Missing Calories In A Bug Out Location

Guest Post by Stefan Mudry

Many North-Americans are not aware of the fact, that agricultural outputs would not be enough for almost 400 million people when SHTF. Only a fraction of the demand for food could be satisfied without pesticides, without chemical fertilizers, and without cheap energy for irrigation and agricultural machines. For ignoring this fact, the majority of the population is still asleep. But there is nothing else that they could do, because there are not enough Bug Out Locations for everybody in North America.

The easiest way to figure out if there is enough food around your Bug Out Location, is a simple calculation. Find out how many calories the land, your refuge is located on, can produce – under natural conditions – and devide it by the number of people that are living there. Don’t forget, that you would need more energy, working physically, to process your own food if the system, that we live in, would collapse; cans are strictly emergency food. If, according to your calculation, the number of calories at your daily disposal, is below 2,000 you would be under severe pressure, in the case of a crash. And if the accessible food is supposed to be shared equally, you would have to prepare to lose some weight. If you would insist, however, on the bountiful meals you are enjoying today, in times of empty shelves, you would have to get the missing calories from others. And you would have to get them by force, because they would be defending their food as you would be defending yours. And they would also be missing calories, and come to get them from you – by force. That’s if you are living in a rural area which is sparsely populated.

The situation changes dramatically, however, if you’re close to a city. What formula would we apply in this case? That’s difficult to say. It depends on how many people would decide to come to your area and how many would make it alive. Both numbers are uncertain. What is very certain, however, is that those who are strong enough to get to your place would not bring any food. Vice versa, they would be coming for it. Not to share it with you, but to take it from you. Add those arriving hungry souls to the number of people in your area and make the calculation afresh. If the result is closer to the region of 1,500 calories per day, you would be in serious problems in a SHTF scenario. If there are only 1,000 calories available per contender, or even less, the question of survival would arise. You might say you have a gun. Your neighbor has one as well. You might say you’re a patriot and you have to defend your ideas. That’s what your opponent says, too. You might say you’re a christian. Many of those in the struggle for survival will also engage in prayers. You believe in canned food? But how long before you get sick? That’s not the solution to get hold of the missing calories. I don’t want to waste the time to discuss the situation in the cities; next to nothing may be produced there. With a high probability, anything bigger than a small village would become a slaughter house, in a worst case scenario.

It is impossible to anticipate the day when major supply disruptions will occur, how long the ensuing disorder will prevail, and especially, of what degree the possible breakdown will be. But it may happen anytime. To prepare within the scope of what is possible, you can make your house a fortress to be safe under ’less peaceful conditions’. But how much ’less peaceful’ may it become outside, to still feel safe inside? Some people believe, that after three months life will be back to normal, but it may take three years, or even more. Can someone stay that long inside a fortress? The turmoil might not be over when food and water are running out, or when there is no more wood for a fire. Thus, your home may not be a Bug Out Location just because it’s your home. Unless it is in the right place with right conditions.

Those, who do not find their home the most suitable place to bug out, might want to prepare close to their home – in the mountains, in the forest, or and even in the dessert. But real Bug Out Locations must provide unlimited shelter as well as unlimited food. In the desert there’s hardly anything to eat and water is the much bigger problem. In the forest you may hunt, but only as long as you don’t have to share your hunting grounds. And in the mountains you don’t need a refrigerator. But what about veggies and fruits, in all of those locations? Thus, a Bug Out Location does not necessarily qualify as such just because it is close to your home.

But where should you prepare then and what are the conditions you are looking for to get yourself a Bug Out Location? Certainly it may not be in the city and in densely populated areas. Neither should you try to  survive between snow and ice in the north, nor in the heat of the desert. Places that everyone might want to go to, because of a moderate climate, are qualified just as little. So, what about a place where there is enough water, where there is an abundance of food, and where there is no danger of losing your Bug Out Location because everyone has one. A place, where you might find the highest possibility to survive the crisis.

No, it’s not Paradise, it’s Panama.

Our farm, Finca Bayano, is located in a very sparsely populated area in western Panama. We do not eat canned food, full of chemicals, that stays fresh until 2030. Seeds, for the food we want to eat, are much more important to us. There is no sterile Ravioli, but we wouldn’t miss it. Instead there are fresh papayas, bananas and many more. And we do not run the risk of drinking contaminated water, since ours is coming from a well. Besides, all year round there are fruits with high liquid contents, providing the necessary vitamins. Even in the case that others would steal all our food – which would be difficult because we have too much of it – we would still be able to survive, since fresh food is growing every day. Also, we don’t dig shelters that have no sun light, and we won’t build fortresses, that can be compromised. Instead we keep good relations with our Panamanian neighbors. We are assisting the villagers in a water project and some are working at Finca Bayano. This is how we prepare for an uncertain future. We prefer to  prepare in a place which can provide water and food in abundance for everyone that lives there.

Guest Post by Stefan Mudry