Germans told to stockpile

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

Germans are being told to stockpile enough food and water for 10 days, in case of a national emergency.

Sensible or scaremongering.

Any thoughts?

Terrorism or planned police state reaction to it which has been in the works for a long time. There is a subset of extremely wealthy people who are furious that they weren't respected enough after the last time they impoverished or murdered a vast swathe of us.... Their 'solution' to that problem is always to purge their detractors.

Mimi, I'm afraid I have no idea who you mean.

I bought a few packs of paper plates this week. If we have a water problem or water is rationed I would rather not waste it on washing plates. The plates can go on the fire.

For the toilet situation we would wee in a pot and pour it away in the garden. For poo I will empty the toilet of water and fill with a black bag doubled up. Everytime someone goes to the toilet we will add cat litter or sawdust. We have these things for the animals anyway so I just keep an extra bag of each.

I just bought 2 bags of cat litter today
I was lucky no one from the building bumped into me at the shop, we're not allowed pets here so that would have been an interesting conversation...

www.theorganicprepper.ca/german-government-telling-people-stockpile-food-water-cash-08222016
www.theorganicprepper.ca/now-the-czech-government-is-warning-citizens-to-stockpile-food-08252016

Seriously pleased I found this. Its got me a bit worried but only because its convinced my husband that prepping is actually needed.

Most/many people have neither the space or resources to 'stockpile'. Nor, I think, the inclination to do it long term. I suspect that the thing to do is to, as far as possible, incorporate these things into your normal way of life. (I except water - the convenience of using plumbed potable water in the normal course of things is just too immense. (And I'm not a fan of bottled water.))

For example, if you're going to buy some tinned supplies, I'd be buying things that you would normally consume so that they can be rotated. And with eg litter bags and toilet paper, I'd be making sure only that we always had a fair stock to hand. Etc etc etc.

the place I lived in before was absolutely freezing
I wondered how I would have coped with a long term power outage there but I figured so many people in the area would be in the same situation, there'd be fires out in the parks and stuff. I don't know. I don't worry so much now, but the old flat was honestly something else in terms of how insanely cold it was. When there was a heatwave on, if the weather didn't tell me, I wouldn't have a clue!

Well I did an extra Waitrose run, and all my cupboards are groaning, and I am being laughed st by the family. 'Mum, there's a few buffer countries before Putin can invade Britain!' Ds1 said. He will laugh on the other side of his face when I feed him long life Rosti and Fondu for the 20th time.

You can get long life rosti and fondue? From waitrose? Sounds much better than beans, I must find these things...

Indeed and on the German resilience site they had tinned Normandy butter, tinned Gouda cheese, and s multipack of tinned cake. Oh yes. Germans do resilience in style.

I imagine that the suppliers will now be struggling with a surge in demand. I'll have to stick with beans then.

Boffin, I might have misunderstood but I can't find those on the Waitrose website...

You would have to go to conserva.de - if, indeed, they sell to the UK.

Give it time though. (If we have any.) someone will see the gap in the market soon enough.

I have lots to use to survive in an emergency - my camping gear will see us through a lot. But I normally keep that in our storge unit, 6 minutes drive away from the house (walking distance, and we have bicycles). The problem would be getting in the electronic doors (we have some torches at home for the lack of lights there). We normally bring home our winter thermals in late autumn, and if there was any warning of problems, I would ensure I got to the unit for other needed supplies.

I actually kept the single burner gas stove at home in the shed, in case it's a hard winter and we have blackouts. We have a gas BBQ as well, and a combi cooker (gas rings and electric oven). The woodburning stove in the sitting room is good for heat but not to cook (set into fireplace).

I have always tended to keep well stocked cupboards - we have had times when life has been too hectic and we haven't had a chance to shop properly for weeks. And the few hard winters too (we managed fine while shops were almost emptied out and lots were panicking locally!). Even though water supplies were seriously compromised then (leaks from the cold, along with underlying problems of demand outstripping supply and a dry summer meaning reservoirs were very low so there was no water for a few days and then no water every night for weeks while they tried to sort it).

But it does make you think about how people are prepared to manage, particularly in the urban areas. Most people I know have no emergency preparedness done - or even thought about. Lots of people buy every day or every couple of days -even in the past 10 years I have seen a shift from the big "weekly" shop to smaller daily shopping trips with just enough for the next day or 2, and quite a few people I know don't ever eat at home (or literally just a couple of meals a week).

You sound to be in a fairly good place, personally. Having actually experienced 'problems' does change your perspective on many things, doesn't it?

shop.conserva.de/en/10-long-term-food

Conserva does deliver to the UK and has a flat delivery rate of 9 euros! And the website has an English language option.

We'll be buying a big batch on payday!

10 days is probably what most people have in the house anyway in terms of food. Its the water that would catch people out.

We're not lacking in water of course in this country and so anyone with a water butt in the garden has a good start. You can purify it with a drop of bleach or buy a lifestraw or water purification tablets.

Some of that conserva food actually looks good enough to eat! (Although I'm a little taken aback by the butter powder.)

The can have a shelf life of - what - 10 years did I see on the site somewhere?

butter powder is certainly a new one on me.

I have ghee in my stock cupboard as a butter substitute. Its readily available and I can use it for other things when it nears its expiry date. I also have some tinned "butter" but its rank (tastes like cheap margarine not butter) and definitely for emergency use only.

I thought Boffin got the rosti from Waitrose but was just mentioning the other site.
There's no way I'd pay the prices on the other site but I'm not thinking long term so it's different for me.

I find it hard to believe tinned butter is worse than ghee. The smell of ghee....ugh, it's like evil.

Waitrose do two kinds of long life Rosti, with and without bacon. It's near where they have the 'look what we found' sachet stews. I found Fondu in the cheese section, sleuth that I am.

Do people know it's possible to make a kind of soda bread in a pan over the fire, a sort of scone type thing? American pioneers in the 19th century used to make it for their families.

We have DofE type camping gear that is very handy for emergencies, but I think a water butt is a great idea as we have space for one and it would save going down to the river.

And you can make damper bread by wrapping dough around a stick and holding it over the fire, like toasting a marshmallow.

Actually, I make skillet bread at home sometimes, on a normal cooker.

Boffin, thanks, I think it must not be on the website.
I tried that look what we found, I found it not great tbh but that's probably another good one to keep in the cupboard.