Do we genuinely need to stockpile?

[thunderthighsohwoe]

In light of this morning’s news, I have started to wonder if we genuinely do need to stock up in the event of a no deal Brexit? None of us (touch wood) require any ongoing medication, though 9mo DD has a sensitive tummy when it comes to milk and tolerates HiPP best. I’ve a feeling cows’ milk won’t go down well when she’s 12mo, and was planning to try almond milk or similar as a back up.

Should we be stocking up on HiPP/milk alternatives/Calpol etc?

Luckily we’re just switching to reusable nappies and wipes, so that’s one less thing to think of I guess.

What about the poor. Will you share your food with the starving poor.

I’ve managed to stockpile a years worth with a very lenient GP practice

Rufus don't think DH particularly liked the mushrooms as he was making a face while eating them, and magically the majority ended up on the side of his plate

Good post @SansaSnark.
Those things have all been mentioned on previous threads and possibly some of us regulars are inadvertently starting to talk in shorthand, so it's helpful to have it spelt out again. Thanks

"What about the poor. Will you share your food with the starving poor."
The "will you share your food" question has been asked in other threads.
I would share my food only with people I love and with people who can be useful or practical for me.
I don't care how people voted but those are my criteria. No one outside my house and in-laws knows I have a stash.
I live in a strong Leave area. My neighbour (who is massively handy) voted Leave. I have to assume that my DD's friends ' parents voted Leave - I know one is a vociferous No Dealer, I have beloved young adult family members who voted Leave.

Tinned mushrooms are ok in a slow cooked meal, probably because they tend to shrink to nothing. I’ve got 5 tins of them anyway, will swap for biscuits

Is this another opportunity to rave about my dehydrator- and risk comical references to Eddie from Friends.
This weekend's dehydration plan is some fresh celery that we bought for a recipe but won't use all of. It is usually a key feature of autumn and winter soups and stews.

I'm seriously tempted to look at dehydrator now. To prevent waste going forward. Not specifically for prepping.

Will you share your food I think is an interesting question.

If it turns out brexit doesn't happen, or happens in an orderly way, I will probably donate some to a food bank.

But in the event of no deal I probably won't share my food with strangers, although I might to an extent with the children at school.

At least by not being in the shops straight after no deal, I'll be helping somewhat in that way.

There are people going hungry in the UK right now though. Do you share your food with them?

Rufusthebewilderedreindeer

Waits for someone to call her the liberal elite and blame her for brexit

🤣

I can just see some posters getting redder and redder with rage, reading comments from posters about dried mushrooms and dehydrators. They’ll be on ranting later about preppers causing mushroom shortages.

The sad think is that people who already rely on food banks will have shortages. I usually bung some stuff in the food bank, but I'm not wealthy enough to do that if food prices go through the roof. All my extra food will go to feeding my family. March stockpiling boosted the economy of anything. I stockpiled a bit. The only consequence was that my kids developed a taste for tinned fruit with evaporated milk!

This weekend's dehydration plan is some fresh celery

You can dehydrate celery!!! I did not know that. adds to list

There are people going hungry in the UK right now though. Do you share your food with them?

Excellent question.

CrunchyCarrot

“well we all need to lose weight anyway we'll just diet”

Assuming this is said in mirth. The closer we get to potential disaster, the more my sense of humour seems to fail me and the more ridiculous the arguments leave voters put forward by way of justification become, so I’m never sure these days. Can’t watch repeats of Have I Got News For You aired just after the result, when everyone thought it was all a bit of a joke that would, surely, never come to pass. They remind me that we once lived in a reasonably sane, reasonably wealthy, reasonably democratic country. What’s happening to all of that now is horrifying.
Not sure how many PPs keep an eye on the financial markets and exchange rates? Worth a look at what happened immediately after BoZos Government announced its intended prorogation and then after Her Majesty granted consent. Those falls have recovered somewhat, but they’re nothing compared to what is going to happen if we leave on 31st on WTO terms and then they won’t recover. People who believe that Brexit will be over then and we can “all forge ahead”, as I frequently hear flag wavers proclaiming, are either woefully ill informed or incredibly thick, 31st October will just be the beginning.
We’re heading for slow, steady economic decline over many years and future generations will pay dearly for “our” insane decision.

