Can we please stop all the bashing of “stockpilers”

[Notcontent]

Reading all the threads, it seems that anyone who has bought more than a week’s worth of food is being accused of being a selfish stockpiled responsible for all the food supply issues we have at the moment.

I think that’s slightly unfair. Yes, people who went out and bought 10 big packs of toilet paper in one go are probably responsible for the shortages. But many of us simply bought a few more things over a number of weeks.

I am one of those people. I have friends with families in Europe and I was closely following the progress of the situation since early January. Back in February, when lots of people I spoke to thought it was all an overblown drama, I started buying a few extra things every time I did a shop. Why? Because I don’t have any family nearby to help out and I usually rely on supermarket deliveries for most of my needs (no car). I would be really stuck now if I didn’t have some extra supplies as I am reliant on some small nearby shops.

I grow my own tomatoes. I dehydrated a load I bought last year. And , with every other trip to Aldi last year, I bought an extra tin.
I'm not the reason you can't find tomatoes in March 2020.

Have you actually read this thread or are you busy sniffing the shite you’ve just typed?

“Being a prepper isn't about camo, ammo and tin foil hats.”

Bellinisurge, you may not be that sort of prepper, but don’t pretend the isolationist rightwing gun-nuts and Rapture religious cultists don’t exist. There are plenty of them about, and they are by far the most visible contingents on the US prepper sites. I agree that isn’t really a British thing, but it’s not surprising people hear “prepper” and think of those people.

Of course they exist. In the US. And I'm not convinced they are the majority of preppers there. Just noisy.
This isn't the US.

I can't afford to prep
So I'm extremely grateful to those who can and did. If they hadn't, the current situation would be far worse for people like me. And it's bad enough as it is.

Panic buyers, on the other hand, can disappear up their own rectum for all I care

@MysticWytche , when this is over, head over to the Prepper topic and ask for tips about prepping on a very tight budget. Lots of friendly voices on there.
Meanwhile, look at Jack Monroe on Twitter. Every day at 5, she is doing a "help me, what do I make with this?" thread. Her website "cooking on a bootstrap" has loads of ideas.

Hi bellinisurge - the point I was making was that someone said there was plenty of opportunity since late Feb/early March for people to buy extra food. Basically a month - many people don't have the resources to suddenly buy 2 extra weeks worth of food at short notice. Your suggestion of starting several months ago and buying a couple of tins of veg a month or a can of chicken in white wine sauce sounds good for a single person but still wouldn't touch the sides of family need for a fortnight. Just think though if no one had stockpiled (or the invidious mini-stockpiling which amounts to the same thing), we wouldn't be in this mess. Food might be less varied as staff absence began to bite but the supply chain would not have been as stretched.

Thanks @bellinisurge. If I survive this, I will.

@ALittleBirdhouse , I have a family of three. I've been prepping for a couple of years. Risk of a no deal Brexit made it more likely to be needed soon.
And yes, I did build up my pantry bit by bit as budget allowed. Nothing stopping anyone doing that.
And was called fucking mental for trying to help others on here a while ago do the same thing.
I fucking hate being right. I really fucking do.

Your suggestion of starting several months ago and buying a couple of tins of veg a month or a can of chicken in white wine sauce sounds good for a single person but still wouldn't touch the sides of family need for a fortnight.
And yet here I am feeding 10 people on supplies I stocked over years. Sometimes just one item a week, other times a little more. Because I think it’s irresponsible not to.

And prepping (as my fellow preppers have mentioned) isn’t all about buying stuff, it’s about skills. Lots of people will very hastily have to learn skills in a short time with inflated equipment prices. Many preppers will be the ones who will be only too happy to explain how to do something (garden, knit, DIY, first aid, crochet, keep livestock, battle slugs, tend a compost heap, canning, dehydrating, best ways to freeze foods, crafts, home schooling) and probably the cheapest or best value way to do it too.

Long term stockpile ✅
Irresponsible panic shopping and not considering the vulnerabilities of living on an island with 60 million people ❌

And my doing that has zero impact on what is it isn’t on the shelves now because the just in time system allowed for it.

Agree with @BanKittenHeels , I still have all the emotional aspects of this situation to deal with: keeping dd and dh on positive , making sure my in-laws are ok, keeping me going, working from home.
Food supply is just one thing I don't really need to worry about.

The stockpiling/ prepping has been a national disgrace, all me me me and no thought for how the weaker/poorer in society will get by

My child is one of the ‘weaker’ people you’re concerned about, therefor I’m a prepper. The last time my child was out in public was the 15th and she won’t be out for the next few months. I’m now one of the poorer as my business is now closed and I’ve no savings due to a couple of serious issues that happened over the course of a year. I have enough in to last us a few weeks.

It’s not my fault you didn’t get organised. Mind you, since you obviously don’t know the difference between prepper and panic buyer, that shouldn’t surprise me. 🤷‍♀️

I concur with MugsofTea. Supermarkets have been restricting numbers of purchases for a while, and we are still seeing shelves empty of certain goods...
“A couple of weeks ago we were being told that there was plenty of food and other goods 'in the system' and it was just getting them to the supermarkets and on shelves quick enough that was causing 'temporary' empty shelves.

Two weeks later and the roads are clear of most traffic, people are shopping less often, most stores are closing extra hours to give time to restock and we STILL appear to have a supply problem.

