When SHTF, a lot of folks here may be stocked to the hilt with canned foods, buckets of dried foods, rice, etc. when shit really begins to hit the fan there are a few major reasons why you should steer clear of your stockpile for as long as possible:
# 1
If it gets to the point where do you feel compelled to start consuming your prep, then that means things are likely not gonna be getting better for a very long time, which means that you should be out there in the streets/stores groveling for whatever remaining supplies you can get, and continuing to stockpile excess while reducing your consumption to subsistence levels.
By the time that available supply runs out, everybody who has no prep will perish (this is not a good thing - don't celebrate the demise of others, just because they were too ignorant to prepare). After this period of time passes, there will be a lot fewer remaining people to consume whatever resources remain, which means that you may not have to dip into your stockpile to survive. If things continue downwards from this point (think of a worst case scenario like a nuclear winter), you will still have whatever number of months of supplies that you started with to survive the real SHTF that ensues.
Reason # 1 could be summed up as "shit can always get much worse".
# 2
The next reason is that you may think shit has hit the fan, and so you begin to consume your stockpile, and then suddenly things turn around and start getting better, and now you have consumed your stock pile and you are no longer prepared for whatever comes next, while the likelihood of another SHTF scenario probably increases exponentially after this point in time (due to all the systems that will have failed as a result of the first SHTF).
# 3
If your neighbors and everybody around you have been going to the store/other resource pool, and you have just been comfortably hiding out in your house (to avoid chaos, etc.), then the likelihood of somebody nearby realizing that you are stocked up goes up increases.
The first point stands on its own and should be reason enough to follow this advice.
BONUS
Whatever food preps you have, add 100 pounds of rice AND 1 water filter (life straw or Sawyer Mini) per person to that. It's cheap AF, you can buy cheap mylar bags from Amazon and oxygen absorbers to put in those bags and the race will last for many years. And then you will have about six months extra runway when SHTF.
Here are the mylar bags:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDWBMY4/
Here are the oxygen absorbers:
many many people will die if it seriously comes to what a REAL shit hits the fan scenario will bring. you know it, i know it, everyone knows it. I know everyone likes to stay in their little world and fantasy bubble, but reality is much different
Imagine this scenario. Collapse. No more food in usal place for normies, aka no more supermarket supplies, because global collpase or global war, or global reduction in transportation due to oil reserves ending.
What do you do?
If you have food stored away, and you have children, you need to teach them to shut the fuck up. You would need to pretend you are hungry. You will need to get out and fake searching for food...
If other hungry ppl start thinking you have food, they will do EVERYTHING in their power to get the food away from you. So, if alone, never leave the house? Have dogs? Will you shoot others to protect the dog/s?
Do you have guns? In USA sure, in Europe no. But in USA others have guns too... so double edged sword. Plus most houses in USA are wooden, so very easy to fucking kill someone hidding behind a fucking wooden wall. In Europe, at least where I live we have concrete houses.
Yes I would kill to protect my dog, and then feed that person to my dog. I met with several neighbors of mine to discuss this scenario and when I mentioned feeding the dead to the dogs, they thought it was a great idea. A lot of pitbulls in my neighborhood and they're all friendly. A few neighbors have body armor and night vision equipment, we plan on setting up a watch schedule that includes a dog at each entrance. Every front yard would turn into a garden. A few combat veterans around here and the post locations have already been determined. Only 4 ways into the area and every entrance will be blocked by cars and provide a good line of site for intruders. I'm grateful for good neighbors that have their eyes open and are preparing. It will take a rather large group to be effective.
Big plus to have good minded neighbors...