There’s a new term that has been birthed by politicians and pundits; that of the “food desert.” This is an urban area where it is difficult to buy affordable, nutritious food.
Why anyone would think that there is anywhere in the country in which food can be found that is affordable or nutritious, with food prices skyrocketing and quality going down the tubes, is beyond me; but only certain areas in major cities are being referred to by this name.
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), there 76 counties across the United States which do not have a single grocery store; but those aren’t the areas that politicians are worried about. The majority of those counties are in flyover country, places that most politicians avoid like the plague.
The USDA is more focused on food deserts that exist in large urban areas, especially those which house a large number of people who fall under the poverty line.
According to the USDA, 76 percent of people who live in food deserts, live in urban areas. That’s 51.7 million people. But the definition of a food desert in an urban area is that there isn’t a major chain grocery store within half-mile. For rural areas, the distance is increased to 10 miles.
This phenomenon is becoming more and more frequent in our large urban areas, such as Chicago, Memphis, New York City, San Antonio, Indianapolis, and Riverside, California.
Related: The Best States To Outlive A Food Crisis
One interesting fact associated with this, which the pundits seem to have missed, is that many of those cities were also active in the “defund the police” movement and have been passing laws decriminalizing crime. These laws, such as shoplifters not being prosecuted for less than $1,000 encourage crime and end up costing major food retailers their profits.
It might be surprising, even shocking, to some; but retailers exist to make money. If they don’t make money, there’s no reason for them to exist.
So, what do those retailers do when they’re not making money?
They close their stores.
They might stay open a while, trying to turn things around; but they can only do that for so long, before they run out of money.
That’s when they close the store.
One might ask why stores like Walmart close, considering the massive assets available to a major corporation like that. But just like the smaller chains, Walmart needs to make a profit; and that means making a profit in each and every store. Staying open, just to be altruistic, is not sound business policy.
One city which has become an example is Chicago, which has lost four of their Walmart stores and a While Foods. While there are still four other Walmart in Chicago, those stores are facing the same business challenges as the ones which have closed. While the corporation is trying to keep those open, it’s probably only a matter of time till they close, as long as they keep losing money.
Governments Reacting to These Food Deserts
Some municipal governments are looking at the possibility of opening their own food stores, as a measure to ensure that people have access to food. These stores would probably end up subsidized by tax dollars, as an effort to make food affordable. But will it work?
Ronald Reagan was known for talking about the government being less efficient than private industry. He made a concerted effort, during his years in the White House, to privatize whatever government operations he could, seeking economy for the American taxpayer, through his Commission on Privatization.
Reagan had an advantage over us though, in that he had a living… or actually dying example of what happens when the government takes over the means of production, especially producing food.
The now defunct Soviet Union, which collapsed during his tenure in office, was the epitome of government run industry and they failed miserably at all levels.
They couldn’t even grow enough food to feed their population, let alone take advantage of the natural resources they had available to them.
Yet there are politicians who are overlooking this example, just as they do all the errors of the former Soviet Union. They are convinced that socialism is better than capitalism, even though it has failed every place it has been tried. In their book, those places just “didn’t do it right.”
There are those who are saying that any US government, at any level, who take over the distribution of something as important as food, is a dangerous step towards socialism. For those who have studied history, that ultimately means a step towards communism, the end result of any attempt at socialism.
Government Run Food Stores
It’s safe to say that government run food stores would be a disaster on several levels. Government bureaucrats are not capable of even thinking in terms of profits, let alone having any idea of how to produce them. To them, profits are merely something to be taxed.
Related: This Is How The Government Is Stopping You From Living Independently
It’s not that those government bureaucrats are necessarily bad; but rather, that they are working in an environment where profits are of no concern. If they need to spend more money, they just ask Congress for more.
If it doesn’t look like Congress will give them what they want, all they have to do is invent an emergency that has to be funded or a new project they can convince Congress that the country won’t survive without. They’ll get their money.
Due to their disconnection with how to make a business profitable, we can expect any grocery store run by the government to be unprofitable as well.
That will result in one of two things, or even both. First, they will use government subsidies to make sure they can continue paying their bills and employees.
Secondly, they will raise prices to the consumer. What that means is that people living in the poorest parts of our communities will end up paying more for food, than people living in more affluent areas, like the suburbs; and that will be called “help for the poor” by those providing such poor services.
