Looking at the 'stockpiling' threads..

[EinsteinaGogo]

Is there genuinely ANYONE who could afford to get a couple of weeks shopping into the house, who hasn't?

And if so, WHY?

The food shops stay open!!!!! Stop being so bloody stupid.

Yes I could afford to but I can't be arsed. I'll still be able to go shopping and if not then I can order food. Easy.

[quote AuntPeggy]@EinsteinaGogo being prepared isn't a new thing, most people have some kind of stock in their cupboard. But radically changing buying habits to buy lots of specific items of shopping today is stockpiling - to put 3 family packs of loo roll in today rather than over your usual 6 weeks/whatever. And everyone is so keen to point out their individual circumstances that make them exempt from this but it's the cumulative effect of stockpiling that is precisely the problem! It's not a problem if you do it usually, it's a problem because we all do it suddenly!

This was literally seen first hand in the last lockdown.[/quote]

@AuntPeggy - you are making assumptions.

Because I haven't worked my way through the last stash and because I've realised it was stupid to do so as rhe shops will have stuff in regardless. Plus I have a lot of family who would go out and buy for me if I had to isolate

[quote FatGirlShrinking]@steppemum you're missing the point completely of prepping.

I buy as much as anyone else on a weekly basis, just to replace what I've used during the week before, but because I have a prior stash of food and toiletries this means I have enough at home that if needed I can go 6 weeks without visiting a shop.

If in the middle of a shortage I went out and bought 6 weeks worth of food that would be selfish as I would be depriving other people for my own benefit.

Buying and stashing when the shops are able to easily and quickly refresh their supplies has no impact at all on the supply chain. Buying and stashing when shops cannot refresh their stocks leaves shelves empty.[/quote]

This

We do bulk buy meat but have done for years.

Chicken, portion and vac pac and stick in freezer, same with beef fillet (buy the frozen one and portion with a freezer saw it’s £10 less per kilo).

Also very good for giant blocks of cheese, the fresh fruit n veg there is good too but I try to walk to the local market once a week as they have a great selection.

Bread, milk and flour from the bakery weekly.

Always loads of loo roll (thank you Crohn’s).

We could store more. But I don’t want to.

I usually have an extra one of everything we use on a regular basis - so cleaning products, washing tablets, ketchup, bread flour, tampax etc.
When things went out of stock last time we still had plenty of long life stuff, it was just the meat, fish and eggs that we needed and couldn't get (and oddly red lentils!)

Nope, you have it the wrong way round. If you have a good store of supplies that you have built up gradually you won't need to go and wipe the shelves clean and there will be enough for everyone. But since nobody, apparently, thought about that pre-lockdown, we had the ridiculous no-pasta, no-rice, no-tins, no-loo roll fiasco.

again, those of us who continue to shop AS NORMAL, are not stripping the shelves! And I didn't prep, but neither did I shelf strip.

You stockpilers continue to say that if we haven't stockpiled/prepped then we are the problem in stripping the shelves. No, we aren't, as long as we don't panic buy

Why would I? Yes I can afford it and buy baked beans, tinned toms etc. in packs of 6. Is that 'stockpiling'. I do a weekly shop online and pick up anything else we need as we go. Meat I often order in bulk for delivery from butchers as it's nicer than supermarket. Have my own chickens so always plenty of eggs.

Have never panic bought as it's selfish.

Oh and I now have an extra packet of red lentils in the cupboard!

I've been prepping for the last two years. For me, it's meant having a supply of the things in that we usually use, so that I go into the store cupboard, grab the thing we need and add it to the shopping list to replace.

It IS a control thing for me - I grew up in a deprived area in the 80s and haven't forgotten sharing one tin of soup between four of us (and that's not an exaggeration).

Also, if we came down with COVID or had to self-isolate for any reason I wouldn't want to have to rely on DP's family, who we live near to, supplying us with the things we might need - they're generally useless.

I also get a weekly veg box, and I set up a milk delivery during lockdown so we're set for that too, I think. I'd like to take the strain off the supermarket supply chain so that if it comes to it, others can rely on it and we won't necessarily have to.

We were totally unprepared last time but it didn't matter - I can't remember it being a problem that we couldn't get some of our usual purchases. Cooked simpler meals using a few more cupboard staples and I think that was the only change I made. And, we didn't have pasta for a while, I remember being quite excited when linguine was back in the shops. I won't be stockpiling this time either. It's selfish and a bit daft.

I haven't because I'm not stupid and selfish.

I’m the same as a couple of pp’s- always have one open and one ready to go, and once that’s open, it’s added to the list to be replaced. I would miss fresh fruit, veg and ham if we couldn’t get to the shops, but we have tinned fruit, frozen veg and tuna/chicken breasts, we would be fine.

