Give Thanks...The Things We Don't Think About

 Shopping in one of our local grocery stores last week, I spotted a sign attached to the scan reader:

ATTENTION CUSTOMERS!

ALL CANNING LIDS (KERR & BALL)

2 BOXES PER PERSON!

It struck me as funny...since we now live in a small town, everyone must can their food and they're running out of canning supplies. I posted the picture with a snarky little caption about how I must be in a small town if they're running out of canning supplies because everyone cans.

Turns out (as it usually does...), I didn't fully understand what was going on.

After posting the picture/caption, people let me know about how much I didn't know. I was told that the shortage of canning lids was not a "local" issue. It was a nationwide issue. People across the country are having trouble finding them.

This started me thinking about canning in general. Why do people can? Why do they even need to prepare food for storage to be used later? Can't we all just go to the store and buy whatever we need? Many, many people don't think that's always going to be an option. We've learned a lot since 2019, not just about trying to avoid getting sick. We've also learned the value of preparation.

I've been amazingly blessed I've been my whole life. I've never been without food...just one of the reasons I'm thankful for my life, for those things we don't think about. I've never had to wait in line to get anything, much less the basics. This is something millions, if not billions of people have had to do to survive, and unfortunately, many of them didn't. What if suddenly there was no food at the store, no way to feed ourselves? That's something I thought I'd never have to even think about. Now...not only should we think about it, but plan for that happening.

I don't think I'll ever look at a box of canning lids the same way again.