When the civilized ppl on the planet, living in the big bustling cities are either exposed to a seriously infective disease, some psyco drops a bomb, a major catastrophic event such as an ice age, an earthquake, or whatever, I figure the families like me will be ok. We dont have cattle lol so no hoof and mouth infected cows, tho it can get into the sheep population., but not my rabbits ... my horses should be ok too since no nearby cattle .. and again the concern with cross contamination, BUT we grow alot of our own food, from our garden.. preserve a lot of it too, raise piggies, and will eventually put one in the freezer as well as deer and some birds... but .. how many city folk (lol as some ppl call it) could actually survive without a supermarket.. or a cell phone.. or lol ... power..?? Im a hand spinner, making my own yarn and clothing and more, I weave, candle make, herbologist, and my property is full of edible plants flowering herbs, fruit trees, and we dont live on a "compound" somewhere.. we live 20 min from Wal-mart and the center of a bigger town, But my kids can milk sheep & goats (they make the BEST cheese and ice cream and soap..) I am not saying civilization WILL end lol just that with all the dooms dayers, I feel pretty good and productive having the knowledge I have and existing on a small farm that if necessary could sustain my whole family.. sometimes in the summer months I only need to go to the grocery store once a month and spend about 120$ on a family of five. not bad.. and we are not suffering at all.. we are eating the things we grew, and just reaping what we sow litterally.. so when other adults and kids look at me and my family as though we are bizarre for living our lives this way,We just laugh, hurricane season is half the year, and we barely realize we have no power, or lights or hot water.. thankfully, that time of year it is summer, daylight for a long time, and we try to make a milk jug shower fun... but obviously we have computers, cable and phones ... We dont have lap tops, cell phones or beepers.. and, for those parents thinking pets and farm life is crazy, Im almost 40 my blood pressure is a regular 110/50 Im not overweight, eat everything I want to , and while we dont make as much money as we could make my hubbie is home every night by 6pm, with weekends off, and time with our family... so ... when the avain flu comes here from asia , I will sit here at home knowing my kids have really great immune systems from being around so many animals, we dont have to go to the cold and germ centers of the town like wal-mart and grocery stores, and let it pass us by ...