Are you stocking up on food/household items?

[DaisyDooley]

Have you started ‘stocking up’ on items you think might be rising sharply or might become harder to get hold of?
We know that there will be a knock on effect of ships being stuck in the Straight of Hormuz.
I read that food prices are expected to go up by 9% by Christmas. I can’t remember where I read it don’t shoot me but I thought at the time that it was a ‘proper’ source (as opposed to my mates from school on Facebook).
If you are stocking up -what are you buying?

AHH I missed it then. Thank you.

But I'm not sure there isn't more they could be specifically doing/advising

COVID was a real mess and as an ill person I wouldn't like to be in that position again. Off to Preppers.

It was headline news on the BBC. Animals are slaughtered using CO2 which we import in. Without it, meat production is affected.

Fizzy drinks less of an issue for the general population of course but affected because they also use CO2

Have you not learned through toilet paper gate in Lockdown total madness and no I’m not stocking up. Can you just imagine what it would be like if everyone did that with items running out and Xmas is a way off yet anything could happen

I mean well done for having three weeks of food but then saying everyone else shouldn't have the same is a bit "I'm alright jack".

The government has literally told everyone to stock up and to prepare for food price inflation and potential shortages

That's interesting, it feels like 3 days is quite a short amount of time to prepare for. Really you could just manage on very basic bits for a few days if needed.

@Empress13 Are you going to wait until there's a potential crisis? Why would you do that to yourself? That is madness!

No because the Hormuz was opened yesterday. It’s only Trump blocking it now and he will forget he’s supposed to be doing that by the morning!

I think it's probably on the basis that it's an extra 72 hours on top of what you would already have. So for some people that would mean they can go for much longer.

I suspect they would prefer us to have more but that its a balance with sensible messaging/causing panic

We always buy 80 loo rolls at a time as we are a family of six. Throw in ds girlfriend staying or a playmate and we are a household of 8. Buying 4 loo rolls at a time is panic buying - the panic would be Autistic ds revetts to wipeing his arse on a hand towel!

The more loo rolls I buy in one go at Costco, the less often I need to go. The less I spend in the food court! During covid I had to go shopping three times a week so I wouldn't get funny looks buying what 6 people needed for a week in one go.

I'm never going to live week to week. I always have a buffer in. I always buy 12 choped tomatoes at a time, six packs of mince. Otherwise I'm using more fuel going to shops a few times a week and therefore buying more as I see it. I'm rural too. If anything I want to try to save petrol. Good thing with Costco is that you can't buy things like cleaning products in a weeks size package. Is buying a 140 wash bottle of laundry detergent panic buying if you buy that normally? I think I bought 4l of washing up liquid last year

They aren’t going to distribute free seeds. That would just put seed sellers out of business which isn’t fair.

I do think seeds are a super sensible one. That’s part of the idea behind my microgreen farm. You don’t want to buy loads of seed which goes off. So by growing microgreens you are actively using them and will encourage the restocking.

I think if something happened that bad then Gov/ aid would issue rice and other dried carbs so we don’t die. It’s fresh food that will be difficult to get and it only takes 7 days to grow microgreens.

If it got bad and there were no seeds anymore then you could grow on and let it bolt to harvest your own. So buying straight non F1 organic seed is what I am doing. And these are also just normal seeds. So for example the peas I am growing for pea shoots… are also actually peas if I were to grow them big.

We have always kept extra, fortunately we have the space but I aim to have enough food in the house to last us a week or two. Not from a panic buying perspective but from a cost saving one as if I see meat on a yellow sticker for example I'll put it in the freezer, or if something we buy is on offer I may buy two or three instead of one so slowly a little stockpile builds up.

It saved our bacon when DH and I both had COVID at the same time and couldn't go out to the shops, we had enough to last. Perhaps not comfortably and we were eating some weird meals but I like having a little safety net.

I grew up very rurally so it's always been normal to me to have essential items in stock.

That is not going to stop the food inflation that’s coming nor will it stop shortages due to lack of fertiliser at planting time.

