When A Hurricane Hits Do We Realize Our Priorities

by Joni Kamiya, Hawaii Farmer's Daughter, August 7, 2014

The state of Hawaii is currently under a hurricane/tropical storm warning.  Like so many folks, many are just not prepared for it.  We have seen stores just packed with people buying the basics like toilet paper, rice, spam, quick to eat food, lots of canned goods, and bottled water.  Even gasoline is out a many gas stations across our state.

If you look carefully at people’s carts, you can see that when there is a disaster, no one cares about eating healthy or organic.  They are buying whatever is cheap and whatever will last.  The high end expensive foods and snacks are still sitting on shelves while the local favorites are all gone.  All the expensive waters are all that’s left in the stores while everything else is just gone.

This shows a very interesting behavior among consumers.  When people say that the need to know what they are eating, why does it change when there is a possible shortage of food or supplies?  We as Americans want to label GMO foods as if it is something bad which sends the same message around the world, but then when there is likely no food, we don’t care what we get.  It’s about survival and being ready for what may come.  It isn’t time to be picky or finicky and we have to go what is affordable and what is plentiful.

So, did you go shopping for GMO free organic and pesticide free food, BPA free bottled water, and gluten free bread when preparing for the storm?  Did you look for organic, chemical free toilet paper? Was your first stop to stock up for food and supplies Whole Foods or Down to Earth? I somehow doubt it.  When we have so much abundance around us, we forget that we actually do have choices and your choices change on the circumstances.

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