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

Exactly this - it doesn't matter what you have in stock if you have no power to preserve it or cook it!

Supply chain issues aside.....

If something prevents you going to the shop, will this mean there is no power? How are we cooking our store cupboard supplies without power?

I get that I am being very simplistic (and I do naturally keep a supply of essentials as I am on my own with 3 DC, one of whom is disabled) but I think as a whole, we'd be woefully under prepared if ever faced with any real issue.

If you started eating close to expiry tinned and jarred food before replacing it, the problem would go away.

I agree, however one relevant point is your frozen supplies will be useless in the event of a prolonged power outage. I do batch cooking and usually have lots of homemade meals in the freezer but I also have a very well stocked pantry full of dried non perishable items too.

It is indeed a mystery.

Yes you do. Find room. Tina if beans and tuna, long life milk etc won’t take up that much room.
And circulate it, ie get extras each shop and swap out older stuff for the new stuff.
I’ve been in power outrages, food shortages etc over the years and it’s a lot less stressful if you have some things ready - candles, food, torches, a windup radio etc
Cash too. If payments systems go down for a few days or a week you’ll need cash to get basics in.

That's a good idea, although it does add more to life admin. Plus having to find space.

More likely to be cyber security issues tbh , why do British people react so strongly to this topic ?

I thought it was mainly due to extreme weather. This year already we’ve had people without power or running water due to heat and drought. In the floods and snow people were also without power and couldn’t get to the shops. I’ve seen some headlines that make it seem like it’s to prepare for war, but the government pages mainly talk about flood and fire. I didn’t think we had to worry about random fires, but obviously this year has changed that assumption. I only really buy fresh or frozen food so it’s actually quite useful advice. I’d have way less to eat if something happened tomorrow compared to when I was a kid and we had loads of tins and packets. I also clearly haven’t learnt anything about loo roll or eggs from the covid days!

I think it depends on where abouts you are in the UK. For some people who live in remote areas who are affected by snow and storms they probably prepare for these events every year anyway.

We are likely to get more frequent storms with the risk of flooding and power lines being brought down. I live in an area which has never been affected by these things but we do have torches but I expect every household does. We also have a camping stove which my husband uses for when he goes fishing. We have never had to use it otherwise.

Remember Covid.

Did you miss my fondness for ready meals in your rush to judgement?

Don't worry, there will be special food parcels for Mumsnetters who only eat good quality fresh food. We can't risk you not getting your 7 to 10 a day.

It's only the great unwashed who will be expected to exist on canned ravioli and pot noodles.

No. It's been around a while. But I think it's being pushed more and there's a realisation that not enough people probably are taking it seriously.

Is this new advice? I haven’t followed it closely.

Regularly check your dates. Give them shortdated to a food bank and replace if you really don't eat anything like that.

I've only bought things I will realistically eat, but honestly there has to be something you would eat that is worth getting.

Yes, my local supermarket is out of a lot of food come 7pm.

if there's flooding, power cuts etc the roads and rail will get blocked or not run and food won't make it to the supermarkets! Being close to a shop isn't going to help you if their shelves are empty! During the beast from the east and that previous bad snow a few years earlier (2013?) our local supermarkets didn't get deliveries for days and you had for dinner whatever you could get your hands on! And I live in a major city, not the middle of nowhere.

The problem I have is we don’t eat much tinned or jarred food. Except for the odd tinned tomato spag bol or pasta sauce.

I like a ready meal but they won’t keep for long.

So what do I do with the expired tins and jars? Food bank won’t want them.

So most supermarkets operate on "just in time ordering". They dont hold a lot of stock, they are restocked daily. Imagine there are big storms that disrupt transport, and your local shops empty, rapidly, and arent restocked. Can you manage for a week or two with bits in your cupboard?

Most of us probably hadn't thought much about the practical implications at all.

Not being able to travel into France was also an inconvenience to the residents of Switzerland, many of whom routinely go to France for shopping etc because it's a lot cheaper there.

I honestly feel a lot of people are balking at the idea simply because the government have mentioned it. People are so entrenched in the push back against the nanny state/government overreach mindset that they are unwilling to even consider it even sensible advice.

I naturally stockpile a small amount simply because of my nan and dad drumming it into me when I was a kid. I think it was partly because of her experience through the war and raising him through the years following and partly due to the impact of lived experience with weather/power cuts etc.

It has come in very handy at times when we have been flooded or snowed in (still in a rural location), when power has been out for extended periods (increasingly more so), covid, when the banking hacks have happened and cards/card readers go down, issues with water being cut off for routine maintenance/burst pipes, illness and nobody wants to go out.

I'm not some serious doomsday prepper just somebody who keeps a little extra to hand just incase. Nobody is saying go out and spend £100's in one go prepare for all eventualities and batten down the hatches immediately. Just it's advisable to build up a little buffer for yourself.

Equally bonkers.

There's a sane middle ground.

You could also use them as weapons if someone tried to rob you of your stash.

That's really funny. Particularly in hindsight.

Why did she think if there was a virus that she would be allowed to travel to France?!

😂