⇒ How to Get 295 Pounds of Extra Food for Just $5 a Week
On top of that, there’s an incredible amount of logistics involved in running a grocery store. Most have over 40,000 line items of inventory, which turn over rapidly.
Some items, like dairy and produce are delivered daily and the average inventory only level is only enough for three days’ worth of operations. Restocking all that, and especially restocking all that in a timely manner, will tax the bureaucracy to its limits. Bureaucracies aren’t agile enough to respond to anything quickly.
Keep in mind that all government purchases must be competitively bid. Would an exception be made, just to keep a grocery store stocked? I’d say that’s unlikely, as it would result in the store coming under the scrutiny of oversight.
With items being competitively bid, the number of line items would reduce drastically, as options were eliminated. Why stock dozens of brands of breakfast cereal, taking up all that shelf space, when you can cut it down to just a few, getting the best price on them?
Of course, “best price” is a relative thing, as the government ends up paying more for things than private industry or private citizens do. They might start out as the “low bid brand,” but those companies will find ways of raising prices quickly, especially with the competition cut out. Once again, that will result in higher price for the poor.
Taking it a Step Further
Government run grocery stores are bad enough.
But could you imagine what would happen if the government were responsible for the entire supply chain? It is possible that the move to open government run supermarkets is merely the first step in working towards that reality.
The types of politicians who are favoring such things are the type who talk about the government controlling everything.
Once again, we need look no further than the old Soviet Union to see the end result of such an experiment. There, the government “owned” all means of production.
Quotas were established for any and all product production and woe be to the factory manager who didn’t meet their quotas. But meeting those quotas was a challenge, as those same factory managers weren’t allowed to incentivize their workers by paying more to good workers or disciplining bad ones.
The solution to this problem was simple. Factory managers lied on their reports, knowing that nobody would really be checking on them. The reports were taken at face value and if stores didn’t receive the goods they needed, there were plenty of other people in the supply chain to blame. Nobody paid the price, because everyone was pointing their fingers at someone else.
This resulted in constant shortages, just like it would in our stores today. Without responsibility and reward, there is no reason for the average worker to take their job seriously. The old Soviet saying was, “As long as they pretend to pay us, we’ll pretend to work.”
Rumor has it that a lot of Kennedy’s success in the Cuban Missile Crisis was because he had intelligence information telling him that the equipment sent to Cuba was missing essential components. In other words, they couldn’t make it operational.
Kennedy was able to stare them down, because he knew he was facing a man who was holding an unloaded gun, while holding one that was fully loaded and ready to fire.
That’s the kind of results that come from a government run supply system.
Better Be Ready
If you happen to live in one of these areas, which the USDA is calling a food desert, I’d recommend getting ready.
If the idea for government-run food stores is being floated by politicians, you can bet your last donut that someone is going to try it. While it might start out okay at first, the chances of it staying good are minimal to none. Everything I’ve mentioned above, and more, will come to pass.
The best solution is to become self-sufficient. You’ll need some way of getting around the problems the government-run store will cause everyone else.
If you want to be part of the small few who will not be heavily affected by the government taking control of your food and probably much more, I strongly recommend this book. It will help you become independent and self-sufficient on your own property before the unforeseen happens. You don’t want to depend on anyone for your basic needs!
The really scary part of this isn’t that they open a few stores in a few of our major cities, it’s that the idea catch on in the halls of our State Legislatures and even in Congress. If there’s anything that is hard to kill, it’s a bad idea, especially in government.
There are many policy makers whose answer to any failure is always “We just haven’t done enough yet. We need to do more.”
So, they’ll keep increasing the system until it takes over. They might even try to drive out the free-market system that’s currently in place, just so they can’t be compared to it.
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Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.
Our next level in prepping? – Agorism and Counter-Economics?
Klaus and Gates are two examples of globalist economics supporting them not us, the people.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution:
Klaus said in 2019, “What the Fourth Industrial Revolution will lead to is a fusion of our physical, our digital, and our biological identities.”
“Bill Gates buys nearly $100K of Anheuser-Busch stock after Bud Light’s transgender debacle. Bill Gates’ foundation bets nearly $100 million on Bud Light, former Anheuser-Busch exec says huge investment is a ‘mistake.’ ”
How many farm acres does Bill Gates need for his agenda to transform America in the shadow of what president Obama has done with healthcare for everyone, that illegals now get some help in California. The American taxpayer is on the hook to subsidies those in special programs who get free benefits.
