Life After Food Storage

By itself, a stockpile of our great Augason Farms products many not be enough—wise though it may be. While you’re working on storing that emergency supply of food—an excellent start, by the way—there are a couple of other things to consider.

Family Make a plan
We are all vulnerable. That is undeniable.

Whether or not we will face a natural or manmade disaster in our lifetime is largely a matter of chance. That we cannot alter. But we should not leave our survival to chance, either. For that, we should have a plan.

Through planning and preparedness, we can largely mitigate the effects of any calamity that might befall us. That may just be the edge we need to survive.

A carefully designed and executed plan is the beginning point. No contractor begins construction without a floor plan; no director begins a play without first having a script in hand. It’s just common sense.

It’s the same when preparing for emergencies. With a plan, most decisions are made beforehand. That will allow you to be more aware and astute when faced with unforeseen events and conditions. You’ll more quickly adapt to the circumstances if you’re not overwhelmed or overloaded by more decisions than one person can make. Deciding most things beforehand avoids most of the chaos and the stress.

We cannot wait until events are upon us to formulate a plan. There simply will not be time to do so. Failure to prepare, as they say, is to prepare for failure. But in this case, failure is not an option; our very survival may depend upon it.

We’ve created an emergency plan for you, click here, and there are considerable resources available to help you plan. An Internet search will yield an embarrassment of information. Local emergency services people are also ready and willing to lend their expertise and experience.

Then, sit down with family members to outline a plan of action. Remember that each one will have some contribution, born of their particular circumstances and point of view. Listen to any and all suggestions. You never know where great ideas might come from.

From the eldest to the youngest, each can have a role. Instill in each the importance of participating in earnest.

Dress Rehearsal
Before a Broadway show opens its doors, there are any number of rehearsals. Perhaps the most crucial is the dress rehearsal, where the entire cast and crew go through the show as if it were an actual performance before a live audience.

The value of a dress rehearsal in theater cannot be overestimated. It allows everyone to identify and correct unforeseen problems that might otherwise ruin an impeccable performance.

Truth be told, adequately preparing for a natural or manmade disaster involves a procedure similar to a dress rehearsal. But since it’s impossible to have an earthquake on cue, we have to go about it in another way. We drill.

Drill, Baby, Drill
For the family or the individual, a practice exercise or dress rehearsal for disaster is called a drill—a fire drill or an earthquake drill, for example. Deciding what each will do in a variety of likely scenarios and then practicing those measures can be invaluable, should the time ever come.

Begin your plans with the most likely disaster: a house fire. This is the most common disaster and the least anticipated. Even though considering such a possibility is unpleasant, it is a necessary evil. Learning and practicing what each family member should do in each particular circumstance may be the difference between life and death in a real crisis.

Together with storing and emergency food supply, planning and rehearsing are key measures.

Practice Makes Perfect
The last step is the easiest but most neglected: practice. Once your emergency dress rehearsals come off without a hitch, you’re ready. You’ve identified any problems and found solutions. Everything runs smoothly. Now all that’s needed is to practice those routines until they become second nature.

Countless studies and eons of experience tell us that periodically rehearsing a routine until it can be repeated with little thought makes an individual’s response automatic in an otherwise chaotic environment. Emergency response personnel, airline pilots and astronauts, just to name a few, practice established routines repeatedly until they can be executed without hesitation or consideration.

Home free
Based on the reports of those who survived disasters because of their preplanned and practiced routines, you will be ever so grateful that you invested in perfecting and smoothly executing your plans. Should you ever face the unfortunate circumstance of actually executing those procedures in an emergency, you will discover their inestimable value. They inspire confidence and security when all else in your world seems to have gone awry, and they may just save your life and those of your loved ones.

Augason Farms believes in preparation. That’s why we’ve created reliable products for you and yours. Family owned and operated since 1972, Augason Farms believes that great taste is a tradition worth preserving. Crafted with a focus on taste and health, their products are manufactured to the highest standards. Let them provide you with delicious peace of mind.

By Anthony E. Larson
Augason Farms Copywriter

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