How Mormons Helped Make America’s Prepping Industry Into Big Business

American Fork: Pat worries about what to do during a major disaster. She fears she won’t have the strength to turn away those who need food. “I’ve just started learning how to shoot,” she says. “Will I be able to use it if someone tries to harm us?”

Bill finishes her thought, “Steal from us.” Pat agrees and they talk about such threats in chat rooms.

Many older preppers fear atomic war, while younger ones think about 9/11. Other big moments that made prepping popular include Hurricane Katrina, the Ebola outbreak, the Covid pandemic, Texas’s 2021 power outage, and Russia invading Ukraine in 2022. Sales go up during presidential elections, too. After Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, one company said they knew sales would drop, and they did.

On September 10, I entered Stapleton’s home, and everything felt normal. Just thirty minutes later, a shooting at Utah Valley University shocked the area. While I visited the family’s bunker, the shooter was still on the run.

Later, outside the hospital where the victim was taken, I saw a vigil for grieving Americans. Kelsie Gruenewald stood there holding an American flag. She is a member of the Latter-day Saints and owns food products from 4Patriots. Kelsie said her instincts to prepare grew after an earthquake hit Salt Lake City just as Covid was shutting everything down. Political violence in her usually safe home state also shocked her. “Evil can creep up anywhere,” she said.