(NaturalNews) On September 16, a problem with the SNAP EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer) system was reported by thousands of people in several states.

The outage prompted some interesting theories about why people were suddenly unable to use their EBT to buy groceries, with some suggesting it was part of a government plot to gauge reactions from the public.

Alternative news site AllNewsPipeline.com picked up the story:

Thousands of reports flooded the Down Detector website last night of SNAP/EBT card outages from people who were unable to get access to food or other goods and while there were reports that this was a nationwide outage, ANP has currently only been able to verify outages in several different states though it made for much commotion last night. Interestingly enough, one of the states suffering the outages was Pennsylvania with a number of reports coming in from the Philadelphia area. Illinois and part of Maryland were also confirmed as having suffered at least partial outages.

The article referred to an earlier story posted on the site on August 29 that reported on a similar incident while predicting it was a precursor to a major outage in September. Some of the commentators called the August outage a "BETA test" leading up to the "real" event, which hasn't materialized yet. There are some compelling questions being raised about the simultaneous "technical glitches" also experienced by international banking giant HSBC, which prevented hundreds of thousands of people from receiving payments on the holiday weekend:

Were yesterday's 'glitches' that brought down HSBC and caused SNAP/EBT card problems for countless Americans a BETA test as suggested...? What would happen suddenly if millions and millions of Americans across the country were no longer able to have access to the most basic necessities - hygienics articles, toilet paper, food, water, medical supplies - because of the catastrophic failure of our computer systems, a major nationwide 'glitch'?

Coincidence, or...?

Some of the comments on the September 16 article suggested a correlation between the EBT outage and the end of the Jade Helm exercises, which occurred the day before the outages. That might sound a little far-fetched, but the timing was enough to create a stir among conspiracy theorists.

Whether the cause of these outages was anything more sinister than actual technical problems is a matter of speculation, but there is always the possibility that widespread "glitches" of electronic banking and other vital systems could cause huge problems in the future.

That's not even taking into account the mayhem that would ensue if the entire power grid went down due to any number of reasons, including a massive solar storm.

Incidents like these serve to underscore the fact that the electronic systems we depend on for everything, including energy, money, food and even national defense are subject to outages that can be minor or major.

That's why it's more important than ever to be prepared for the unknown. People need to do everything in their power to ensure survival in the event of a short- or long-term catastrophe.

If you haven't yet begun stockpiling food, water and emergency supplies, you stand at great risk when such a scenario occurs.

Another wise step you can take is to begin using the Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow Box System developed by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and founder of this website. The system represents one more step towards sustainable living outside of the vulnerable food distribution system most of us currently depend on.

For more information on this revolutionary natural food-growing method, visit FoodRising.org.

To stay abreast of news that may help prepare you for when the SHTF, be sure to visit Collapse.news.

Sources include:
AllNewsPipeline.com
AllNewsPipeline.com
FoodRising.org
Collapse.news