An interesting new article from The Guardian re: stockpiling and why it isn’t as easy as the government suggest

[UglyCathKidstonBag]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/26/stockpile-food-no-deal-brexit-dream-on?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Well worth a read and fairly sobering stuff.

Where exactly are companies supposed to put all this extra product? How do they pay for creating it and housing it for months on end?

We live deep in the French countryside and one thing useful we have is a simple old-fashioned plug-in telephone. We can get lengthy power cuts and it has sometimes been our only means of communication.
(We also have a bread oven, utility with masses of storage, gas bottles for our cooker and a wood-burner with a flat top for cooking, but that is probably not much help to anyone.)

...one useful thing

@EmilyAlice - no, I don't live where you live (sounds nice). But getting ideas from others is always a good idea.

There is a lot of knowledge in our village about survival as many residents remember the occupation. There are, I understand, quite a few reserves of Calvados here too. 😊
One thing you get is real co-operation in the community with people checking on the elderly and making sure they have what they need.
Now I have to go and and help DH stack the winter woodpile (10 m3).

@EmilyAlice - it's the older members of the community who have the most useful local knowledge and skills.

Proper sourdough bread is made using a starter which is a substitute for yeast. It's yummy.
The stuff you get from the supermarket is ok but made artificially.
No reason to make it if you don't want to. But it's an alternative to consider.
And it's live like yoghurt is live.

As for your kids away from home, it's kinda up to them.
Making and dehydrating a couple of backpacker meals is a good idea for them anyway- forget Brexit. Don't take up a lot of room and don't need a fridge.
Dehydrators and vacuum sealers are pretty cheap. Loads of recipe ideas on YouTube.

It is indeed a living thing that sits on the counter (or in the fridge). I have a friend who refuses to take some starter from me for exactly that reason as her dh doesn't like the fact that it is a living organism.

Takes a few weeks to get going but is usually started from some flour and water and maybe some yoghurt and ideally something like a grated local apple which will have some local "wild" yeast in the air. Otherwise there will probably be wild yeast in the air/flour that will get it going eventually.

At least, I believe that's the theory I used a neighbour's apple to get mine going.

bellinisurge DH is 70+ and I am nearly there but we are the youngsters here. 😊 It is very clear from the population of the village that growing your own food, chopping wood and maintaining a high level of self-sufficiency is a recipe for longevity.

I defer in the sourdough starter to @prettybird - they have sparked the idea off on here.
Thanks again!

@EmilyAlice - any sensible prepper (I try to be) knows that it is the seniors in the community that are the most valuable not the kids with muscles (although they are handy too!).

Blimey. I've always had toilet paper, coffee, tea, uht milk, beans and crackers in the shed.

But with the assumption that I'm being ridiculous but it's a ridiculous that is harmless and makes me feel better.

I'm shocked that peole in the UK are this worried to be honest! several countries have ended up piecing them back together again after what seemed like the bottom fell out of their economy (Iceland, Ireland, Greece) Iceland is extremely isolated too.

bellinisurge I have one neighbour who told me about how you do all the washing for a household of eight children in the river. You blue it on day one, wash it on day 2 and rinse on day 3 apparently.

@EmilyAlice - Excellent stuff

@ICJump @prettybird

Crumpets might be just the thing to persuade me to revive Hermann, I adore crumpets!

(I’m a molecular biologist. I actually grow vats of genetically modified microorganisms for a living, sourdough starters hold no fear for me.)

So going to give my starter a name!
My dh calls everything Matt or Dave ...

Caroldecker reminds me of a teacher who tried to tell my DF he was wrong about life under Mussolini ... (DF was born in 1932 in Italy ...)

Seems a lot of people are "remembering it wrong". What with being there and all.

Iceland is indeed very isolated, which is why it is a member not just of EFTA but in the Schengen area.

In fact when the Kreppa (which is what they call the financial crisis) hit, there was an increase in support for joining the EU.

They also jailed some of the bankers responsible for getting them into the crisis

Can you still get blue for the washing?

For those of a certain age, I had a post from the James Burke Knowledge web, looking back at "Connections" (1978).

The first episode started with the 1965 New York blackout, and how society descended into anarchy within minutes.

It also poses some hard questions for survivalists which underscore how incredibly interdependent the world is. And that was forty years ago.

For some reason, the BBC hasn't seen fit to make it available.

@SimonBridges - yes.

@DGRossetti - used to love watching that programme as a kid.