It would be much harder to afford food if my partner got laid off or my business slowed down due to a bad recession. But creating a stockpile of food ensures we won't have to go hungry because of lost income. Shelf-stable foods like rice, beans, and canned goods last for years and are kind of like an insurance policy.
If you have the space, experts recommend a week's supply of food and water. Choose foods that don't require refrigeration and are not high in salt. Your stockpile should also contain flashlights, a manual can opener, a radio, batteries and copies of important documents.
Being prepared with food storage offers a sense of security that one of your basic needs is taken care of. Putting food on the table is a necessity for everyone and with a food storage system at home, you will simply have one less thing to worry about during a recession.
Basic Staple Foods with a Long Shelf Life
Basic staples like wheat, rice, oats, pasta, beans, sugar, and dehydrated or freeze-dried foods specifically packaged for long-term storage are great options.
1. Groceries. Not surprisingly, grocery stores are one of the top industries not impacted by recession. People always need to eat, and during a recession, they typically also cut back on eating out in restaurants and ordering takeout, which tends to makes grocery sales skyrocket even more.
Shifts in interest rates throughout the course of an economic downturn also provide certain advantages—higher rates aimed at fighting inflation benefit savings deposits, while lower interest rates implemented to spur a recovery make it cheaper to take out a loan.
In response to the 2007-09 Great Recession, U.S. households cut their spending on a number of consumables, including meals and snacks away from home. Working-age adults ate food prepared away from home less frequently, cut caloric intake, and improved their diet quality.
When things are looking bleak, consider holding on to your investments. Selling during market lows can be one of the worst things you can do for your portfolio — it locks in losses. When the market evens out down the road, rebalancing may be in order.
The best way to work out how much food you are going to need to stockpile during a shortage is to plan out all your meals for an extended period. Meal plan for say, 30 days, including snacks and food for the whole family.
If you could only select five foods to survive on, potatoes, kale, trail mix, grains, and beans would get you pretty far.
However, there is no known food that supplies all the needs of human adults on a long-term basis. Since Taylor is determined to follow a one-food diet, then potatoes are probably as good as anything, as they contain a wider range of amino acids, vitamins and minerals than other starchy foods, such as pasta or rice.
In general, a recession lasts anywhere from six to 18 months. For example, the Great Recession that started in December 2007 lasted 18 months. But the recession prompted by the pandemic in 2020 only lasted two months.
Inflation to keep decelerating this year as economy slows from high interest rates. Odds of a recession in 2023 hover at 64% amid bank failures and higher rates. Economists see jump in unemployment and major job losses over next 12 months.
A recession is “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.” Industries affected most include retail, restaurants, travel/tourism, leisure/hospitality, service purveyors, real estate, & manufacturing/warehouse.
Cash, large-cap stocks and gold can be good investments during a recession. Stocks that tend to fluctuate with the economy and cryptocurrencies can be unstable during a recession.
Three-day supply of nonperishable food and manual can opener. Three-day supply of water (one gallon of water per person, per day). Portable, battery-powered radio or television, and extra batteries.
Is There Really a Global Food Crisis? Yes. Right now, there is a global food crisis – the largest one in modern history. Since the United Nations World Food Program's (WFP) creation in 1963, never has hunger reached such devastating highs.