Why and How Americans Are Stockpiling Food and Using Tax Rebate Checks to Hoard Rice, Oil and More

Just the other day, I heard about a rice shortage and rumors of some stores limiting rice purchases. I called our local Sams Club and asked the manager if customers were being limited in the amount of rice they could purchase. The answer? Yes. Each member could buy only four bags of rice or even less, depending on the type of rice purchased. At our local grocery store, the larger sized bags of rice were gone but the small boxes of Uncle Ben's rice and packaged rice mixes were still available.

Then I heard a neighbor mention how she was stocking up on even more basic food supplies. She showed me a pantry with shelves filled with containers of cooking oil! My mother, a woman who'd survived the Great Depression, hasn't started stockpiling food, but did alert me to a recent article in none other than The Wall Street Journal, where a suggestion was made that it might be time for Americans to consider stockpiling food. You can see that information here: online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html

Even the government seems to be getting in on the action and President Bush seems to be encouraging Americans to spend their tax rebates on gasoline and food. That information can be seen here: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080425/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_economy . A case was made by some, including Semator Charles Shumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, that the rising cost of gas would take a bite out of most people's finances - one that would use up almost their entire stimulus check.

The rest? It could well go toward higher food prices. Of course, just as Forever Stamps hold their value if postage goes up, some people believe that stockpiling food now could be a hedge against rising food prices. With cereal prices rising 8% a year and eggs soaring an astronomical 30% in one year, it is easy to see why hoarding food may make sense.

So why are some people stockpiling food now? What fuels their actions? Here are some of the top reasons as well as pros and cons when it comes to stockpiling food:

Reason one: Stockpiling Food as a way to guard against inflation