Natural Disasters. Natural Disasters Everywhere. Is it time to start preparing?

(x-posted in part on my Facebook page)An ice storm in mid-January.An EF3 tornado in New Orleans--the strongest ever to strike the town.A tornado outbreak in April and May. Flooding followed.California's drought, and then significant flooding.A summer heat wave.Severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in West Virginia.Wildfires in California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington state.Hurricane HarveyHurricane IrmaHurricane JoseHurricane KatiaEarthquakes.Solar Eclipse.The list goes on. It's only September.The United States has been battered this year by the 2nd highest amount of natural disasters ever to occur on record. With all the natural disasters that have happened recently, and taking into mind that it's evidently not over yet, I know many folks out there have become concerned and are now learning how to prepare for such things if they haven't already. It's not always the 'end of the world' stuff we write about that can initiate that thought process...sometimes it can be as simple as a hurricane making landfall, or a power outage that lasts a little while longer than you expected it to after a thunderstorm. Anyone living in a climate that occasionally allows a winter storm to manifest knows very well what happens to the grocery stores the night before it hits.Of all the tangents one can prioritize in the complex world of prepping, perhaps the most daunting subject concerns food and food storage. With so many options out there, it's hard to know which direction to follow.Now, this isn't a sales pitch. Our family has been through this conundrum as well. We've taken several avenues over the years; all functional, all expensive (some prohibitively), and none of them were as close to being consummate as the one I'm about to discuss.If you've read or listened to Kevin Pierce voice the Prologue in This We Will Defend, then you may have seen or heard the brand name 'Thrive' mentioned. As I've said before, while the story is fictional, most things mentioned and included within it are not.Thrive Life is a freeze dried and dehydrated food company that's gone out of their way to make their products stand out from the rest. The company was founded in 2005 as "Shelf Reliance." Their chief product was a food rotation system and their mission was helping folks around the world learn how to always keep food items in their stock and in turn, become more self-reliant. A year later, they began offering their own premium food line and changed their name to Thrive. In 2013, they became Thrive Life. You might have even seen consultants selling Thrive at prepper shows, festivals or hamfests.We started purchasing Thrive freeze-dried/dehydrated products last year and my wife became an independent consultant soon after. It just made sense to cash in on a product that we enjoyed and believe in. After all, it's food-something we all require.The foods Thrive offers are extensive...and above all things, absolutely delicious-which is probably the chief complaint concerning the foods in anyone's long-term food storage. I assure you, as far as taste is concerned, I've never had better. Thrive wins the taste challenge by miles.In addition to selling Thrive Life products, we subscribe to their monthly "Q" food rotation plan and have purchased their "piece of mind" long-term storage products. Most of their freeze-dried options have a 25-year shelf life. Most dehydrated options fall between 4 and 8 years of shelf life. All of the products I've tried are very tasty-especially their freeze-dried coconut bites. :)There are enough products in Thrive's inventory that you could easily replace nearly every single grocery item you buy on a daily/weekly basis, thereby always having the foods you need on-hand. You use what you need and only what you need when you need it, and you don't throw food away.As far as cost is concerned, it's the same as any other food storage brand that I've found. Some items are pricey, some are not, and sales on certain items run almost all the time. I will affirm that even the most expensive items will pay for themselves by the time you're done using them. And the cost only reflects the amount of the product you're purchasing.If you've already gotten all your ducks in a row concerning long-term food options, good on you. You're one of a few. I still suggest you take a moment and check out what Thrive has to offer. Those of you who haven't and are looking for peace of mind, you should definitely take the tour and consider adding them to your list of options. You won't be disappointed.In addition to the clickables above, I've added links to my wife's consultant page on Thrive's website, and also a link to her new page on Facebook. You can access Thrive's website through both and see what they have to offer or even contact her with your questions. If you're interested in purchasing, you can, of course, go through her or find a consultant in your area.Again, this post wasn't meant as a sales pitch. In light of what's been occurring lately, I just felt it prudent to get the word out about a product that in my humble opinion, doesn't get half the consideration it deserves. There's never a bad time to start preparations for bad times.https://www.thrivelife.com/stefanierudolphhttps://www.facebook.com/ThriveLifeStef/