by Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper:

As we head into the last weekend before the hotly contested presidential election, it isn’t just preppers who are getting stocked up and planning to hunker down. Americans, in general, have an overall really bad feeling about the aftermath and the possibility of violence. Even those who lean left and general eschew prepping have been quietly getting ready for what might come.

Don’t be surprised this weekend if you discover that last-minute run to the grocery store may not be as fruitful as you’d hoped. Not only do we have the election coming up, but lockdown restrictions are beginning to tighten again. We could be looking at empty shelves similar to the ones we faced last March.

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Unless you are totally stocked up, I suggest you head out as early as possible Saturday morning and top off your supplies. If you wait until later in the weekend, or even later in the day, you may find the choices are limited if they are available at all.

The following suggestions are about as far from organic as you can get. These are the things I recommend when the things you want are no longer available.

Here are some places you may be able to buy food when there’s none in the grocery stores.

If you find this to be the case, don’t panic. There are still other places you can shop and grab some last-minute items. These probably won’t be the cheapest places to shop and you may not get exactly what you want, but you may get lucky and still find inventory.

• The dollar store (Here’s more info on what you can buy at the dollar store)


• Pharmacies (They often have a small food section with snacks, bread, crackers, and some canned goods)


• Office supply stores (You can sometimes find bulk purchases meant for stocking up the office lunchroom)


• Clearance stores like Big Lots or Liquidation World (Check the expiration dates but food is food, right now)


• Discount stores like Dollar General (Use the same rules you would for the dollar store food)


• Convenience stores/gas stations (This will be mostly snacky foods but you should be able to find plenty – also load up on electrolyte drinks in case someone gets sick)


• Hardware stores (They often have chips, candy, crackers, and such near the registers.)


• Large home and gift stores (Places like TJ Maxx and Homegoods often have row after row of gourmet goodies just waiting to be slipped into a fancy gift basket. Well, you can also slip these items into your pantry. Grab seasonings, snacks, candy, popcorn, fancy grains, soup mixes, condiments, teas, and all sorts of other tasty foods.


• Asian or Indian markets (These can be a godsend for rice, beans, noodles, produce, and seasonings)

Expect limits to be in places. They’re popping up all over the nation. You can have more than one person go through the line if you have a large family, or you can hit more than one store and purchase to the limit.

What NOT to do

There are a few things NOT to do if you find yourself in this predicament.

• Don’t hit the grocery store, then go to another grocery store, then throw your hands up in the air and say “it’s too late, there’s no food!” Get out there and start scrounging and hitting the places that aren’t your normal food shopping locations. Do not return home empty handed.


• Don’t let people who accuse you of panic-buying or being “selfish” convince you that you have no business being out there stocking up. Your family has just as much right to the food and supplies that are available as everyone else’s.


• Don’t pin your hopes on mail order. Sure, that order from Amazon might get through. But then again it might not. Many of the long-term food storage places are back-ordered for weeks now and a lot of people have reported ordering things from Amazon, then weeks later getting a notification that their money is being refunded and their product is not coming. I strongly recommend making physical purchases.


• Don’t get into any altercations. The food that is at the store is not worth your life. Tensions will be high, and when people become desperate, they can be rude, pushy, and even aggressive. Getting into a fight will most likely mean that neither you nor the aggressor will end up walking out the door with the food.

Focus on what you can do, and don’t let anyone deter you from your path.

What to buy

As I mentioned above, please start as early in the day as possible to get the things you want and need.

If anyone in your household has essential prescription medications, get them ASAP, even if you have to pay out of pocket for the refill.

The following suggestions are from an article I wrote the last time the shelves got picked over. These ideas will still apply to our current situation. Again, I really don’t want to see anyone in the comments complaining about how these options are not organic. I know. But when you have waited until the last minute, you switch from optimal supplies to supplies that will keep you alive.

When the store is out of water

There are lots of other options if the water aisle looks like this. They may not be as healthy but they’ll keep you from dying of dehydration.

• Sports drinks (like Gatorade)


• Flavored or sparkling water


• Juice boxes or individual bottles


• Juice


• Soda pop (not too much though because that can be dehydrating instead of replenishing)


• Vegetable juice


• Premade iced tea

A good trick here is to go to the aisle where people get individually packaged stuff for their kids’ lunches. You’ll find all sorts of beverage pouches and plastic bottles of drinks here.

I warned you – not the healthiest, but healthy is no longer available. Trust me when I tell you it will be far better than having nothing available to drink. Oh – and don’t forget the wine. It won’t really rehydrate you, but you won’t care as much that you don’t have water.

Finally, use containers. You still have running water, right? Use vessels you already have and/or buy containers, wash them, and fill them up. No one is going to be sold out of containers unless you specifically look for “Water Containers.” Grab mason jars, pitchers, canisters, etc. Just make sure they’re food-safe and you’re good.

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