Are Shortages Going to Continue?

 By John P. Smith

Independent Journalist

March 15, 2022

Heber Springs, Arkansas

Shortages are coming. We’re already seeing this in our local stores here in Arkansas.

I don’t want to sound like a fearmonger, but this isn’t a theory. This is happening now. Clearly, a lot of people are also seeing it. In the last few days, I’ve been to a half dozen stores in my area and nearby towns. I found home canning jars, rings and seals gone from the shelves. That’s because a lot people are seeing what’s coming and they’re getting prepared. This happened last year, too. The stores which usually keep home canning supplies on-hand can’t keep the shelves stocked. 

This is the time of year when those stores put out the canning supplies. People who intend to grow gardens also make preparations to preserve the food they grow. However, my experience over the last few years is that, normally, the retailers can keep the shelves stocked. This year, they can’t.

That’s a sign that observant people are making plans. The canning supplies are not the only items in short supply around here.

A colleague of mine was complaining she could not find spaghetti noodles at Walmart. I went to my local Walmart and, there was plenty of spaghetti, but the remaining shelves were almost clear of other types of noodles.  My guess is that they got in a truck with spaghetti noodles, but before they did, the other noodles were all bought out.

I can’t find canned potatoes at the Dollar General. I’ve been buying the 2 for $1 canned potatoes at the DG for years. And suddenly, they’re not available anymore. The label is on the shelf, but no cans. Beside it, a few cans of mixed vegetables, beans and corn pushed to the front of the shelf to make it look full.  It’s not. It’s almost empty.

I spoke to the manager of the DG as he was stocking. “Shelves were pretty empty this weekend, did you get a truck in?” He said, “Yeah, we got a truck. But it was last week’s truck. This is getting crazy.”

Canned meat shelves are getting sparse. It’s not that they’re completely empty. Also, things like spinach and turnip greens seem to be in good supply. (Does anybody actually eat that stuff…) But meats, corn, beans and potatoes are not nearly as well-stocked as they once were. 

Sam’s Club is out of canned green beans, beef stew and chicken flavored ramen.  Walmart is out of canned biscuits in at least 3 counties. Walmart has it’s own trucks and distribution systems. If they can’t get this stuff, who can? Saturday, the Dollar General store near my house was OUT of milk. There was one carton of Lactose Free Almond Milk. (That’s what it said.)

I point out these admittedly small anomalies as indicators of a bigger system problem.

This is only the beginning. I believe things will get worse. This is a play by the ruling elite to keep squeezing us until we ask for “the government to do something.” This is the Hegelian Dialectic in action. Create a problem; wait for the population to demand to government do something; offer a solution with a price attached.

All of this was happening before Russia walked into Ukraine. Don’t believe the propaganda that it’s because of the war. This was already happening. The war is going to exacerbate the existing issue because our farmers are about to have a 30-percent increase in overhead. That’s because Russia produces two-thirds of the world’s fertilizer.  Right now, it’s prime growing season, and they’re not exporting any. So what’s left on the shelves is growing more and more expensive. And these prices haven’t even been passed on to the consumer yet. 

The consumer, you and me, won’t see these price hikes until the end of this year or early next year. I expect prices to continue to rise and supplies to dwindle even earlier as fuel prices soar and the availability of transport, drivers and labor continues to falter.

This is going to get ugly -- and almost nobody is talking about it. Or, worse, preparing for it. Or worse still, trying to prevent it. The world governing elites and their Washington D.C. sycophants don’t appear to give one single flying fartcicle that this is coming down. The COVID op is falling apart and the truth of the vaccines is coming out. So, all the media and government is focused on drawing all our attention to the Ukraine. The current psyop is to love Ukraine and hate Russia. Don’t fall for it.  

Not one person who might be able to make a difference is even acknowledging there’s a coming food shortage. (UPDATE: 25 MAR 22 -- Biden actually came out and said this in one of his rambling, nearly unintelligible Press Briefings.) That’s intentional. These people, these elites who want to exert more control over us, these sorry excuses for humans, want us hungry and desperate. When we have to feed our families and can’t afford to buy food, then we’ll do whatever they want, work wherever they tell us, and take whatever they “give” us. It’s ugly and it’s going to get worse.

What can you do? Get some canned meats and vegetables NOW. When you go to the store, spend an extra $10 on canned goods, a pound of rice and bag of flour. Get some SEEDS and plant them. Start in Styrofoam cups or seeding trays and get those plants growing.  Things that grow fast and a lot: Squash, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Peppers, Beans, Peas, Potatoes. (If you don’t know how to grow potatoes, get a book or get on the internet; there are literally dozens of videos showing how to grow potatoes in the ground, in buckets or even burlap bags.) 

I’m not saying I’m ready. Far from it. But the sooner we get started, the better we’ll ride out this storm. Seriously, if you haven’t started already, you’re way behind.  I haven’t worked a real garden since I was a kid back in the ‘70s. Dad and Grandpa always had a big garden because that was what we ate most of the time. 

Growing your own food, even on a balcony or in your backyard, will help offset the high prices and scarcity I believe we’re about to experience. We have become accustomed to buying everything we need from local stores. In the overall history of the planet, that’s much like air conditioning and toilet paper, it’s kind of a new thing. We do it because it’s easy. And, if you live in a metropolitan area, it’s a necessity because there’s limited ground to grow anything. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Use whatever space you have to grow something. Get that storage cache up and running. Don’t forget to put aside some water.

And now, for my final thought, my paranoid speculation of the day: People will do things they normally wouldn’t do to feed their families. For instance: Trade (turn in) their guns for food. 

Just something to think about.