To be surprised that some friends are buying extra food because of Brexit? part 2

[Satsumaeater]

Here is a new thread

Link to old one: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3472089-To-be-surprised-that-some-friends-are-buying-extra-food-because-of-Brexit?pg=1

if you mix the dried milk into a paste before adding the hot water to the drink it won't form lumps

Sorry, this has probably already been asked somewhere. How many weeks should we be prepping for? Would 3 weeks worth of food items be enough?

Can I ask what you expect the shops to be like? I usually have a spare of most things e.g. buy a jar of coffee as soon as I open the last one, but not sure if I need to stock up on things or not!

Is it expected to just be a limited choice e.g. only brand name toothpaste or no toothpaste at all?

Personally I think if you have three weeks worth of the things you need then you've put yourself in a really good position.

If there are shortages, you don't want to have to shop if you can avoid it.

Its somethung like 41% of our food is imported. The majority of that is fresh fruit and veg

@GirlsBlouse17 Depends on your situation, I always make sure I have alot etc due to oa and other medical issues that can make it hard getting around, also I have 2 kids to provide for and little support. Before now have been stocked with a 3 month supply that when I was better was nearly out of basic things I needed. We are expecting price increases anyway so the more you can get stocked up on what you will use and what you can afford the better it will be on your pocket in the long run. Also another good option is to consider growing your own fresh produce as much as you can.

It's sensible to have a few days' food in, if you have the kitchen space, for all kinds of reasons - supply issues, illness, can't be arsed to go to the shops - but "prepping" for Brexit seems to me to be pointless. If we have supply issues then it's going to be for a lot longer than a couple of weeks.

We need collective action, not individual hoarding.

Obviously it will be more than a short while and will affect everyone but it is foolish not to make reasonable domestic preparations and rely on other people to sort out your household from the get go of any problems.

@ArcheryAnnie. What collective action are you proposing? Because I am totally on board with that too. But my children have severe food allergies that mean I can’t just buy whatever is left on the shelves. And DP and I will both be called on to go into work if brexit descends into chaos, so we wouldn’t be able to be standing in supermarket queues for hours or whatever.

NeverTwerk that's fair enough! I'm not opposed to personal forward planning, and I do tend to have food in the cupboards (not that much, because my kitchen is tiny and there's not much storage space) mainly as a sort of psychological buffer against, IDK, suddenly losing my job, or a big bill, or whatever, since I've had times when I struggled to afford groceries at all. But I see this kind of prepping being talked about too much as a solution, rather than a buffer.

As for collective action: I don't know, and I really wish I did. Holding our politicians to account, pressing for a second referendum, just telling them to cancel the bloody thing? But we do need a systemic solution, because beyond a few days this sort of thing really just functions as a comfort blanket. And I'm not opposed to a comfort blanket - see above! - but I think we need to be clear it is that, and not a real fix.

People were really bad tempered because they were eating things they usually didn’t

Does it affect people that much to not get their usual food? I have an eating disorder but I think I assumed that a lot of normal people would just happily eat whatever, is that not the case?

a lot of normal people would just happily eat whatever

Every time there's a leftovers or MN chicken thread, I see plenty of posters who apparently can't possibly eat the same thing two days running because of very serious Reasons. Every time there's a fussy eating thread, I see plenty of posters who again have very serious Reasons why they can't possibly eat anything except XYZ. I am not such a poster, so I am not able to comment on the validity of the Reasons, but simply take their assertions at face value.

If we do end up with a limited food choice situation (leaving aside the question of actual shortages), I'd imagine that such posters would indeed be severely distressed by those conditions.

People get funny about not getting precisely what they want, when they want it.

@GummyGoddess No some people can't just simply have whats available due to allergies. I already ended up resorting to baking everything myself due to not being able to get bread etc unless we pay huge amounts for a small loaf due to us all having food allergies. One of my sons has been in hospital for 2 weeks due to serious complications from his allergy and we nearly lost him, this was before we were aware of what was causing the problems. If we didn't have allergies we could make do maybe although when prices go up will effect our yearly budget heavily and I am a single working mum so don't generate a huge income.

Also, I still wouldn't rely on our politicians to solve possible issues quickly and efficiently when I have little faith in them anyway. There are many ways this could effect people. It really is based on individual circumstances what they need to do.

Just wanted to point out that individual holding is good for those doing it and doesn't impact others - until supplies become short. Currently the supermarkets can only store a few days worth of food. If more is bought now, more is shipped in from the EU before Brexit. Win win.

