When I discuss the increased possibility of food shortages and food riots happening right here in the United States, people look at me like I have lost my mind. How could that ever happen in the richest country in the world where we have so much food we export it to other countries? The answer comes as a shock to many people.

Food Riots Are Not Always About Food Shortages

Food riots are about panic, not always reality. The best example is the insanity that happens every year with Christmas shoppers on Black Friday. The video clips of people getting trampled for an Xbox or a Barbie Doll are all over YouTube.

The fact is that there are plenty of gifts for everyone to buy, but the fear is that you won’t be able to get the exact item you want, when you want and at the price you want. This is what turns normal people into crazed Black Friday shoppers.

Food riots are all too frequently the same. The fact is that most Americans have a 3-day supply or more of food in their homes, and even if they missed a meal or two, they would be fine. However, when the news reports come out that stores are running low and panic sets in, we learn firsthand that stores have only a three day supply of food at best on the shelves, and they can get emptied in a matter of hours during a panic.

Food Riots Can Cause Food Shortages

So the fact is that very often, it is not a food shortage that causes a food riot. However, as crazy as it sounds, the opposite can happen. A food riot empties out store shelves and then suppliers become reluctant to ship food the next day, causing a real food shortage. Why don’t they ship the food?

There are two reasons that suppliers get gun-shy about shipping their food to the stores in such a scenario. The first is the obvious concern for safety for the drivers. Everyone remembers how during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles the truck driver Reginald Denny was dragged from his truck and beaten half to death.

The second reason is that if the panic is due to fears of an impending economic collapse, then suppliers are concerned that they may not get paid for their shipments if their customers go under during the turbulent economic events that are just unfolding.

Or, even if the customer is rock-solid financially, the fact is that prices can easily skyrocket in this type of situation, and shipping the goods next week instead of this week could mean a huge price difference.

So now that we have looked at the mechanics of how food riots and food shortages can happen suddenly, the question we all have to ask ourselves is how stable and secure is our country’s financial situation.

If we are confident that our leaders have everything under control and the national debt and the budget deficit are no big deal, and nothing happening with the Euro will impact us here in America, then we have nothing to worry about and there is no need to take simple precautions to protect ourselves.

However, for most Americans familiar with our economic state of affairs and the way our leaders in Washington are dealing (or not dealing) with things, that is a big “if.”

This originally appeared on Preppgroup.