To be surprised that some friends are buying extra food because of Brexit?

[abacucat]

I suspect that specific foods may get be in short supply for a short period of time, but there will still be plenty of food in the shops. It is not going to be Armageddon. So this seemed an over reaction to me. Or am I going to be that person in the disaster movie who is laughing saying everyone is over reacting, who ends up dead when the disaster finally hits?

[Trethew]

All these freezers, and even extra freezers, stuffed with extra food. What happens when the power supply fails?

[bellinisurge]

@Deadbudgie , it's a little more complicated than "just Buy British ".
You don't know much about food supply and distribution if you think it's just a simple seamless swaperoo from one supplier to the other on the same terms.

[TheElementsSong]

Carrots and potatoes don't magically suddenly appear in fields.

What do you mean? Surely if we all just BeLeave, they'll just poof into existence? Or perhaps more likely, if we all really really BeLeave, we can will away our sensations of hunger?

[PeridotCricket]

The bananas and avocados/exotic fruit from South America get here because of EU trade deals. We need new trade deals with those exporting countries in order to take advantage of lower prices.

I don't want to eat a diet of what can just be grown in the UK. I like tomatoes, nectarines, peaches etc. We can't supply all our own food, not without covering the UK in greenhouses and heated polytunnels.

There will be interruptions in supply chains if there's no deal.

[PeridotCricket]

Deadbudgies British wine?? My god have you tasted it - awful apart from the really good champagne method and white wine. Which is already expensive.

Great we'll all go back to drinking beer - if most of the hops weren't imported from the EU...

[bellinisurge]

Funny how the ERG twats don't know about the Hungry Gap.
Where I live, you can't realistically plant stuff in the ground until April at the earliest. I've got a few things on the go over winter but not really enough for anything much.
I have preserved what I grew last year or it got eaten.

[RedToothBrush]

If you can’t get pasta, buy some British potato’s, can’t get french cheese buy some Wensleydale. No french wine? Buy some British

And where does the milk to make the British cheese come from?

[ivykaty44]

Cloud tree fuel comes through to Wales and I’m not sure why people think there would be any issue as it doesn’t come from Europe..

[RedToothBrush]

Great we'll all go back to drinking beer - if most of the hops weren't imported from the EU...

Tbf, the supply chain of beer is one of the things I'm least worried about.

It's the bigger brewers who tend to import more from abroad. The craft brewers are largely more localised.

In theory it's your Carlsberg and Stella which are more likely to be affected than your local craft brewer.

So hipsters will be still be happy...

There might be a glut of whiskey and gin though if we have problems exporting due to queues at the ports.

[Harpingon]

The research labs already produce this drug (for research) and are licensed to do so, they are also plenty big enough to supply our needs. I wonder sometimes at people's motives for wanting to scare people who are already having to deal with illness etc. There has already been a poster on this thread who thinks her relatives are going to die.

[OftenHangry]

The hungry gap is usually survived by eating preserved veggies.
Like sauerkrat, which was basically the best and often one of the very few vitamin sources diring winter and hungry gap in central europe.
And it's tasty.
Obviously that doesn't appear out of knowhere too, needs planning beforehand.

[anniehm]

I have thought about buying some olive oil and tinned tomatoes, most stuff can be grown in Britain and I have enough sugar for Armageddon due to keep forgetting I had plenty and buying a bag every week! I will probably buy a sack of bread flour though as it's getting low (I buy every 6 months)

[Clavinova]

None of my friends, family or neighbours are buying extra food or medicines because of Brexit (they do have other Brexit worries instead) - but I suppose it all depends on your location, disposable income and lifestyle choices. Some of my neighbours have been buying these organic food boxes for years:
www.abelandcole.co.uk
(oranges from Italy/Spain though!)

I live in a largely urban area, but 20 minutes in one direction is farmland. We do have independent butchers selling local meat, artisan bakeries, farm shops, weekly farmers' markets, fishmonger + mobile fishmonger, local breweries etc. I usually take my dc to a PYO farm in the summer holidays - we could visit more often.