Every government program is a subsidy benefit of the unwilling taxpayers. Most of these programs would not exist if congress had to dip into their personal funds to help out. But are willing to use OPM; other peoples money, no matter how much it costs us.
Next level of being a prepper is going; ‘Back to Basics’: Agorism and Counter-Economics?
Ever wonder why we do things a certain way?
Was religion and politics a safety or controlled measure in life?
Most people on the planet intuitively know there is a supreme being a creator. We can see that in history and most recorded cultures we know of. Whether you believe it or not God is still in charge.
We don’t need to go bonkers on bible thumping, that is a private personal matter.
Why is it we do something because their great grandparents, grandparents, their parents have done it that way. Or did it because of tradition, culture dictates. Just because does not mean that is always true.
We get wrapped up in traditions, customs, culture everyday.
In Eastern culture some religious beliefs of cows are sacred, can’t be eaten for food. Yet those suffer in poverty and starve. In Western culture we have meat eaters and vegetarians that divide us to.
The Eastern, Western rich, elite, at times never follow the social customs, maybe they are of an educated level who see beyond the traditions followed by the public masses.
We got the mortal life and the spiritual paths in thoughts, internal, external.
In prepping do we prep for the ominous Stuff Hits the Fan or it is a trend of the social conditions we are in? When America shows current weakness the bad actors come out to play, rain or shine.
You know the well to do never worry about their physical comfort. Their more worried about keeping their wealth from family members, the competition and the IRS. No one likes the IRS.
What are we really worried about when it comes to prepping? Is it running out of food, shelter, clothing or something else?
What do you invest your time in? Prepping is not, should not take up too much of our daily life. We need to enjoy life, besides work, some play and rest to balance us. Some people lately are divided to the extremes than be in the middle balanced. Some people like to dictate others to their personal way of living. Some people like to be left to their thinking than being forced to be “how do you feel,” mode.
America has become too feminized. We have more feminized males than testosterone males of the past. Women want strong men in society for safety and protection for a family environment.
When did America loose the moral compass? Was it because of the internet and smartphones, where we have a constant media cycle twenty four hours a day? Everyone is now a news radiographer that have a agenda forwarding the garbage to social media platform to be liked.
Before 911 era of the twentieth century, life was in better shape in respect to the current decline of America. Today Uncle Sam has empty pockets with a few bucks on credit.
Ask your older friends, parents, relatives what life was like. Cars actually did not have computers and sensors to complicate plain driving down the highway. Smartphones are an addiction, just think if we got back to old land line phone, life was a little simpler.
Big mistake was digitizing every single document to the internet cloud where we can be totally erased. Paper and pen, hard copy is the only backup we have to prove what we own. Home records for the city clerk is great but the criminals use that to steal people’s home by digital documents.
ID theft is a modern form of theft, that be done anywhere on the face of the earth with access to the internet. Elon Musk and others place numerous satellites for the rest of the world to be as one mind.
Some inventions have great potential of good and evil uses. Digital could be suspect as more evil in say used for a police state than for benign purposes.
What kind of world do we want to live in and for our country in the future?
When did the USA lose the moral compass?
I may be old enough to remember:
In the 1960s
the CIA – THE CIA – started the hippie movement
to distract those who opposed the continuing (from Michelin)
wars in Indo China
CIA (-& Bush & his London Bankers)
provided the drugs & LSD
CIA/ MI6 also promoted /created the psychedelic (Laurel Canyon) music –
and
“Coincidentally ” birth control pills soon were being prescribed even for mens trial pain……..and, sex with strangers became an insane, dangerous phenomenon.
Within a few years (1973) the Bolsheviks also got Abortion legalized
for their satanic rites
(American women were NOT told that is what the abortion movement
was/is really about .. & many STILL do not know)
With LEGALIZED blood sacrifice of infants in the USA (1973)
satanic hedonism & its powerful evils prevailed –
AND
THE USA lost its !one (compass).
It still is mostly gone….
Did not help at all that Freemasonry had already fully infiltrated
The Catholic Church (1940s & 50s)- — which made possible the revolutionary 1960s Vatican II
But Freemasonry had also successfully infiltrated all other Christian denominations / organizations too (including Scouting)!
You may disagree
But that is what I remember.
