Why do southerners buy all the milk and bread for snow?

I'm from NC and every time we are going to get a snow storm, people buy all the milk and bread... Why? I mean it's not the end of the world if the power goes out. You could buy canned spaghetti, chili, beanee weenees with pop tops and eat it... You can put things in a pot on a kerosene heater to warn stuff up. What's the big deal with bread and milk???