thou h it will not necessarily eliminate a severe infection).

10. Store Your Own Gasoline to Beat Price Spikes,
Lines, and Rationing

You sureIy do not want to participate in the coming rerun of the 1970s, during which
people stood in long lines to get a few gallons of available fuel and watch all the fist-fights
among member's of the public caught clueless and flat-footed by the "surprise" energy shortage.
Consider stockpiling a few weeks worth of gasoline on your property if possible, or extra heating
oil if you are dependent on it during the winter.

There is ample reason to believe per-gallon gasoline costs are going to move to the $6.00-
$8.00 range in the relatively near future. Flattening global oil production combined with chronic
under-investment in energy infrastructure combined with growing Third World demand spells
big trouble ahead. The U.S. is extremely vulnerable to an energy shock, long gas lines, and, yes,
rationing at some point in the future.

In the event of shortages and rationing, anyone who has his or her own supplies is able to
offer them (at premium) to others. Obviously, unless you're planning on becoming a gas
station, you don't want to advertise to the public the fact that you have fuel on your property.
But if a small . section of your neighborhood knows, that can be to your benefit, because then
they'll be offering you money, goods, favors, or services for the privilege of being able to fill up
in a pinch.

For about $600 you can purchase a state-of-the-art above ground 200-gallon fuel storage
tank. (hand 0r small electrical pumps cost about $100.) Obviously, you need a safe and discreet
spot to place such a storage tank. But the benefits will become obvious when fuel is $7.50 a
gallon and you have a couple hundred gallons, which you snagged for around $4.00 per gallon.

Here are some pointers for consideration if you want to take the step of hoarding your
own private fuel supply:

7. Local gas companies will deliver unleaded fuel to your tank. All you need do is consult
   the yellow pages.

8. To keep your stored fuel fresh, draw from your supply every third fill-up and replenish
   as necessary.

9. Ask your fuel supplier for suggestions on gasoline preservatives. Another option is to go
   to you local auto parts store.

If you think fuel storage is an option for you, make certain you get a very high quality
storage tank system. Northern Tool and Equipment is a reputable firm that offers many choices
in a very use full catalog. You can order a catalog by calling 800-556-7885.

Confidential Subscriber Briefing - Copyright 2010