*menstrual pains. NOT “MENS TRIAL PAINS”
Freemasonry seems about dead. Most Masonic Loges I know of are unused anymore – in smaller towns anyway. The nearest one to where I live hasn’t had a meeting in over two years. The Elks Lodge was sold to a local who’s converting it into some kind of event center. The past dozen years the Masonic Lodge used their building so little they have let church groups meet there while repairing and building new churches in the area. Just pay the utilities.
We Americans are being attacked on many directions.
“North Korea deploys thousands of IT freelancers with fake IDs to work US jobs to fund its weapons systems: FBI,” the Chinese been doing the same thing for decades in America.
“The Justice Department stated on Wednesday that there have been a number of IT workers secretly working for North Korea who work remotely with U.S. companies in St. Louis and elsewhere. These employees have apparently been using fake identifications in order to get the jobs in question.”
Everyone is sucking the American taxpayers dry, what about America first?
And the liberal activist in Bidenomics want open borders, it was bad enough for China to steal our technology. Now North Korea sends illegal spies for us to employ our destruction in economics and national defense, American wake up or die trying.
We are playing checkers while our enemies are playing chess on the same game board, go figure.
Civilian ammo is hard to get, unless you are in Ukraine or Afghanistan or Iran courtesy from the DC swamp.
What we prepping for?
Why are our American farmlands being sold to foreign interests like China?
Why do wealthy elites like Bill Gates buy huge swaths of American farmlands?
Who is selling our precious land to foreign interests?
These political miscreants are selling us out of house or home, the kitchen sink too. Why are we living according to Washington DC terms?
They work for us, represent us in lawful decisions. Now we are the mice being run around in their obstacle course of social experiments.
Time to take back our country peacefully is the first step.
In modern times we are living in what the founding fathers fought for. We separated from a kingdom dictator. The Boston Tea Party because of high taxes. Do we see where we are going into again.
The pilgrims had help from the Native Americans to survive the seasons.
Hollywood cowboys and Indians movies distorted parts of our history.
People got along despite people like Custer who stirred up a hornets nest of trouble.
Yes we have a checkered past. We have learned the lessons and corrected them too. We ca not always go back to repair past mistakes. We can try to be better going on to the future better.
As many of us recall, The Rothschild central bankers
control the US Banking system & its corporations & politicians.
The Rothschilds wrote the “Sustainable” (Depopulation) Agenda 2030 and today, creatures like Fauci, Schwab, Gates & the WINDSORS work for the Rothschilds….
( AND, in the 1800s & 1900s creatures like Marx, Pike & Mazzini) worked for the Rothschild Banking Powerhouse too
(Yes…Rockefellers are Rothschilds too…)
The early 21 century we should have never bailed out the too big to fail banks.
Never let Obama’s healthcare insurance mess get started.
We realize that Obama’s healthcare insurance is built on quicksand. Those who can’t afford normal health insurance. Those benefits are extremely heavily subsidy by the American taxpayer who can barely afford their own health insurance.
America is being transformed by Obama, Biden and others into a wealth transfer from those who afford to those who can not afford. “Socialism.”
That is not what America is founded on, we are a capitalist, free market economy that has been hijacked toward socialism, Marxism or total communism, your choice of verbiage.
Are we MAGA – make America great again or BBB – build back better?
You decide in 2024.
I too wonder about those offshore phone centers where those people have access to our phone, medical, personal finance records. We don’t think anything of it. Make centers USA based, hire our unemployed.
Yet we have identity theft going on everyday.
Our private data is on the internet, our dirty or clean laundry ripe for hackers to do whatever they decide.
So someone on the other side of the planet can steal our home assets and barrow loans and we get stuck holding the bag.
50 years or more ago American citizens would not put with this nonsense. We have been Lauded asleep chemically or mentally to not pay attention to our surroundings.
There is privacy, we are being misled there is no privacy. That is how we are becoming a police state before our lying eyes.
Our young kids are being indoctrinated in public grade schools to the university campuses. We see recently the Middle East protesting on taxpayer funded universities. These visa’s need to be revoked and deport these potential future Antifa and BLM protesters from destroying what is left of American cities getting burned down again.
Oh for F*** sakes. Reading these comments are hilarious. Scare much, you must be republicans, they are the ones who scare easily.