On the outside chance you were being serious , people on diets are more in need of better nutrition than anyone. You need quality, not quantity. Fruits, veg, whole grain, lean proteins like pork (most of which we get from Denmark) and chicken (40% of which we import from European countries). Half of our total meat imports come from the Republic of Ireland. So good luck with those then.
We won’t have much of an issue getting hold of high fat, salt, sugar, calorie processed crap, pizzas, chips, chicken nuggets (which are made up of the bits you wouldn’t want to eat in their natural state and which are imported from far flung places across the world. you name it). Most of those dubious products are put together here from iffy frozen components. Obesity is likely to increase and the state of our health to decline. Just what you need when the country is in recession and the ready supply of health care workers have upped and returned to their countries of origin.

Welcome to the sunny uplands.

No I will not be sharing my food with the starving poor in times of great need, I’m prioritising my family.
But then, the poor we have with us always. Feed the world, all you end up with is more starving people.

@S1naidSucks , I even used some dehydrated celery in a recipe recently- I'd dehydrated it 8 months ago. I just rehydrated it before using it in a risotto. It was yummy. Added lovely celery flavour as usual (and I hate celery).

sucks

It gets worse...someone was compiling a list of foods that show you if you are definitely a liberal elite remainer twat...and i NEARLY said ‘whats wrong with avocados ‘ 😳 caught myself just in time

I tried persuading my dad to get a dehydrator, he eats a lot of dried fruit. But he would be mortified if anyone accused him of voting remain so maybe i will stop with the persuasion 😀

Re sharing food with the starving, I wonder if you do @darkclouds?
My stash will feed DH and me, and if necessary mother and adult kids. If we start dishing out food willy nilly, it won't last 5 mins.
However, if shortages are a short term bump in the road, I am happy to continue supporting the food bank, as I have done for several years, and currently still do.

I just ordered a dehydrator from Amazon and it arrives tomorrow. £36 and with good reviews. It was celery and mushrooms that swung it. As I waste more of those than I would like, I suspect that it will pay for itself within a year. We eat a lot of soup so well worth it, I hope.
I am excited about making dog treats too, as he's allergic to most additives.
Thank you Bellini and others for sharing your enthusiasm. I shall look out for the idiot's guide as well. I love an idiots guide I do!!

I can’t quite believe I am now browsing dehydrators.

Not heard of dehydrators. Can someone please tell me, can the food be rehydrated for eating in its original state, if you see what I mean (eg like a bowl of stewed apple), or is it only good for use in recipes?

I know that feeling.

No it can’t oh

Though it would plump up a bit if added to fluid

Dried apple and pear etc are snacks and dried veg would add flavour to soups and stew etc

Thank you (asking because we have family members with braces - chewy stuff could be an issue ). I think after a few weeks one of the things we’ll really miss the taste of us fruit. Wirth it for recipes though, thank you.

You can either rehydrate to use in original state or stick in a slow cooking stew/soup to rehydrate as it goes.
It's a general prepper thing, not a Brexit essential. It's a bit fiddly at first to get a session going and you need to make sure you have good sterilisation processes for your jars (I generally reuse ordinary jars but re sterilise them). You need to ensure clean hands/surfaces but you would for cooking anyway. You also need oxygen absorbers and citric acid (which looks like granulated sugar). All this can be bought on Amazon and is a few pounds. I got a dehydrator for about £35 off Amazon on the scientific basis of "best reviews, second cheapest ".

Oh and you can dehydrate a freezer pack of chopped frozen veg really easily - barely any prep, no defrosting. Saves space in your freezer. I dislike frozen veg but I dislike clogging up my freezer even more.
It is a slow process- several hours. But the results are shelf stable.