Why do people panic buy bread when it snows

[Plun]

There is more food than bread. Yet bready things like English muffins and crumpets don’t get a look in.

Plus tins of soup. Don’t people have store cupboards anymore? I have enough food in for about a month. Though run out of FnV but at the end of the period, it will be any food for any meal

Last night I watched a tv documentary on BBC4 from the 1960s about the Big Freeze of 62/63. Anyone who is mid 60s or older will remember this. Devon, Dorset and Cornwall were the worst affected. 14ft snow drifts, villages completely cut off.

People now can’t cope with a single snowflake ❄️

It's only fine if you can get to main roads....

I managed to get on my main roads. What are we meant to do, keep ourselves locked in after a smittering of snow?

It's also all the knock on services. When my school (secondary) shuts for snow, it's rarely due to teaching staff as they can use cover services, instead it's often that school bus routes have closed or the catering/site team can't get into school. Schools also have bigger responsibilities now regarding health and safety- the days of "we all just wore our coats in class and turned our frost breath into a handy science experiment" have very much gone. If the health and safety office can't guarantee a safe site then the school can't open, otherwise any incident/accident would cause more chaos.

Exactly this, I don't drive so need to walk. There's dangerous ice on all footpaths and roads untill untill you get off the estate. I would be a fool to even attempt it as a fall will lead to breaks and a possible hospital stay. So bulk buying before the snow is what I do

You clearly live somewhere where you can reach a main road safely. A lot of people can't do that. If you want to stride out in the ice, fair enough, but some are not able or willing to risk injury, especially in hilly or rural areas. I'm not knocking you for doing it or, knocking those who don't - as you appear to be doing. People must judge for themselves whether they can or can't manage to go far on the ice and snow.

When I was a 12/13 there was quite heavy snow which was unusual as I grew up on the South coast and snow was quite rare. My Mother made me walk the almost 2 miles to school in my Stepfathers oilskins, those bright yellow heavy waterproofs, he worked at sea and they were pretty vile. We got sent straight back home. It’s what the youngsters call a core memory.

I always have loads of food in, running out of milk would be the issue for us. I could drink black tea but DH though usually the most mild mannered chap would freak out if not available.

No one told me that I should be panic-buying bread, should I get toilet rolls too?

The BBC should be telling us what to panic-buy, it should not be left social media and people at the bus stop.

It wasn't like this with Covid - we were kept well informed on what to panic-buy, when to buy it, and what direction to queue.

I live rural.

Panasonic bread maker plus pea & ham soup in the slow cooker, gallons of milk in the freezer - live rural but could last a month easy.

Make your own bread and soup 😆 I have done that this morning

seriously though not everyone has the means or skill to do that so I can see why people might be emptying their local shops if they can’t get to the supermarket

as for the schools many are rural, have had bad snow fall, have staff that live some distance away.

ours is shut because half the staff can’t get in and the school buses can’t get out the depot safely or navigate the snowy side roads. We live in an area of hills and a lot of teachers live higher up than I do and they’ve had a foot of snow up there. Roads aren’t gritted, there’s been a few accidents, many have younger children whose schools have also shut so they have no childcare.

The whole "bread and milk" thing always makes me laugh.
Two products that go off fairly quickly

Random tip, but I almost always buy lactose free milk these days. It's like UHT but without the awful taste, and it lasts much much longer. As such I tend to have three on the fridge.

Yes my mother in-law always has a supply of UHT milk and it's not great.
To be honest though milk is something I can survive without.
If I run out it's no biggie.

This. As a wheelchair user in a place that has a lot of snow right now, I can't get out. It's day five. Luckily, I have bread and a few other things left. If this continues, I'll be asking a friend to shop next week. And I'll be asking for bread as the first item.

....and ....so .... Your point being..?

You were questioning how easily I could get to main roads, the answer being not easily. I hope that satisfies your bizarre repeated interrogation of my original point. @Bluedenimdoglover

You never know how many snowmen you'll end up making sandwiches for. Best to have an extra loaf in.

Here it's forecast heavy snow from tomorrow eve untill Saturday. I will be buying extra milk and bread tomorrow. I do an extra shop before the snow hits so I knew we will be ok. If that offends anyone then so be it. My health comes before what anyone these thinks.

I bought extra milk, I don't want to have to troops down Asda like I usually do if it runs out.

I did a top-up shop on Monday. I normally shop at Tesco but we were low on bread and DH prefers one from Sainsburys, so I went there and bought my normal 4 loaves.
People may have thought I was panic buying but that hadn't even occurred to me!

We’re in NE Scotland - its been declared a state of emergency because of the snow! I’ve never seen the like before. Schools have been closed all week.

We had an Asda delivery on Hogmanay so are generally well stocked, other than milk because being at home means we’ve gone through a lot more than usual. Our local Tesco was pandemic scenes when I went yesterday, shelves all bare, and the lady told me they hadn’t been getting deliveries in. DP got some in the Co-op in the end.

We are in Aberdeenshire too. We managed to get a Tesco delivery this morning and village roads were looking clear, but snow is back on and lying now 🫠

I think it was technically an option in the 1990s - I can remember one day when I was in primary school, the school Dad worked at at the time had closed and he said he was going to have to go into my school and offer his services. As it turned out, before he got that far, my school had made the decision to close anyway so it didn't happen.

Is the school part of a federation? There's a primary in my city which is central, but has a reputation for being the first to close at the drop of a hat. In context, that one is part of a federation and quite a few of the members are out in the sticks, so the decision's being made for the whole federation.

Anyone else remember how long it took for UK Power Networks to restore power in the winter of twenty thirteen? They were fined for it Past experience and doubts about investment in the infrastructure might be your answer

"bread and milk go off quickly", you do know you can freeze both! "The BBC should tell people not to panic buy" 🤣. As soon as any shortages are mentioned, idiots go out and panic buy.