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

Yes this is a big concern. I don't know what is kept in stock for emergencies? Presumably there is some international cooperation on this, amongst allies.

I was watching a British YouTuber in the past few days addressing this very topic, and for the average price of a takeaway delivery meal, (£29.50), he did a shop for a supply of emergency food and got a good range of things to ensure breakfasts and dinners for a good couple of weeks. Just going through the offers and regular priced items in..I think it was Asda.

So it doesn’t take a huge fortune to put together a few spares. And the best “stores” are shelf stable versions of food that you/your family will eat normally, and just rotate older ones through your normal groceries and replace the older ones used up in new grocery shopping.

I think you're very funny, and I applaud your ability to keep saying such nonsensical things!

I've come round to your way of thinking tbh, people will definitely be able to stock up from the empty shop that's had no deliveries.

In case of a major power cut,the supermarket will be shut.

Absolutely. But I’m a relatively small woman living on my own. If it comes to that (and I fully accept it probably won’t), I’m going to want a firmly locked door between myself and people panicking over food. If there’s a multi month disaster, I’ve probably had it. If whatever problem is cleared up in a week, I will be OK.

I see stocking up as insurance. I hope not to need it but it’s easy and affordable to put in place in case I do.

I see. I suppose if you can afford it and it gives you peace of mind, why not.

If we start getting into weeks of disruption surely prescription medicines will become a massive issue as many people will only have a weeks extra?

Because I entirely understand the need for rural villagers to have emergency supplies.

Surely if there is no finish date everyone will panic including the ones who took the government advice re a few days to food & water.

How long do you think it will take the government to get emergency supplies in place? Won’t it depend on what the emergency is?

What makes you think everyone lives in a town or city? You are making arguments for the sake of arguing and a lot of of them are completely tone deaf.

The current news cycle reads like Jan 2020 right now. May you live in interesting times as the saying goes...

No, as I said, that includes food, water, radio, camping stove etc.

Having said that, I’m sure I do have several hundred pounds of food in my house when you take into account freezer food etc, I just don’t assume it will all survive a lengthy power cut.

You have a few hundred pounds worth of tinned/long life food?

It’s very unlikely any emergency will come with a finish date. People will panic, descend on the shops and buy as much as they can.

Also, there is not enough food in the shops for everyone to buy even ‘a few days’ worth - the shop stock control depends on a normal number of purchasers each day and restocking overnight.

If there is a major emergency affecting food to the shops, the shelves will be bare within hours and there is likely to be literal fights over who gets what.

I have no idea how likely such an emergency is but for a few hundred pounds (including food, water, radio, camping stove etc), I can stay safely at home with sufficient food and water to give the government time to get emergency supplies in place. I think it’s worth it. You are quite entitled to feel otherwise.

I thought we only needed a few days of food stockpiled? Which people could get from the shops.

Rude!

Do you understand that the food in the shops gets bought and taken away by the customers, and then it isn't in the shops anymore?

It's not like a play shop where someone pretends to buy it and just puts it back on the shelf.

You seem not to understand that if more food can't get to the shop, then there won't be anything to buy.

The lack of understanding from people in the UK to how supply chains work is very scary.

If a cyber attack takes out our port computer systems we are screwed. You can't get containers off a ship if they aren't custom cleared or having an in / out port vehicle system it's all electronic same as the Euro Tunnel. If bad weather from El Nino forces ships to divert to Europe (as regularly happens in winter) our ports are screwed. We import so much of our food a couple of weeks of food not getting in will bring the UK to its knees. It's not scaremongering it's actual reality to how precarious our ability to eat and survive is. It takes approx 3 weeks depending on the service to get a container ship from Asia to the UK, building back up any supplies we've lost could take months.

The food that is already in the shops is not going to magically disappear.

So you don’t understand the concept of supply chain disruption then.
Ordering the shops open doesn’t guarantee they would be supplied does it.

Do you live very rurally?

I am in a town and there are two less than a mile away, and dozens more within the town. It’s a deprived northern town too, not somewhere well heeled.

No, I haven’t noticed anything at all. Everything seems completely normal.

Many supermarkets have generators. It is just wrong to say otherwise.

We did not run out of essential supplies during Covid. Everyone was storing them at home instead of on the shelves, and the fresh food never ran out.

If there is a national emergency where the whole country cannot access any food the shops would not be allowed to remain closed.

There is no greengrocer within 10 miles of where I live and that is including 3 towns

The previous poster is correct. As long as there is adequate oxygen supply and ventilation it is safe to use a camping stove indoors. Basic science
doesnt change whether it’s a gas cooker or a camping stove.