Is it sensible or silly to stockpile?

[Emergencycake]

Just that really. I have about a 50/50 split opinion on this from friends and family and need some advice which way to go.

I think it's sensible. Prices will rise no matter what, so if you can afford to bulk-buy stuff you can store easily and will definitely use, then why wouldn't you?

Depends what you're stockpiling.

Long-life food that you'll use eventually anyway = Sensible
Hundreds of pounds worth of military ration packs = Silly
Petrol = Ridiculous

I've not really stockpiled in the prepped sense but I've bought more of the brand's from the continent that I think will be less distributed or more expensive.

Prices will rise so I think it's sensible.

*prepper

Sensible. There will be panic buying soon, and I don't want to have to go shopping during that

Sensible, the food will get used eventually anyway so what’s the harm?

Last year during the beast from the east I was housebound with the flu and struggled as supermarkets couldn’t deliver in the snow and I could have done with a stockpile!

I can't see any downside to it. Buy the things you eat and all you are doing is buying them early.

It is a bit late but getting some stuff in would be good.

If there is a delay, then make sure you are prepared for mid May.

What Fishes said. Don’t buy a hundred tins of spam if you hate spam.

I think a bit of modest forward planning for contingencies is smart.

All I've got is: antibiotics, 6 months dry ratios, 400L of diesel for the generators, lumber, food for the goat, a library of technical manuals, small arms and a tin of boiled sweets.

Prepper here. Our normal stocks include:

3 months of food and water
75L of fuel
Medications and first aid supplies
Spare parts for cars and equipment
2 generators.
500 rounds of ammunition per gun.

Sensible to have a reasonable amount of food in case of bad weather, strikes, zombie apocalypse. Hardcore stockpilers/preppers like to have enough that they could live 'off the grid' completely for at least a month. Regular stockpilers (me included) have about a month's worth of the tinned/dried food that we like and use all the time, and I rotate it out as it's used. I also have about three days worth of bottled water and longlife milk, and always have a loaf in the freezer.

I also try to keep ahead of our prescription meds by about a month, so if for some reason we can't get them we've got a bit of leeway.

Prices aren't coming down so it's sensible I think

Sensible imho. I've not bought stuff that I wouldn't eat eg Frey Bentos pies.

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

Where did you get your crystal ball, do they sell them on amazon?

I’ve bought more of the stuff we usually and will eat anyway. Also batch cooked an extra freezer full. I’m at the start of maternity leave and we’re going to be skint in a few months so whatever happens with brexit we could use food we’ve already paid for

Buying some extra things to be able to manage for a few days without going to the shop = sensible

3 months worth of food? = selfish
That is almost guaranteed to increase prices in itself.
You would be better off learning how to grow your own veg.

Quite frankly I don’t know why people need to keep talking about it, if you’re going to do it just keep it to yourself.

It’s sensible if you don’t already have a good stockpile. I usually only get 2-3 days worth of food as I have no storage space, don’t drive and I’m two minutes away from Lidl. I now have about 2 weeks worth of food that I’ll continue adding to so I won’t be stuffed if people panic buy.

@NigelGresley

3 months of food? = Selfish

I would call it survival.

"Buying food makes retailers increase the costs" - heard it all now

Sensible.

I’ve not gone mad with buying stuff in, Ive got about a week or two worth of food for the family plus a decent few month worth of non food items that I’ve bought whilst on offer. My thought process being that I’ll not have to buy any non food items for a while thus providing a budget buffer if food prices increase.

I’m also practicing meal planning, not wasting food, eating less meat, forgoing expensive ready to eat snacks and making my own bread. I’ll be taking a look at growing my own herbs and tomatoes too.

I’ve done my plan on thinking we might get an initial period of disruption followed by price hikes.

Thanks all. I think I'll buy a few things extra in. Maybe some beans, pasta, rice and tinned tomatoes to be safe.

"Buying food makes retailers increase the costs" - heard it all now

The only patriotic, fair and unselfish thing to do is never purchase food, and survive on positive emotions alone

Think about the food you like and regularly consume...then find out where it comes from. In a bit of bad timing, a No Deal Brexit would arrive during the hunger gap (a period between the old harvest and the new one) and we import during that time around 80% of our fruit and vegetables; this is one of the reasons I'm hoping for an extension to Article 50.

Putting down some stores of fruit and vegetables (frozen, dried and tinned) would be a prudent decision. Durum wheat (pasta) isn't grown in the UK (apart from one little farm in Norfolk, I believe) and neither is rice, so a couple of bags wouldn't hurt. Oh, and toilet paper. Something like 85% of the paper pulp used to manufacture toilet paper is imported.

Operation Brock (the No Deal planning for Kent) suggests that Dover could become gridlocked.

Ultimately, you should do what you feel is sensible and affordable.