To ask if you have prepped for the second wave

[Oldbagface]

Have you been buying a few extras with each shop in anticipation?

I notice many items are already out of stock online.

What sort of things have you been putting away.

We have bought the odd extras with each shop e.g. tinned tomatoes, pasta, loo roll and baking powder.

We have loads of flour anyway as buy in bulk for our bread maker.

Oh, and chocolates for Christmas.

People realise this was a thread in the coronavirus topic though? Right?

Our road group was all very pleasant by contrast, we had lots of people getting bits for each other. We mostly topped up the couple over the road, one house did another next door to them, and another did 4 doors up. Then everyone ordered flour and yeast as a group, occasionally other things like someone buying 15kg of cherry tomatoes from a pub supplier and sharing to whoever wanted. Mainly though it was "bits" where people couldn't get hold of stuff like a particular kids cereal or just needed milk/ bread/ salad - so it would be added onto whoever had a delivery next day, or whoever had offered up that they were going to the supermarket would get it, or sometimes it was people having something in the house to share that someone else couldn't get e.g. tin of tomatoes, yeast, frozen blueberries. We had 5 houses get something for us across the period and we bought things for 7 houses (including PIL we had 6 in one shop, it was bloody annoying to split with substitutions and so on, but funny trooping up the street with various bags). I guess where I'm getting to is that the split seemed pretty even, and everyone is friendly so I didn't hear any moans about people going out. I'd have preferred to also get the shopping for another elderly neighbour, but he insisted he wanted to go to the shops each day (his daughter brought over heavy bits), so we kitted him out with masks and anti-viral hand gel instead.

what would you do if nobody was allowed /able to leave the house for 4 weeks

Then we would order in or starve.

But I doubt we would be alone. Who has enough food in for 4 weeks. Anything fresh would go off.

@Oliversmumsarmy

what would you do if nobody was allowed /able to leave the house for 4 weeks

Then we would order in or starve.

But I doubt we would be alone. Who has enough food in for 4 weeks. Anything fresh would go off.

I have just about enough now to last our family 4 weeks if we had to. It would mean switching to frozen or tinned fruit and veg, long life milk, making our own yogurts, using meat and cheese from the freezer, but we could definitely eat a reasonably balanced diet for 3 - 4 weeks.

Puffthemagicdragon I was a student in the late 70s.
That meant I usually had no fridge, freezer or much money. Many of my emergency recipes hark back to those days, along with my ability to store large amounts in small spaces.
I’ve got several useful cookbooks, including one designed for offshore sailors which is both practical and fascinating. It’s helpful to have tried out as many as possible, so you don’t end up with a revolting, inedible concoction at a time when tempers are short!

@Oliversmumsarmy - with the soups, tins, frozen veg and fruit we'd cope fine. We would of course prefer some fresh bits too. That's exactly why having enough for a few weeks and full cupboards is good though, if there were no deliveries we'd be asking a neighbour or two to pick up maybe two bags worth of bread, milk and veg across that whole period; a favour easily managed alongside normal shopping. Whereas you need to ask for 4 full weeks of shopping including all the heavy bits, which requires extra trips and is a massive imposition.

@FubsyRanbler - I like the sound of your offshore sailor cookbook, what's it called?

@ Mrex
It’s old, but some of the recipes have become favourites. Especially those based on rum.

I genuinely don't understand the hostility directed at people who are making sure they have enough food in if they self isolate?

Yes, it's laughably pathetic isn't it? Obviously some people can't, but with that in mind, those of us who have enough space and money to get extra supplies in slowly, ahead of needing to isolate, are the ones who are doing the right thing. Much better to minimise the amount of strain you need to put on valuable delivery slots and/or voluntary help.

@Puffthemagicdragongoestobed
We have mince and chicken in the freezer and root veg lasts ages. I could make curries and chilli for weeks with that and store cupboard staples.

I've got pretty full cupboards, but only because I always have pretty full cupboards. We'd only last a week or so before needing to go shopping for fresh veg and stuff anyway though. So if we did need to isolate and couldn't get deliveries then our meals could get very interesting by the end of a couple of weeks.

I do have plenty of flour (because my parents bought rather a lot from a wholesaler and forced me to take a couple of bags of each) even though I don't bake very often. And plenty of loo roll because I always bulk buy and have just bought our next month's supply. We have 2 supermarkets within an easy walk from our house, we aren't going to starve, even if we don't get our first choice of food.

This cookbook was recommended by a friend living in the Caribbean, with an erratic power supply and regular hurricanes.
How to enjoy eating your stores!