The government has had control of the food for decades, you can tell by all of the chemicals in them that cause cancer. Then you go to the doctor and get diagnosed and they put you on pills that have no chance of curing you. Its a cycle folks. But yet you still vote these people in office.
Good luck.
Lisa honey you are the toe jam of the reason America is declining or in your case reclining under some slim ball.
You are wrapped into believing the two party system of politics. Wake up they are both the same party ruling America.
I want the same stuff your on to be oblivious to reality.
How many times has anyone gone to the store and see an OBVIOUS welfare bum using their food stamp card?
They generally have two carts – one full of meat and the other junk food.
Very little good food.
Many times they have a string of kids trailing behind her.
Reason for a food dessert is because of all the theft.
About government run grocery stores – unnecessary for those on food stamps.
Government knows how many and what ages your family members are and the nutritional needs for each one.
What the government CAN do for them is prepackage the foods their family NEEDS and not what the family WANTS.
They send out delivery trucks on the appropriate days and drop the foods off at the curb.
If you aren’t there to collect the items, you are out of luck.
SET DAYS ONLY.
This stops much of the issues with buying loads of meat and junk foods (meat for bartering or selling for money).
This system can work exactly like the sanitation department does for trash pickup.
And they are usually quite efficient.
Again this is for the welfare bums and food stamp folks.
Food desert problem solved.
This is Called Fema Control , Marshall Law , Crime at work to Steal , Take , Do evil
a nation that has thrown out God, Trusted in Self, Money, pleasure, positions
A Nation with out God Suffers , A Nation that crys out to God to save them shall be saved
Heart Condition , Repent , Turn to God, Cry out for Salvation thru Jesus Christ
John 1-3 chapters
John 14 : 1-14
If you care , If you really want a liferaft , life boat , a way of escape from the coming judgement , Isiah 45 : prophecy of sirus , judgement on the nations
only Hope is cast down false religeon , fake gods , Idols , Idolatry , wrong values of evil living
Cry out for Gods True protection , NOT SELF
Plan to be independant
Be Wise , Be smart , Be Aware , prepare for the coming judgement
I’d agree there could be logical means of addressing low income folks food needs. There could be more police and courts that are willing to support the law. But it feels like stupidity reigns supreme.
Some food and power Independence in the face of it all would feel more secure. Not sure how many can or will seriously do something to help themselves.
I’m of the opinion most could do more to prepare for unpleasant possibilities. God knows I’ve tried. At 76 my days of hard work are numbered but some gardening and canning are still possible even if done a little at a time instead of marathon canning days. I can sew, but stores selling off returned merchandise or seasonal leftovers, are so cheap it isn’t worth the work. Keep your eyes open. Bargains still abound. Sunday after church 2 friends and I went shopping. I bought several pairs of nice pants, a handful of blouses, a long skirt, a nice dress, a swimsuit and a cover up to wear at the beach all for about $30. Three weeks ago I bought a set of wonderful sheets, a beautiful bedspread, 3 throw pillows to match, 2 different sets of pillow shams, and 2 sets of curtains – a complete set originally priced at $169.99 for $50.
I do much the same for food. Sales, coupons, ect. I also go to a community pantry once a month even though I could go twice. I end up with more than I need so I can and give away some. Social Security is my only income. My savings is in things more than dollars. I’ve repaired some older vehicles and given some away as is. I’m down to 2 running dependable vehicles and one I’ll probably dismantle to create a second home power source. A Prius with a rebuilt battery bank. A small battery will start the electric motor and the wheel assembly generates power to charge the small battery and the big power bank. The big battery bank is more than enough power to run my small home and well pump. I could put the components in a shed or block up the car to run still intact. Let it appear to be disabled.
We old folks aren’t all helpless. Just too many think they are. I don’t worry too much about the food deserts although I live an hour away from a city with such areas.
After either burning down their chain supermarkets, or shoplifting it so badly (reparations, you see) that it its doors are permanently closed, the low IQ denizens of the inner city bemoan the fact that they live in a food desert.
So be it. FAFO.
Government-run stores to meet their needs are simply an extension of the plantation mentality.
The entire concept of “food deserts” is utter garbage. It’s some ridiculous measure like not having a grocery store within one mile of where you live. By that measure *I* live in a food desert. The grocery stores are 3 miles away. BFD. It’s rural-ish, you can’t live here without wheels of some sort.
If we are gonna label places food deserts, maybe they should label them work deserts, school deserts, etc.