To ask if anyone is considering stockpiling

[Ninoo25]

Just that really, given that the government asking industry to stockpile food and medicines has been all over the news in the past week, I was wondering how many people are planning on stockpiling themselves and if so what are you going to stockpile and how much?
TBH my main concern is long term medication that I’m on, but as it’s only available on prescription and Dr wouldn’t let me order more than I need, so there’s nothing I can do about that anyway!

@bellinisurge no worries since you're fellow pedant but it wasn't just you. About five or six other posters did it as well.

Also @bellinisurge I've loved your commentary on several threads over the past few days and your interminable patience with all the naysayers. My background is similar and was always taught to keep something in your pantry in case things go wrong. When I was a kid, we fled a country that was taken over by a coup. We then moved to an area of a developed country that had a lot of natural disasters every single XYZ season so we always made sure we had candles, water, and some pantry items even though we were really broke. It's just what you did.

As an adult, I lived in a major city that's been struck by several disasters in the last 18 years. 9/11, black outs, Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy, etc. It honestly baffles me that people think stuff just doesn't happen that will interrupt the supplies.

Thanks to @bellinisurge and others on this thread that are being even keeled in the face of the goady mockers and trolls.

[ Also, no clue why MN is putting double asterisks after your username.]

Thank you Cath 💐

It’s about cushioning a blow, isn’t it?
That’s exactly it. Bad things will always happen, but we can only do our best to make the bad times a little easier. I used to be the most optimistic person you could meet, but so much has happened, in my life, that I’m more of a realist. If things don’t get bad after Brexit, the food won’t go to waste and if there is an interruption in supply, at least I have a cushion to fall back on.

Reads JingsMahBucket’s post and adds gin to list.

Advances in medicine, living conditions, health awareness etc are mainly responsible for the increase in life expectancy. I was referring to obesity rates. Type 2 diabetes is at an all time high thanks to sugar. As a nation we have become far too reliant on imports.

we managed perf3ctly well before we were part of the EU. Yo7 know I’m not sure we did. I love the passport free travel, reciprocal health care, cheap good food with variety. Olive oil, goood fruit, ...my children’s cam travel thousands of m8iles with no visas or checks,

The world has changed, just in time delivery and far better control of quality and safety.

@PositivelyPERF glad to be of service.

No, not even given it a thought. The world won't stop turning. This reminds me of the millennium panic.

If things don’t get bad after Brexit, the food won’t go to waste and if there is an interruption in supply, at least I have a cushion to fall back on

That's my thinking. I'm not panic buying 100s of loaves of bread. I'm making sure I have pasta, lentils, beans and tinned tomatoes. I live in a rural area and you can get cut off by snow so actually it pays to have supplies in anyway. But this government has consistently proven that it does not care one jot about the average person on the street. It has a breath-taking arrogance and callousness. I just don't trust anyone currently in power.

This reminds me of the millennium panic

The fears about the millennium were averted precisely because of some very skilled people working hard to ensure they weren't realised. It's not that the problems didn't exist and it was an unnecessary panic. They did but we had advanced warning and were able to set things right in time. This is walking blindly into even worse scenarios, without anyone trying anything preventative.

Everyoneiswingingit the millennium problem was pretty much resolved by hard work, before the press got hold of the story and created a panic.

Yet to see an effective resolution for Brexit yet.

Oh, my bad for starting the Colombia spelling mistake / typo / phone predictive text gaffe. My coffee definitely does not come from Canada.

Are people stupid, in denial or just uninformed. All this comparing Brexit to the millennium bug, when they have no clue what the issue was with the millennium bug or how it was solved.

Are people stupid, in denial or just uninformed

Some combination of the three, I suspect.

No

Food rationing only ended in 1954 in the UK.

Shortages were still commonplace in the early 1970s:
www.examiner.co.uk/lifestyle/denis-kilcommons-memories-1970s-shortages-4959964

To everyone who does not believe stock piling is necessary.
Many families are already food poor, any glitch in the supply system will effect them greatly. Many have no money space to store any extras. Many parents go hungry to feed there kids. Do something to help them.
Get a wine box and pack it with enough longlife food to feed four people for three days. Stuff that needs minimal cooking. Keep the receipt and take the box to the food bank. Repeat the procedure at the end of March or beginning of April and compare the receipts.

Remember that half the reason you are in a position to give and not have to receive is luck and thank your lucky stars.

No.

Given that our Tesco runs out of milk if we have two snow days in a row, I have a couple of cartons of UHT, some cans and dried stuff like lentils & pasta. But otherwise no, it’ll be fine.

Earlier this year, we were snowed in for over a week. I've always managed before with four-wheel drive but even the farm tractors couldn't get out. We all, including the dogs, ended up eating freezer randoms. This morning I woke up to power out; previous periods of high wind have seen us out for three days. This is in central Scotland.

Too damned right I'm building up a stockpile and adding some items to it because of the Brexit omnishambles. I also have a range with an LPG hob so can cook and a wood stove to heat the sitting room. I'm considering getting a paraffin lamp into the bargain - last time I saw one used was during the 70s power cuts and they give better light than candles. I've also got an old-fashioned pulley in the utility room and stuff dries brilliantly on it instead of in the tumble dryer. The week's worth of stock of food and sundries in the cupboards will be getting expanded.

@JingsMahBucket - thank you.

Shortages were still commonplace in the early 1970s:
I remember the 70s sugar shortage, and my mum thinking how ridiculous it was that people couldn't manage without sugar for a short time. We didn't panic buy, and were fine. Yet strangely we knew people who rushed out and hoarded sugar, and were still out queueing for more! So it was no wonder there wasn't enough to go round.

(I keep plenty of extra tins and dried food of staples as backup for everyday life emergencies, though. And I've certainly been glad of them for my own personal problems, such as illness. I wouldn't be surprised if there were shortages.)

I also remember sugar shortages. And bread strikes. Which is one of the many reasons why I encourage people to put stuff by slowly and economically .

@TooManyPaws
Hate to point this out
But most people live in towns. Or cities with huge motorways and A roads etc

In 2014 the mid-year population estimate (based on Lower Super Output Areas, LSOAs) for England was 54.3 million, of which 9.3 million (17.0 per cent) lived in rural areas and 45.0 million (83.0 per cent) lived in urban areas

How come everyone on mumsnet has a cousin who worked tirelessly to prevent the milenial bug
That’s what I would really like the answer to

Why should people be even exposed to any kind of worry about this.

It is treacherous to us all and very unnecessary. No words of comfort coming from anywhere to quell anxieties either. So cruel.

Or @eightfacesofthemoon maybe it's the same people answering that point. Or they have answered so many times other posters remember.

Or it's a big deep state elite Remainer conspiracy to lie to you and stop the supply of the unicorn you were promised.