You might find this website helpful if you live in the South;
localfoodbritain.com/ - I've often visited similar food producers in Norfolk, Suffolk, Devon and Cornwall.

There is a crude oil pipeline between Norway and the UK
Reuters: OSLO, Sept 28 - Energy exports from Norway to Britain will not be affected even if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, Norway’s energy ministry said on Friday

Energy trade is governed by bilateral commercial agreements. We hence expect that energy exports from Norway to Britain will not be affected, even under a ‘no-deal’ scenario,” a ministry spokesman said in an email

uk.reuters.com/article/britain-norway-energy/no-deal-brexit-will-not-interrupt-norwegian-energy-flows-to-britain-ministry-idUKL8N1WE54S

[WakeMeUpWhenGoodOmensIsOn]

To state what should be bleedjng obvious, we grow enough potatoes to satisfy local potato demand at the moment. We don’t grow enough potatoes to satisfy that demand and also substitute for the UK’s pasta and rice consumption. We probably could, but it would take a while to make that change.

[RedToothBrush]

I’m not sure why people think there would be any issue as it doesn’t come from Europe..

Because a great many of our trade deals outside the EU are in fact through our membership of the EU.

Thus if we leave the EU we can no longer benefit from those trade deals unless we renegotiate our terms with those countries.

Which might take some time or face problems.

If we go to WTO terms different tariffs apply. We can not just say we won't charge x on this. Because that breaks the rules of WTO. And breaking the rules might provoke a trade war or trade embargo with other countries.

Leaving the EU does not just affect good we get from the EU. It affects goods from all over the world

No country trades on WTO terms alone. Cos they are shit.

[bellinisurge]

@OftenHangry , which is why I pressure can, dehydrate and vacuum seal the little bits I grow.
It's a prepper thing which I don't expect other people to do but they should understand how stuff gets into shops. Spoiler alert: it isn't by a magic wand.

[chillpizza]

Oh god it’s nearly time to weed and dig over the allotment. Do I plant extra or not? Hmmm for the hungry to steal or hope I can hide it. Stronger pad lock on the chicken run I think.

Seriously I always keep a cupboard full of pasta/rice/spaghetti and one of tins/sauces in case of a skint month. I’ve got a freezer full of berries and currents from last summer.

[Raggedyaine]

We didnt run out of food during the last war when ships were bombed and supplies could not get through. The EU need us as customers

The education system really should be hanging it's head in shame at how it has badly failed the British population.

[Confusedbeetle]

Ha Ha

[chillpizza]

I’m overwintering my chilli plants and have dehydrated chilli so really should of upped my game on garlic and onions last year.

[bellinisurge]

@chillpizza , look into no dig gardening. It's ace.

[Parker231]

Britain does not produce enough food to feed the country which is why we import, and it is not items only grown in warmer climates. We won’t starve but with supply chain issues and the JIT approach there is a likelihood of emptying supermarket shelves in a no deal exit.

[cloudtree]

I planted double the amount of garlic in the autumn and its doing well. I also kept a lot from last year.

Broccoli plants are doing well overwinter and will have a head start. Spinach has been good all through as usual and we still have potatoes in the raised beds.

Pepper and chilli plants are overwintered to give them a good head start and my cape gooseberry which is outside (albeit in a sheltered corner) currently has fruit on it!

But this stuff requires thought and preparation in advance.

[BrexitDestruction]

I think this thread illustrates perfectly that most people have no idea how many things are involved in getting food and medicine to their houses, shops, chemists and hospitals on time and in the quantities required.

No Deal means we are about to walk away from these incredibly intricate and sensitive systems with completely inadequate preparation. It's not going to be fine, no matter how much you want to believe it will be.

[cdtaylornats]

Apparently we are going to experience a food shortage while our farmers simultaneously go out of business.

Consider that mild mannered patient man the French farmer. Note him experiencing poverty as his crop rots in the harbour. See him in his nice yellow jacket as he responds to his fuel poverty by burning Strasbourg to the ground.