I think what people are prepping for is not full on apocalypse can't get anything ever, but the inevitable interruption to supply lines that No Deal would bring.

Everything we have is so readily available that we don't think about where it comes from and how it gets here anymore. Plus most companies don't keep much stock anymore, because the supply lines are so good!

Remind me which part of the UK grows bananas, for example?

It won't be forever and things will get to a new normal, but it's the kind of thing that makes people panic and then things go wrong. As has been pointed out many times before, look what happens after a few days of snow when the supply lines get disrupted!

Question for the people buying bottled water how much are you buying? I don't want to have bottles and bottles lining my garage but in the even of genuinely needing them I'm guessing I would have to buy alot to even manage a few days?

I had a quick thought yesterday: should I stock up on vape juice and coils etc?! the thought was quickly followed by "Fuck that!" So today I'm quitting vaping. Fuck fuckety fuck. (Yes, yes, I know it's a disgusting habit and everyone hates me for it, and it's horrible for my asthma, so quitting is good!)

I've taken stock, and we have enough food now that we'd be okay for c. four weeks, although the last one or two would get pretty monotonous. I'm going to be getting more "luxuries" now: tea and coffee, milk for my tea, snacks and other things to spice up the misery of post-Brexit. Some extra toiletries and household items.

Honestly, medication is going to be the biggest problem, but there's nothing I can do about that, really. I'll have a few weeks of a buffer, as I've been very prompt about renewing since last summer, but DH hasn't seen the need for this, so I'm mostly worried he'll run out of Olanzapine. Nothing like cold turkey from neuroleptics to really make a shitty time shittier!

I am going to go to through my food cupboard and rearrange it to find out what is needed and redate all the food.

We are now stocked up on toothpastes and starting to amass other toiletries:
Shampoo, conditioner,. Soap, need deodorants, toothpastes,

Cleaning stuff: got antibacterial, need domestos, check washing up liquid, need loo roll, need laundry liquid, need vinegar.

I keep a good supply of tins and dried goods anyway. We have dried beans but these are not much good without electricity to cook them.

I am pretty sure I need coffee.

I bought squash today of the sort D's drinks. We nearly ran out due to carbon dioxide shortage last summer.

I need to go through the freezer and check what we have. Use up old and restock. There is no room for another freezer so we rely on tins and dried goods. I bought spaghetti mainly as the packs are more dense and take up less room.

I need oil for cooking as well.

Then there are things like herbs and spices to make the basics taste better!

The hugs D's needs for his disability need to be bought in too.

I started this post thinking we were reasonably well prepared and already found great big holes in the plan.

I started this post thinking we were reasonably well prepared and already found great big holes in the plan.

I was the same. I bought extra from summer onwards, and while basics are covered, when I sat down with a pen and paper and listed all the stuff we usually use and would like to have - holes!

Even if things go brilliantly and we arrive safely in the sunny uplands, I might just want to stay home and brood in my misery for a little while at the end of March. I'm an immigrant in a Leavers area. I don't want to stumble on their glorious street parties and mess up their vibe.

I read this today:

The pre-Brexit shopping list

Pig meat (bacon, loins)
Vegetables (and seeds)
Fruit
Sugar
Potatoes (if you have the space)
A generator
Emergency fuel supply
A barbecue
An ample supply of coal
A log burger
An ample supply of wood
A horse (or another suitable form of transport)

Buying a few horses is definitely going to help save you money.

Flamingo you missed off chickens

@Onescaredmuma you can get 10l water bags from amazon that fold up flat pretty cheaply, that way you could get them and fill them nearer the time. Also handy keeping a couple filled in cases pipes in winter ;)

I know there’s some ridiculous high maintenance people out there who have a breakdown if they don’t get their organic avocado-cloudberry-wheatgrass-Wild bee honey smoothie at 11:17am every day...but I’m actually talking about ordinary people without food sensitivities. Not having fresh milk, cheese, chicken, fish, fruit, veg, coffee etc absolutely effects your mood. After eating pasta with tinned sauce, mac n cheese with tinned peas, risotto made with rice and tinned tomatoes for two weeks I felt pretty rubbish. And I’m not a picky eater either!

I am aware that food manufacturers are stockpiling both finished food products and individual hard to source ingredients. I am also aware that price increases are being planned to cover the cost of this.
This is without the price increases that are going to be caused by the pound falling further and the cost increases caused by the hard border difficulties. Lorries kept in long lines still have running costs without earning money.
Stockpiling, particulary of high value items that you use regularly is only going to save money, particulary if we crash out of the EU.