I always buy tins, dry food, loo roll etc in reasonable quantities - always have because I don't like shopping. So I've done the same as usual. Fresh veg has to be topped up weekly though so I only deliberately plan for a week at a time. (I do have frozen back ups if needed)

I don't think it is necessary. I did last time because I didn't know how things would be. This time I'm.more confident. I now have a milk man. There were loads of local shops- green grocers and butchers and delis doing deliveries through lockdown I also got put on the Tesco vulnerable delivery slot list so I know I can get slots if I need.

No, I could afford to but just cant be bothered.

@thepeopleversuswork

I think its more of a grey area than people realise. Obviously deliberately buying in 40 packs of toilet paper is a dick move... but there are perfectly rational reasons people might buy more than they would normally and where do you draw the line?

I'm a LP and a don't drive so if I was forced to self-isolate I'd be in a bit of a tough spot... got thinking about this last week because the son of a friend who lives locally was sent home from school for a fortnight - entire class is self-isolating due to a COVID case. It dawned on me then than if this happened at my DD's school I would be stuffed if I couldn't get a delivery -- can't go to a supermarket for a fortnight.

So I then block booked some Ocados with a higher than usual order of staples: toilet roll and pasta among them.

Now wondering if I've accidentally tipped over into stockpiler territory. Not deliberate but just aiming not to get put in a tricky position.

I can't be the only person doing this...

I think you've tipped into 'very sensible person' territory, to be honest.

There are a lot of hair shirts on this, thread, by the looks of it....

@EinsteinaGogo like I said, if the factories of the world grind to a halt I heartily recommend stockpiling (as well as relocation to a nice cabin off grid) because seriously if that happens - we're screwed. Thankfully we're not in that position and supermarket supply chains are pretty advanced machines - so by all means make sure you're cupboards are in good order but please refrain from sweeping the shelves clear of loo roll because you think the world's ending.

We can afford to. We have a small kitchen but could make room to store extras. I did before corona (brexit stock) and ended up donating most of it to the food bank

I live in London and have about 4 different large supermarkets on my door step not including the Tesco express and smaller ones. It's unlikely we'll get snowed in or flooded or what not.

I do a weekly shop for fresh things and top ups of cupboard stuff.

I just don't see the need???

I've got well stocked cupboards, not because of Brexit/initial lockdown/ second wave, but because I have the space, and because I'm not keen on shopping. I generally go shopping every 10 days, and have probably got 3 weeks worth of food at home.

Preppers did not cause the shortages in March, because they had gradually adding an extra tin, extra pack of pasta/loo roll/ paracetamol to their shopping for many, many months. Preppers don't waste anything because they rotate what they have, it's a way of life, not a knee jerk reaction.

Stockpilers/panic buyers, on the other hand, who rushed out and bought 10 bags of pasta, 10 packs of loo roll and 10 tins of beans did contribute to the shortages, the supply chains were overwhelmed. Most warehouses operate on a "just in time" basis, there aren't massive sheds full of food dotted around the country; stuff comes in, and goes back out.

It makes perfect sense to me to have well-stocked cupboards, and the less often I need to go shopping the better!

Years ago, I bought one massive shop, so that we can last a month if need be, without going out (Mental Health issues)

Now I just buy what I need, but I still only do a big shop once a month and then we buy fresh veg and fruit, plus DS lunch boxes weekly

Storage is a bit of a problem at the start of every month, but since we use it all as the month goes on its not a problem, for the first week, we don't do meals that we might have to freeze, so by the second week, we have space in the freezer to be able to do that, but to be honest we rarely have food waste, a combination of DS who has hollow legs and a dog

All the ‘buy a little extra each time’ people don’t realise they’re the exact ones who caused a problem last time. It wasn’t a handful of people clearing the shelves. It was thousands of people adding a couple of extra tins, one more pack of loo roll. It caused havoc.

If everyone just buys what they need there is plenty to go around. If everyone stockpiles by just buying a little more than they need each time, supermarkets run out and vulnerable people are left with nothing.

It shouldn’t be hard to show a tiny bit of empathy and community over this when we had a perfect illustration of exactly how it causes a total shit show only 6 months ago.

*@steppemum you're missing the point completely of prepping.

no, I'm not.
I totally understand prepping and what you mean. I am not confusing prepping and panic nuying at all.

But I still really really don't see the need to prep.
My cupboards aren't empty, we could probably live for a couple of weeks if we couldn't leave the house, (but without fresh milk and bread it would get boring wuickly) but the sort of prepping you are talking about just makes me want to roll my eyes.

It is unnecessary.