You can tell a lot about a country by what it chooses to keep in its strategic reserves. Zoe Chace went over some of the more interesting ones.

• China has a strategic reserve of…pork. (Pork prices were an issue earlier this year).
• Helium in the United States. Back in the 1920s the US thought it might need them during wartime to fill up blimps. It only just got around to realizing that this wasn’t really a concern anymore.
• Maple Syrup. It’s what keeps the Canadians in such a cheery mood all the time.
• Oil. The US keeps them in salt caves.

Read more about how these stockpiles came to be and where they’re located over here.

Source: NPR