This is not the fault of people buying a little bit more. This is exposing how desperately fragile our food supply is and I no longer believe this is just a logistics issue as we were told. This is inadequate supply chains.”

I am recently naming myself as a prepper - and I am grateful for that wonderful thread ...before all this, I just called it having a well stocked larder, like my DM in the war. She gardened and also preserved food surpluses: brewed beer and wine, made jams and chutneys, pickled and salted, dried and clamped. All this without a freezer.

DH and I are doing likewise and are now practising what we call Soviet Shopping.... we have a standing list, which includes things that are sometimes difficult to get, like bog roll, pasta, flour. We buy opportunistically anything that is surplus, cheap or reduced. We aren't over buying but we are surviving.

I'd imagine most of us are buying 'a little more than needed', whether pps think it's selfish or not. Most of us have children who usually eat at school or nursery. So my purchasing in the supermarket has increased already. That must be true for most people.

I am a lone parent, can't take children out, have no family near by no friends that can help. So me and my children will starve in the next few days. There are no delivery slots online anywhere what so ever and all those people who have booked all those slots in advance are selfish as people like me now will have no way of getting food. I'm so stressed.

inthedarkx

People who didn’t prepare for their family in advance when they could are very selfish and have reacted in such a way to leave you in a scary position. I’m sorry about that.

Have you looked up the community aid groups for your town or area? I’m sure someone will be able to help you out. Also local schools are helping those in dire need.

@BanKittenHeels not everyone has money to go stockpiling and buying loads of things. People live week to week esp lone parents.

There is no one in my area that will help.

I usually have couple extra items of stuff we use a lot of - pasta, Tom purée, passata, rice and when open last pack of toilet rolls, hand wash, washing up liquid I buy another. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teens and are getting low on stuff now. I’ve tried to make things last longer like added another carton of passata to a bolognaise so could freeze half and made macaroni cheese sauce with half water/half milk instead of all milk.

We are eating more at home - kids usually buy lunch at school and being at home all day we using more toilet roll. I think panic buying is selfish as you taking more than your fair share and couldn’t afford to recently due to car needing work. Now we are running low on certain items and every time I go to supermarkets shelves are bare!

Managed to get x2 4 packs of toilet rolls a week and half ago only because I managed to get to big supermarket at 7.10am when I went early so could try and get my 87yr housebound grandmother some shopping. As I walked in at 7.10 there were people pushing out trolleys of x2 12 packs toilet rolls and large packs kitchen rolls and no hand washes left. I really wish people would think of others when they are grabbing stuff. Myself and partner are keyworkers - he teaching staff at autism school and I work in benefits. We can’t go to supermarkets when the NHS staff can go (no prob with that we think they deserve medals) but when we not working we want to stay safe at home with kids not battling people in supermarkets and still not being able to get essentials we need!! I really do ask for those that already have enough to get by for the moment stop buying even just 1 or 2 extra and leave for those who haven’t got much.

Thanks to being overly worried about Brexit (will it be oct/jan/over the rainbow) I’d stocked up a little every shop on key items. A couple of extra cans now and then. Something which now means we don’t need to put extra pressure on shopping slots and which has put no extra stress on supply chains by resulting in panic buying. There’s stuff we need but the list is short leaving more for others. We don’t overbuy and keep present shops to the minimum.

We’re a pretty big family and to be honest if I’d had a crystal ball I’d have bought a fair bit more to factor in huge teens now eating at home rather than school. It’s a time when it’s easy to label and lose perspective.

People who planned ahead often did so by accident or for different scenarios to the one we are now in. Whatever, it means there’s more on the shelves because we’re not adding to the stress on the supply chain or to the risk of infection in shops That’s not such a bad thing. With my teens at home stock will last only a meagre amount of time so you’ll have the last laugh as you and I tussle over the final turnip in Tesco.

I would take a look back at the preppers thread history...the 2nd “Prepping for a Pandemic “ thread was started on February 4th..I couldn’t find the first thread. Generally speaking stores carry about 3 days of inventory in the stores.

These people are not the reason you can’t find what you want. Anyone who even glances at news sources knew this was brewing get in January and there was a good chance of spread.

Does it suck to be caught unprepared...of course it does. Is it scary to be unprepared, of course it is. But the people who shopped early are not to blame...actually they have helped in many ways.

Just like the hospital “flatten the curve” early shoppers helped flatten the demand curve on food and items. They also likely bumped the up the consumption rates on staples with their early buying, which would have likely triggered increases in store ordering.

I've been 'stockpiling' since January... so I guess it more prepping? Have enough to feed my family for 2 months 🤷🏼‍♀️

My Tesco Extra had everything you
Could want today. Even Toilet Roll! No shortages whatsoever

@BanKittenHeels That response really tells me everything

With regard to possible food shortages, factories are consolidating lines, in order to produce more and get it out more quickly.

So there might be less choice going forward (think things like pasta sauce for example), so less different variations, with the view of making sure there is more in the shops.

There is also a general effort to get food diverted from wholesalers to consumers but it will take time as it isn't packaged and labeled for the end consumers.

The fruit and veg harvest issue is a whole other thing looming which is going to need intervention from government to get sufficient people in the right places to pick it.

I did the same and don't regret it now. I've left the house once this week for fresh salad and a prescription.

We have lots in as I slowly added extra to the freezer/pantry. Never bought more than 2 of anything.