If you ever find yourself in a post-nuclear holocaust environment and come across people eating beef stroganoff, odds are they’ll be Glenn Beck fans.
You may have heard about Beck’s relationship with Goldline International, which urges people to buy gold and stay safe from the supposed inevitable devaluing of the dollar. Now meet Food Insurance, which sells survival kits of freeze-dried food and other items to help people live from two weeks to 12 months, depending on the plan purchased (and post-apocalyptic conditions). Beck has promoted the company’s products, is featured prominently on the company’s website, and a banner ad for the company, bearing Beck’s image, was spotted on his website Monday.
At ready.gov, FEMA recommends that people pre-plan for emergencies. The government’s recommended preparedness steps include having a supply kit that that can last at least a few days, establishing a plan beforehand and staying informed. Nowhere does it suggest buying products from a private company. But Food Insurance, whose “The Essential” kit goes for $199.99 and provides enough food for an adult for two weeks, argues “why not make sure you and your loved ones are prepared with enough food and water to survive the ever-increasing number of disasters in the world?”
“The Essentials” kit feeds one person, and comes in a sleek backpack, for when you have to survive on the move. On the high end, for $9,599.99, you can buy the plan that feeds a family of five for 12 months (plus they throw in a free drink mix combo, “Emergency Plus” kit and “Essentials” kit).
The company’s website touts the many perks of food insurance, not least of which is the “gourmet quality” of the products.
While your neighbors are struggling to find food, you will be dining on lasagna, beef stroganoff, and a variety of other delicious entrees. What’s more, this food will retain its nutritional value and freshness for up to ten years.
Talk about faith, hope and charity. Screw those starving, unprepared jerks next door. Besides beef stroganoff, other available entrees include chicken ala king, fettuccini alfredo and chicken teriyaki, because as everyone knows, if civilization collapses, the one thing you’ll really miss is good take out.
[TPM Slideshow: Beck’s ‘Restoring Honor’ Rally]
“I want to talk to you about the changing world that we live in. I want to talk to you about a company that I found called Food Insurance,” Beck says in a segment of his radio show featured on Food Insurance’s website. “We have health insurance, this is real food insurance.”
“I finished my food storage, and I couldn’t believe how relieved I was,” Beck continues. “I remember sitting down on the stairs of the basement and looking at it, and thinking ‘I could lose my job, and my family will eat.’ Sometimes guys don’t realize how much pressure is on them.”
(Forbes estimates Beck made $32 million from March ’09 to March ’10.)
The Food Insurance website also features a video of Beck talking about how this is a “crazy” world. He says his staff and family all have the backbacks, with “everything that you need in case the world goes to heck in a handbasket.”
“Do the easy stuff now,” Beck says, in conclusion. “Prepare yourself for what we all hope won’t happen, but probably will, if you’re not prepared. Thanks.”
Late Update: Reader CW writes in to inform us that Beck isn’t the only Fox News employee promoting Food Insurance. Business Wire reports that Sean Hannity is doing it too.
