Working in the food distribution industry, I came across this by accident. Interested in what it can mean for us, I did some research. I long held a common misconception about overpopulation. What I found online sums it up well:

Overpopulation does not depend only on the size or density of the population, but on the ratio of population to available sustainable resources. It also depends on the way resources are used and distributed throughout the population. Overpopulation can result from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates due to medical advances, from an increase in immigration, or from an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources. It is possible for very sparsely populated areas to be overpopulated, as the area in question may have a meager or non-existent capability to sustain human life (e.g. a desert).

The resources to be considered when evaluating whether an ecological niche is overpopulated include clean water, clean air, food, shelter, warmth, and other resources necessary to sustain life. If the quality of human life is addressed, there may be additional resources considered, such as medical care, education, proper sewage treatment waste disposal and energy supplies. Overpopulation places competitive stress on the basic life sustaining resources,[9] leading to a diminished quality of life.[10] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation#Definition

Regarding the resource food in the quotation, during the drought we had this summer, we (those of us at my job) saw a decline in beef.

I trust everyone here is prepared to some degree. Some here have enough stored food to last a year and I would hope that as some supplies get old, they would be consumed rather thrown out. We talk about in the event of a manmade or natural disaster. What about a disaster that is not quite so dramatic? The infrastructure is completely intact but there simply may not be enough raw resources to feed everybody. Not everybody can stock up for the simple reason there is not enough to stock up.

I believe I am in a good position. Having inside information, I know what to stock up on when certain things start to run low. And yet, I also feel this is not enough.

This year I began to learn to improvise, use what is currently available. This skill will come in handy when certain supplies run low. Also, I have been going to the bakery outlet to buy day-old bread. Not only am I spending $0.80 on a loaf of bread, that loaf of bread may very well be one less loaf thrown out. Hence, this saves on resources.

Jeanette Isabelle