Calories as currency?

[Bearman202]

There was a woman on Coast To Coast AM last night that was talking about what might happen in our near future. One of the things she said was that in a SHTF scenerio, it's highly possible that calories would become currency. That made a lot of sense to me. Thoughts?

She also mentioned that she was in a store one time, talking about the need to become more self-sufficient, and a man there just shook his head. She asked him if he didn't think it might be important to be able to grow his own food. He showed her a large semi-automatic handgun and told her, "If it gets that bad, I'll just come to your house, and I'll thank you for growing it."

I thought about that guy, and my first thought was, "Target practice!" LOL! :D

[Klayton]

Target practice, I LOVE IT!!

[trkarl]

It's amazing the mind set of some people. What, do they think we'll spend all this money and time and effort to be more self sufficient and NOT have ample means and ability to defend it? Some people really are the epitome of STUPID.

[Jon Doe]

I've heard about calories being used, not necessarily as currency but as a government ration. For example the population is restricted to only 1200 calories a day. If my memory serves me, I think it was in the British movie 'Threads' a post nuke story that came out at about the same time as 'The Day After' another post nuke story (or a million years ago - I'm dating myself). The thing that baked my noodle about Threads was actually during the credits. They used a multitude of technical advisors and they had more letters after their names than a case of alphabet soup!

As to your other observation about 'that guy.' I hate to admit it but my own brother made a similar stupid comment. Once I pointed out to him that people who think about prepping have already thought long and hard about people like him, have guns, and have had significantly more practise using them than he has. Not only did it shut him up, but it might have saved his life.

[Bull]

I hear the same thing a lot. That doesn't seem like a real great way of thinking: survival plan = become a predator. WTF

[Knobster]

Calories as currency? So, a pound of peanut butter is worth more than, say, a pound of rice?

[Lowdown3]

Everyone is a hero in their mind till they get shot at.

That's when the "I'll take what I'll need" fantasy will end for most of them.

[Hawkeye]

Everyone is a hero in their mind till they get shot at by someone far better trained and prepared than they are.

That's when the "I'll take what I'll need" fantasy will end for most of them.

Added a little..... ;)

[rice paddy daddy]

What my wife has been doing for quite a while is buying only the sale items at our local, small town grocery. The non-perishible items, of course. And significant quantities. She has been doing this long enough to have figured out the cycle, and we have been able to put away enough. Enough other people in this mostly rural area do the same thing so that some items are sold out before noon on the first day. The stockmen don't even bother to shelve the rice bags, they just pallet-jack it out the stockroom doors and leave it there.
I would never buy from Sams or Costco because they keep a record of everthing you buy, making it real easy if the government ever decides to "re-distribute the wealth."
And lowdown, ya got that right about the raider mentality. They won't last very long.:)

[BeckyinTX]

That year supply of Girl Scout cookies I just bought could pay off big time!

[2682nscovell]

I could see that.

[hagbard]

Its a little harder to do the "self defense" thing where I live. There are no gun rights here.

[Bearman202]

Someone commented that a jar of peanut butter would be worth more than a pound of rice. I think you might be right. What do the rest of you think? I mean, it's obvious that a whole cow is worth more than a chicken, but how would the trade go? "I'll give you a pound of deerburger for two pounds of rice?" See what I mean?

[Ken]

It'll all get figured out as we go, just like it did back in the days of traders, trading posts, mountain men and the Indians that they traded with.
What was more important to survival was and always will be worth more than the lesser items as it will be for those things that will give you the most for the least, just as in rice versus peanut butter!
Monetary value I wouldn't think would be the question as much as individual needs and wants would.
As in, what you have that is wanted the most by whomever that you are trading with.
For example: you have a pound of sugar to trade, the other guy has some clean dry flour you might be interested in and a couple cans of fruit, but he only has the 2 cans, you haven't had fruit for months and want to trade for that, the guy that you are trading with has lots of sugar already so to him, your sugar won't be worth as much as those cans of fruit, the next guy you run into has a barn full of cans of fruit, but has no sugar etc...

Ken.