Is prepping the same as panic buying? Or different? My dh works in a supermarket and apparently he says there's signs of people starting to panic buy...unbelievable. You'd expect people to have learnt something after the last debacle, but no. There really is no need to panic buy and if some people just stemmed their greed, there would be enough for everyone.

It's different. It works with supermarket supply systems, not against them.

@Bbq1

Is prepping the same as panic buying? Or different? My dh works in a supermarket and apparently he says there's signs of people starting to panic buy...unbelievable. You'd expect people to have learnt something after the last debacle, but no. There really is no need to panic buy and if some people just stemmed their greed, there would be enough for everyone.

Different. You buy ahead, slowly, and then the need for panic buying never arises.

Is prepping the same as panic buying?

No it isn't. I've prepped quietly because I knew what would come if cases went up and lockdown threats happened. I can now stay out of supermarkets for a while if I need to, just like the last time.

I will never forget the time KFC ran out of chicken and people rang the police. Collectively, people are a bit entitled and thick. You don't unlearn that shit overnight.

Yes, we have made sure our pre lockdown supplies are replenished so we have enough food in for a good two weeks. Mostly for us this entails batch cooking our usual meals like spag bol, chilli etc and freezing into portions so they are ready for use plus a small stock of UHT milk, flour, pasta and rice so we can make meals.

This is not stock piling, it is taking sensible precautions in case we get sick and in case of Brexit supply issues. We live in a very rural location, our nearest supermarket is a 20min drive away and there is no takeaway service that will deliver to us out here.

I have full cupboards. But I only have two cupboards for food in my kitchen and one of them is for all things cat.

I don’t have anywhere to put all these extra tins and packets.

When was the last time in the UK was it the law that you couldn’t leave your house for 4 weeks in the last 2000 years.

Perhaps look at it this way.
For those of you relying on deliveries, take-always, neighbours, and the government...we won’t be in your way, competing for what you want.
Doesn’t that sound like a good thing?

@FubsyRanbler - I have rum!! Just purchased for the princely sum of £2.98 in slightly working hardback. Your other one is £16 used including delivery, so I'll pass for now, but it sounds great!

When was the last time in the UK it was the law that you couldn't leave your house for four weeks

@Oliversmumsarmy say there are four of you in your family, 2 adults, 2 children.

Day 1 you get sick with coronavirus. You are sick and your dh and children must self isolate for 14 days.

Then on day 10 one of the dc starts showing symptoms. Now your are sick, one dc is sick and your dh and remaining child again start isolating for 14 days. No one to go to the shops, right?

Now day 14 arrives. Your dh starts showing symptoms. So he cant go out for another 14 days. You can officially leave quarantine but oh, you are still running a fever, coughing, feel terrible. No shopping for you, either. Your first child is still sick and your final child starts self isolating for 14 days for a third time.

That's how you end up with no-one being allowed (or able) to go outside for a month.

This is what happened to us end of March/April.

Now maybe you do t have a dh and 2 children, maybe it's just you and the car. That simplifies it - you just need 3 weeks if food for both of you for 3 weeks (and honestly you'll probably not be eating much). But can you see why others may feel the need to fill their cupboards a little bit too?

That's how you end up with no-one being allowed (or able) to go outside for a month

Apparently you 'just order in' then come on here and complain there are no slots.

Fuck that, I'd rather just not have to think about it at all.

Regarding lack of storage, if you have classic Ikea Malm chest of drawers this is what you could do. 😂

@FubsyRanbler

Perhaps look at it this way. For those of you relying on deliveries, take-always, neighbours, and the government...we won’t be in your way, competing for what you want. Doesn’t that sound like a good thing?

You would think! People sometimes get pretty nasty when the fragility of the supply chains we all rely on is pointed out, though.

froggygoneacourting - Thats really good. I did have to laugh at pictures of people coming out of costco with quotes like 'stockpiling' - when you can only buy 48 rolls of toilet paper because they do not sell them in smaller quantities.

My food cupboards are always quite well stocked as I cook from scratch and have a varied diet, also have 2 meat eaters, one pescatarian, one vegan and one vegetarian. I also live a fair a way from a large supermarket and I am the only one who drives so if I was ill we have stuff in. It is a good idea to have a couple of cheap tins of tomato/20p spaghetti, beans, tin fish etc but I have no need to stockpile now or before - it is unfair as correctly said only expensive items left, and corner shops charging the earth. I just don't let my cupboards get bare. It annoys me when I read like today in the Daily Mail - delivery slots going quickly - just scaring people.