Famine, a pamphlet by Ogden Kraut.

“Feast or Famine” has been the lot of every person, in greater or lesser degrees, and even though it is a hard lesson learned, it is often and hastily forgotten. To “be prepared” is the motto from boy scouts to the defense of nations, but how little attention to this wise creed is adhered to by members of the Church and other individuals. Because we have such an abundant basket and store, a meal without butter is of greater consequence to us than all the famines of China and India.

Just as sure as the Lord lives we are going to see times when our neighbors around us will be in want. But some may say, here have ten years, twenty years, thirty years gone, and the sayings of Joseph and the Apostles have not all come to pass. If they have not all been fulfilled, they all will be fulfilled. When we saw the flaming sword unsheathed in the terrible war between the north and the south, we could see in it the fulfillment in part of the prophecies of Joseph. But when peace comes for a short time, we forget all about it, like a person who comes into the Church because of seeing a miracle. If he has professed an obedience to the gospel and a belief in its principles because he saw a miracle performed, he would need another in a day or two to continue him in his belief; and he wants a repetition of miracles to keep him in the Church. Let peace continue for a few years, and the prediction of Joseph spoken of would be forgotten by all but a few. So it is with us, comparatively. Let crickets, or grasshoppers, or [2] frosts, or anything else come and destroy our crops, and we feel it then; but just as soon as prosperity comes we forget what has happened. (Brigham Young, J.D. 12:242)