3 Things I Would Miss if the Global Supply Chain Disappeared

As I poured my first cup of coffee this morning and told myself I wouldn’t drink more than three cups all day, my wandered to the coming apocalypse. Probably to distract myself from the egregious lie I’d just told myself. Also, because my mind goes there a lot.

I don’t really believe that an apocalypse is coming any time soon. Mostly. But I like to be prepared, just in case. I’m pessimistic enough to think that it’s entirely, easily possible, and optimistic enough to believe humanity as a whole will survive. I intend to be a survivor.

This morning, though, I narrowed in on the things I would miss if I had to live off the land and my labors. Like, oranges. Those don’t grow in the wild in the Pacific Northwest, where I live.

More realistically, we’ve seen the results of short-term disruptions to the global supply chain, and people around the globe are still living with them. Toilet paper, gasoline, your favorite almond milk coffee creamer… the list goes on. Pandemics, wars, and natural disasters play havoc with the little things that make up our day to day lives.

These are, of course, the concerns of highly wealthy nations that can’t come to grips with the concept that less is more. I can certainly live without my favorite almond milk creamer. I could live without anything on this list. In fact, this little exercise is more than just a doomsday fantasy playing in my head. It’s the beginning of a thought process that ends with considering how interconnected we are, from nations to individuals, and what a massive EMP or large meteor could do to that connectiveness.

Coffee

The caffeine withdrawals would be brutal. So brutal. Turn me into a rage monster that could give the Hulk a run for his money brutal. Also, coffee snobbery and the ability to pontificate on the merits of coffee roasted over a campfire or why single beans are better than blends would be a thing of the past. I live in Seattle. It’s part of our identity.

Chocolate

Deep, dark, bitter chocolate just a shade shy of the cocoa nibs it comes from. Truffles made from said dark chocolate. Fancy-pants, hand rolled, artisan truffles, that is. Also, Hershey bars for S’mores. And KitKats.

Bananas

Without global shipping there are no bananas in my corner of the world, and my morning yogurt with bananas and chocolate chips would have to be replaced with something hideous, like cereal. I mean, I enjoy the very occasional bowl of Golden Grahams, but I suppose those would disappear as well. I’d have to dig out the old yogurt maker and make my own. And find a cow to milk.

The Things I Won’t Miss

Cars

Okay, so I don’t mean they should disappear entirely. But maybe we could drive them longer than a few years before getting a new one? I use things until they’re unfixably dead. It’s my thing. My car is a beater I bought brand new 20 years ago. It won’t die. I have an excellent mechanic. I expect to drive my next car until I die. What I’m really saying here is that I wouldn’t miss over-consumption and a throw-away society.

Avocados

I really, really like avocados. Scooped and eaten straight out of the skin, on toast, made into guacamole. It’s probably going to take a global disaster to make me give them up entirely, even though I’ve cut back, and even though I know all of the environmental issues and human problems their production creates. There are ways to eat them ethically and sustainably, but not where I live. Giving them up would be like quitting smoking. Initially painful, but good in the long run.

Global Corporations

This deserves an article all to itself, so I’ll just say that strip-mining the planet, exploiting people, continually shifting jobs and destroying communities to find ever cheaper labor, and behaving as if natural resources are never-ending are not things any of us will miss, even if we can’t buy a cheap t-shirt in a big box store. Even if a transitioning post-apocalyptic society would be awful, it could eventually be made into something better than we currently have.

Worth Mentioning

Digestives, Italian olive oil, Spanish sardines, my favorite mochi candy from Japan, Hungarian paprika, alpaca wool from Peru, knowing that fair trade and similar movements create decent jobs around the world, the internet. I would miss them all.

Billionaires. I wouldn’t miss billionaires.