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

It’s not even the prospect of the supermarket running out of food. What if there’s a cyber attack and the banking system go down? Sainsburys aren’t going to give the food away because the tills are down. They’re going to lock the doors and tell people to fuck off.

😂Nice one. Not biting.

people who just don't have the means to buy even a few extra tins a week.

A tin of beans is 42p in Asda. I doubt very much there are many people in the country who can't afford to buy one small extra item each week over a number of months to build up a basic store cupboard.
Your concern for poverty-stricken 'other' people (not you) is misplaced.

Yes, there are some exceptions, such as homeless people on the streets, those in B&B accommodation, etc., who truly have no money and/or no storage, but the existence of people in such circumstances in no way invalidates the general rule that pretty much everyone needs to keep basic supplies.

True prepping is a pursuit of people with space, time and money.
Absolutely.
But we are not talking about true prepping, just keeping a bit of food and water in the home.

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.
Many people on this thread have given examples.
Shops shut due to supply chain issues, payment issues, cyber attacks, floods, water supply issues, etc.
Or issues personal to you: like everyone in the house having flu so bad you can barely crawl to the kitchen. Or all your money going on some emergency like your car or washing machine or both at once, in which case dropping the usual weekly food shop and eating from your stores may be a financial life-raft.

Yes, cooking may be an issue if the electricity or gas is out, in which case you can eat most tinned food cold. But there are many scenarios whereby your electricity stays on but you can't get food from the shops.

You mean a bit like the coop and m&s who had a system which told the warehouses exactly what stock they needed replacing. Until the system failed so there was no stock control system.

Both Ukraine and Russia have recently started drones targeting each others warehousing and distribution systems to cripple the other.

Russia has also been blamed by Germany for targeting an airport and a power station with a drone in the last couple of weeks.

So honestly, I do think paying more attention to the news and what's actually happening rather than hand waving and saying 'oh that won't EVER happen' is prudent.

Targeting logistics would strike me as the next big hostile nation thing.

I'll remind you of this, when the power goes back on...

I have camping stoves.

And you can eat most tinned food cold if needed because it has already been cooked.

What is the point though?

Just to personally get smug satisfaction out of it?

Just like someone trying to say everyone who is heeding advice is ridiculous seems to get a kick out of doing so, despite reasonable suggestion that it's prudent and sensible to do.

Okay that’s fine, but why is it prudent and sensible? What is the point?

I get it for people living rurally. But if you live near plenty of shops, what is the point? If Sainsbury’s, Lidl, the Co-op, Aldi, Tesco and Asda, and every corner shop, were hacked and had supply chain problems, then you can just go and buy some tins or whatever then. If they all lose electricity then my house wouldn’t have any either, so I’d not be able to cook anything. I honestly do not understand why this is sensible advice unless you’re rural.

I bet they wouldn't. They're more likely to take cash for at least the perishable food if they have any business sense.

I have a little stash of stuff like this is. Can heat on the hob or the log burner or a camping stove if needed. They last for over a year.

Same as when the fridges and freezers go down the stores just bin it all they don’t give it away because of breaking the cold chain.

It’s fuck off and who knows when fresh or frozen will be back.

The noodles and grains you can get now are great. And also, even if you largely cook from home you reasonably will eat them if only to use them up. They have a decent long life on them plus don't necessarily need to be heated to be eaten if push came to shove.

Depends if they still have any cash tills tbh.

Our Sainsbury’s for example only has the fag counter and one check out the rest are self service aprox 30 of them, out of those 30 maybe 10 take cash and that’s when they are working.

My little Tesco extra has one fag counter till and two self serve card only machines. When they till breaks aprox once a month they have to put signs up card only and run it via the self serve.

When the war started in our region we did stock up a bit, we could literalpy see the missiles floating past our window some days. However, what emerged was a new found love of shit food. As soon as I buy corned beef, tinned hot dogs and spam, they get eaten. Suddenly everyone in my house eats like its WW2! I stocked up on bottled water and trip over it every single morning so might up my fluid intake. I do have powdered milk squirreled away for the worst scenario, its fortified and apparently can keep you alive for ages. I have a vague memory of Marvel from childhood, dark yellow and smelled like puke so hoping Trump pops his clogs before he does too much damage.

Well, I’m not. My store cupboard usually has random stuff in it anyway. I’ve done too many of these Armageddon moments. 🙄. Can’t be bothered now.

I don't think some people are accounting for what would happen if the power went out for any length of time.

The power outage in Spain earlier this year was interesting. People spoke of widespread panic because they didn't know what was happening or why. With lots of rumours flying around because no one could verify the information they were getting by word of mouth.

That's why a wind up radio - one of the items on the government prepared list - is useful.

A power outage for more than 48 hours in the UK in a reasonably densely populated area? How long before that collapses into civil unrest or looting in some places?

Yep let's just pootle along to the shop like normal with our cash when no one else has cash... What could possibly go wrong?

I wish I had the capacity to lack imagination and live with my head in the clouds.

Well when sainsburys near me had a problem with the tills a couple of years ago they closed. They couldn’t take cash as the tills wouldn’t operate. They had a supermarket full of people, some actually at the tills and they told them all to bugger off. Wouldn’t let people pay cash.

if they can’t scan a barcode how can they know how much your shopping is?

Andy just decided to give 100 million of our money to Ukraine. He also decided that our security and spending money of national defence is not worth it and he still wants to give money to people who cannot be bothered to work.

I do not listen to them anymore.
They clearly do not care about their own citizens.

It's ridiculous to give us that advice while not spending money on defence. It's their job to make sure we are safe.

Don't talk about getting changed from a tenner. There's not as many fivers in circulation as there used to be.

I don’t think there has ever been a period of my life when I have less than two weeks worth of food in my home. Maybe fresh fruit and vegetables but that’s it.

There is a really good book called Powerless - the year the lights went out by Suzanne Goldring. It’s written like a diary and very easy to read. It’s about a power cut that basically sends the UK into darkness and how to survive for a longer time living without electricity.

That is a very good point re: bar codes!!

Well just think for yourself then.

There have been multiple occasions where thousands of people in the UK have been left without power for more than 48 hours in recent years.

Mobile food cans were deployed, people were given vouchers to use at pubs and restaurants with generators, leisure centres with generators were used etc. No one had to eat dry noodles and there was no civil unrest.