Why Have Food Storage?

Some time back I was asked why have food storage.

When I say food storage I also mean things other then food such as alternative heat sources,cooking sources, and lighting.

 If you are like me you know some people who think food storage is a waste of time and resources, and you know people who think it is a good idea but always have an excuse as to why they haven't started.
I would hate to be the ones who knew they should do it but never got around to it and then have need of it.

To me it just makes good sense. Even if you don't think the economy is going to tank.There are so many other things that can go wrong.

The weather can be so unpredictable look at the people in Colorado during all the flooding there were some who couldn't leave their homes for several days.

And look at all the snow storms we are already having, like the one in South Dakota.

Wouldn't it be nice to know that if there is a major storm you can ride it out at home and not have to worry about having enough food to feed your family. And knowing you have a way to prepare the food and keep them warm. How hard would it be to watch your children be cold and hungry just because you didn't think it was important enough to do a little prepping.

So we have the weather what about or ailing power grid It would just take one major event to take it down,such as an EMP,Solar flare, a massive power surge, and cyber threats, there are already countries that can hack into our computer systems what if they decided to just bring down the grid. You say this is America and that can't happen here. Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has warned people to get out of major cities because of the stability of our power grid. As outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was leaving she said it was a matter of when not if. Ron Paul has even warned of this as has many congressmen .So it is something that can happen here.
If we have no power you can't get gas the grocery stores will run out of food, there will be no lights or heat at home. How will you manage?

What if you got sick and couldn't work for a while or lost your job wouldn't it be nice to know that you wouldn't have to worry about putting food on the table for your family.

Then we have the economy our national debt is in the trillions we are buying our own debt with stimulus money that we have just printed ourselves with nothing to back it up.The stock market is at an all time high (what goes up must eventually come down) just like before the great depression. We have whole cities going bankrupt Detroit just did and they are cutting all the pensions by
80 %.
It is not a matter of if but when all this is going to come crashing down and the longer they kick the can down the road the harder it is going to be so wouldn't it be nice to know that you have some food and provisions set back just in case.

Maybe none of these things will happen then you could think of it as an investment, the cost of food is going up every day and the packaging  is getting smaller. If you had bought food four years ago it would be doubled if not tripled in value today.

We have all kinds of insurance for our homes, car, health and life so why not have food insurance. Just think of the peace of mind you would have.

It doesn't have to cost a lot of money. You don't have to get the expensive freeze dried foods in fact you want to store what you eat and eat what you store. In a crises situation the last thing you want to do is introduce unfamiliar foods to your family. When you go to the store just pick up a few extras things to put back for storage. You can look at my post Food Storage Challenge to get some ideas and money saving tips. If money is tight there is a basic list that if you get you will at least have something to eat. Then there is a second list that adds some variety to your storage. Some food put back is better then no food.

So  my question would be, why would you not have food storage?