Do we actually need to get two weeks of food in?

But it would have to be a cyber attack that affected every single shop selling food in the country which seems unlikely.

Tinned food lasts for ages. I don't even look at dates on tins

I always thought that most people had food in for at lease 2 or 3 days, if not more. Most people don't go shopping everyday?

I think a lot of people do go shopping every day. Have you ever watched any of the tv programmes where they monitor what people buy in supermarkets? Some of them go several times a day. I am always amazed by them.

Me and DH dislike shopping so no way are going more than we have to plus like to have a good selection of food in the house

What about a cyber attack similar to what happened to M&S and the co op? That took weeks to get stock flowing to the shops again.

I think things would have to be extreme to need 2 weeks of food, especially if you don't live out in the sticks or on a flood plain.

That said we have open fires/a stove, lots of camping equipment including a stove/gas, water purification tablets, an allotment and know how to prep rabbit and game to eat to we're good to go 🙂

I might order in more hrt though !!!

There have recently been cyber attacks on electricity, airports, banks and shop distributors and probably others we have not been aware of. If people wish to put their heads in the sand ok but if they are responsible for children or others they should have plans like the rest of Europe.

Of course! Why didn’t I think of think of that!

I hope it's a quiet generator (amazon £300) or a gang will break into your house on hearing it and take whatever else they can too...

I always thought that most people had food in for at lease 2 or 3 days, if not more. Most people don't go shopping everyday?

But then realised that is because where I live it's an hour round trip to the supermarket, so no-one in my village would go everyday! When we go shopping, we go shopping, and buy for the next couple of weeks. And if we forget something, we adapt! Whereas if you live in the middle of a city (or similar) I can understand the temptation/ease to pop in and grab something most days and not needing larger amounts of food storage.

So for us - yes, this is easy and practically 2nd nature. Add the wood burner and camping stove (with spare gas) we will be OK for a bit. But if supplies are impacted in the more built up areas where people are used to shopping everyday this will def be more of an issue unless people start having more supplies in their cupboards.

I think I'm largely in this camp.

I find it almost incomprehensible.

Almost.

Then I talk to people.

I have a well stocked pantry, freezer, condiment drawer, meds (OTC and prescription) are always kept well stocked and I reorder repeats ahead of time. I buy our branded toiletries when on offer so we always have what we need. In 25 years of living away from home I have never run out of anything essential. I just can't fit a gas fire or food dehumidifier in my house (we don't even have a dishwasher due to space!)

I am totally of the mindset that it's always good to have what you need but yeah I'd be fecked without electricity.

I think the point in part is that if the people who are able to do this, do it, there will be less pressure on the supply chain during an incident, and the people who can't afford to/don't have space will be more able to buy from the supermarket. Obvs doesn't help if the supermarkets aren't open at all.

This is all true, but is an argument for being prepared if you can, so that limited public resources can go to those who really need them.

Appreciate all the comments about being prepared for lack of electricity (camp fires are small / cheap etc) but there are huge amounts of people who can barely afford to eat, have zero storage space etc so how are they meant to prep / plan? Ideally we'd have supplies of essentials - even without these kind of articles but it's out of reach for many people who just don't have the means to buy even a few extra tins a week.

Money isn't an issue for me but space is so I am not sure where I'd store even the smallest camping stove? We only have a small terrace so a BBQ isn't an option.

True prepping is a pursuit of people with space, time and money.

Geographical location also plays a part. Someone who lives rurally will need to have more on hand than someone (like me) who lives in central London. That's just logistics. I can pop 30 seconds to my little shop for milk, or walk 5 minutes to a Sainsburys (or walk 15 minutes to a 24 hour Tesco) so my needs are totally different to my mate up in Scotland who has to drive 15 minutes for a pint of milk. It does shape your expectations? It is much harder for me to imagine a scenario where I'd need stockpiled water and a camp fire than someone who is more isolated and rural.

After the last big storm we had no electricity for three days, no water for six days and no internet for a month. And that wasn't our first time losing resources for several days. I find it a bit mind-boggling that people think these things can't happen, despite all the evidence of the last few years. And that others think it's a big conspiracy of some sort! Not to mention those whose response is "I'll just go to the supermarket!" Engage your brains people!

If it just the shops shut I’m good for a month or so on the freezers. If we lose power instead I’m good for a week or so.

People seem to forget Covid and even this summer with supermarkets losing their fridge sections due to the cooler systems not being able to keep up.

Then when it finally rained one of our supermarkets had to shut due to flooding. In those situations my home and power was fine but buying more things easily or what I wanted was much harder or not possible.

People with solar panels also need to remember unless their system is set up for it if the grid goes down so to their panels because the grid doesn’t want you feeding in while their staff are working on the lines so unless you have a switch to cut you off from the grid your power will be gone. This shocked my mother who likes to brag about her free electric power cut and she soon lost that smugness.

No electric for most people means no heating as your gas boiler won’t work either for most new ones.

You have a good think about it now then. That's part of the point.

People with solar panels will be popular.

You can now buy portable solar panels. You can buy portable induction hobs.

That's in addition to the camping stove and barbecue options.

And yes you can cook Christmas dinner on a BBQ.

DH is a scout leader. He teaches kids to make tea light stoves using a can and a tea light. Its enough to heat a can.

You can also use an open fire if you absolutely have to. Youd be surprised what you can cook on one.

Knowledge as well as equipment is useful.

We have a generator. Anyway we have always had a decent stock of food so that we are not reliant on supermarkets.

We got snowed in years ago and we were not even living remotely and 2 years ago our road was flooded for a few days so we could not go anywhere. Never thought it would happen as we live at the top of a hill but torrential rain caused water to run off the fields and flooded the road

Maybe AI leading to human extinction, we will be forced to pull the plug on all electricity in order to survive.

Sounds like a bad film, doesn’t it. 😳

The point is to be a little bit more prepared.

Buy some tins, packets, water.

Or don't, and take your chances.

I can’t fathom how it’d come to that in the present or near future

It's not hard to imagine scenarios, is it?

Cyber attack/war
Supply chain issue/banking breakdown
Climate change incident e.g. wildfire or flood
Protest e.g. roads blockade

But why don’t you read the guidance..? That is the whole point of it.

Have you not read the guidance? Gas and a camping stove. We have the gas in anyway for the BBQ but it's not that expensive or bulky. But is something that will quickly become unavailable if demand spikes.

Of course if it comes to it, you could eat the food cold, which wouldn't be too awful if say canned beans and tuna, which could be mixed together for a high protein high fibre massive salad topper while you've still got the ingredients.

and what if you can't get out of the house? the staff can't get into open up? then what? its all well and good saying 'oh i live 5 mins from the shop' is that walk? drive? don't discount stocking up just because you are 'close' to a shop, you don't want to find yourself in a position where actually you are stuck and can't get food

Having a few extra tins in and other easy to prepare food is also incredibly useful if you live by yourself. Maybe you've got a rotten cold and can't face a trip to the shops, or maybe the roads and pavements are covered with ice/snow. Rather than spending a fortune on takeaways, I can usually make up something edible from my store cupboards...