This sounds brilliant and practical. So explain. You plant seeds then harvest them at the super early sprouting phase?

Do you keep them in a mini/balcony greenhouse? How many do you need to have a constant rotation? What sorts of seed varieties do you recommend?

I don't have much space unfortunately

Yes exactly.

So I have just the normal seeds from my allotment (as long as non f1/ not sterile).

And put them in a tray with a tiny bit of soil as if you are starting them normally. You would sow them tighter than usual. Then in 7 days when they sprout you just trim off and there’s your greens.

You can eat pretty much most things it’s wild. Because you are eating the seed leaves (the soft cotyledons) and not the true leaves - pretty much all are edible but do check online first.

So I have just started and am using up what I have lots of first…
Broccoli
Beetroot
Peas
Kohl rabi
Rocket
bunch of random lettuce which will sow in a deeper tray to get some leaf style
radish
kale
basil
pakchoi

then once I have gone through these and start restocking then I might start adding popular microgreens ones to the collection too like cress, mustard, mizuna, but keep quantities of these small because I really want the functional multipurpose seeds that I can use for food, greens or seed.

I am using the takeout tray method so they are self watering and you can have some spare lids for mini propgators.

Just starting so unsure about the rotation aspect yet. I assume you just replant once you finish cutting a tray.

I will keep you updated of my progress!

And the Iranians have literally just said they are closing it again unless the US blockade is withdrawn. Which it won't be since the US won't want to be seen to be doing as demanded by Iran.

Nope. I just got on with planting my veg for the year. I truly don’t think we’re going to have massive and prolonged shortages. I think prices will rise, but supermarket supply chains are really quite resilient.

@TightlyLacedCorset

This is the method I am using…

For the deeper lettuce seeds which need to live in there longer and will be heavier; I am thinking maybe you can put one base tray with hydraleca and then another base tray with holes and stack them. That way you get better soil depth and can water in a more normal way.

I don't know yet if 48 rolls will last a year or not, I suppose it very much depends on the size of your household and how much you crap 🤣
They've probably worked it out as an average.

It good quality loo roll though and they donate 50% of their profits I think.

Thanks a lot! Yes, keep us updated on the progress. I need to be doing something and this looks doable!

I remember that. There was never actually a disruption to supply - it was caused by panic buyers.

(Yet) again I would argue that regularly keeping stocks of things at home is not panic buying. When covid hit and people were stripping the shelves of our local supermarket, I was able to follow my usual routine and stay away from the shops. We always have a week or so of food in the house (barring fresh fruit and veggies of course). And bigger stocks of pasta, coffee and loo roll as I only buy them in bulk or when on sale.

I live in the city now but grew up in the countryside and we always had plenty of extra food on hand as my parents (unsurprisingly) hated running out of things. And of course they were privileged to be able to afford it. That’s probably why I have quite a big storecupboard; it’s just how I grew up. I’ve probably got 5 jars of jam in the pantry at this moment, as my teenage son goes through it like it’s water and I always buy a few jars at a time. It’s not panic buying, it’s just my usual routine.

There are 3 of us and I seem to order the 48 rolls two to three times a year. Of course it depends on individual factors eg women go through more loo roll!

We get the bamboo one and I’m a massive fan. Their customer service is excellent too. I don’t work for them 😂

It’s a sad state of affairs when one finds oneself siding with Iran who, whatever their many (and very serious) faults, aren’t the ones stuffing around playing silly buggers!

@sallymonella we get the bamboo one and 48 rolls lasts us about 6 months. It's only DH and me but we have a lot of visitors plus we both WFH so don't often use loos elsewhere!

I reckon people still gave toilet rolls and pasta from Covid 🤦‍♀️

There is a hell of a difference between having enough to get by for a few days/weeks and panic buying.

Personally I keep enough in stock so I do not have to panic buy in the event of floods, pandemics, snow, power cuts, all of which I have experienced.

Also during covid, I was able to share loo rolls, pasta, cereal and tins of food with my more elderly neighbours who couldn't get a delivery. So don't tar all 'preppers' with the same greedy selfish brush.