This month, you’ll read and hear a lot about hurricane readiness.
Be prepared with enough supplies to last seven days.
Be prepared to evacuate.
Be prepared to shelter with a hotelier, family, friends with a hot tub.
Be prepared to weather the peculiarities of those with whom you may be confined.
Be prepared to drink water without ice.
And be prepared to eat Spam?
I looked up “Spam” in the dictionary and chuckled to see the first listing for a noun defines spam as “unwanted or intrusive advertising on the internet.”
The second listing: A trademarked brand of canned meat product made mainly from ham.
The dictionary’s example of Spam in a sentence reads, “Sammy Leslie and Ultan Bannon know that wine lovers want good wines first and good trimmings after, so there are no stray tins of Spam here.”
I got my first taste of Spam at a surfer-inspired restaurant on Gulf Drive in Anna Maria located where Harry’s Grill now operates. They served an island-style Spam fried rice, and I think the island influence was Hawaiian rather than AMI.
I thought the dish tasty and added Spam, a product with a long shelf life, to my hurricane kit.
Don’t mock the stockpile.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit and hoarders packed the grocery aisles despite early cautions about social distancing, Spam sales were setting annual records.
Why?
Affordability, stability and also versatility. Did you know that you can use the lid from the can to warm Spam over a fire?
So Spam remains a staple in my readiness kit, which should contain enough nonperishable food to sustain a household for a week.
My kit also includes jarred olives, bread-and-butter pickles, raspberry jam, creamy peanut butter, Pop-Tarts, crackers, Swedish fish, coffee and soda pop.
Meanwhile, wife Connie’s additions include canned pears and peaches, jarred kale, beans, teas and freeze-dried cherries, green beans, carrots and celery.
Someone might guess I’m packing for summer camp and she’s preparing for “Survivor.”
The Islander asked readers via social media what they keep in their kits to sustain them through and after.
Some replies:
- “We keep dehydrated food on hand that will still be usable long after we’re dead … and liquor.”
- “Duct tape. And beer.”
- “Trail mix is a must.”
- “Pudding, please.”
- “Steak sauce so you can pretend.”
One more: “Not Spam, that’s for sure!”
But whether Spam or jam goes in the kit, be prepared.