Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, people across the world have rushed to “panic buy” and stockpile food and toilet paper, fearing potential shortages.
But Bill and Melinda Gates began to stockpile food in their basement years before the current pandemic.
“A number of years ago, we talked about, ‘What if there wasn’t clean water? What if there wasn’t enough food? Where might we go? What might we do as a family?’ So, I think we should leave those preparations to ourselves,” Melinda Gates told BBC Radio Live on Thursday.“We had prepared, and had some food in the basement in case needed, and now we’re all in the same situation,” she said.
Melinda said they could not prepare with a particular drug or vaccine, of course, as “there are no tools” for Covid-19.
“This is a disease we’re all in together,” she said on BBC Radio.
But she also acknowledged her family’s privilege.
“What we mostly talk about now in our home every night is how lucky we are. We understand our privilege. When we say our grace at night, what we’re thankful for around the table, is that we aren’t struggling to put a meal on the table as so many families around the world are,” Melinda said.As far back as 2010, Bill Gates warned of a looming pandemic in a blog post after the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.
Source: Bill Gates stored food in basement to prep for a pandemic
