Food Prepping and Brexit

[taytopotato]

The thought of food insecurity that Brexit will bring is a great concern of mine. More so now that the value of the pound is low. Some people are predicting that the value of £ could go lower once Art 50 is triggered.

I have looked at a few preppers board but I can't find a list food/commodities to stock up or what vegetables/fruits to plant.

Please can we compile a list?

Stock:
Olive Oil
Beans
WIne

Plant:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Potatoes? (Most of the potatoes in the market are UK grown, I think, so I don't know if I need to plant these)

If the pound tanks (further) then I doubt it would just be imported food that would be rising in price. I'd suggest that you take a clear look at budgets overall.

It depends on so many things as well. E.g. What sort of diet do you eat, how much land and storage do you have - even how much time do you and your family have? (Some plants are surprisingly labour-intensive to grow and might prove disappointing.)

I think a list is a great idea, although different families have different needs and diets so being adaptable is key.

We have stocked up on the following:
Tins and jars:
Corned beef (we don't eat this on a regular basis but it is useful for camping and is filling)
Sausages and beans in a tin
Baked beans
Kidney beans
Chickpeas
Tomatoes
Green beans
Pinto beans
Berlotti beans
Custard
Sponge puddings
Pesto
Curry paste
Pasta sauces (we rarely use these but I think if times are lean and easy dinner now and then might be a treat)
Rice pudding
Sardines
Tuna
Salmon
Soups
Mayo
Tinned fruit
Jam
Pickling vinegar
Apple cider vinegar

Store cupboard:
Rice
Pasta
Various lentils
Cous cous
Various spices and flavourings
Stock cubes
Gravy granules
Dog food
Salt
UHT milk (we only ever use this for camping but it has along date and I figure it might be useful for baking)
Garlic paste
Tomatoe purée
Crackers
Dried yeast
Sugar
Flour
Tea
Cooking oils (sunflower, vegetable, olive)
Oats
Nuts

Freezer:
Chopped peppers
Foraged fruit
Butter
Cheap cuts of meat

Household:
Washing powder
Dishwasher tablers
Dishwasher salt
Rinse aid
Loo roll
Soap
Shampoo
Razors
Washing up liquid

Obviously with a lot of these products it is only worth stocking up on them if you already use them on a regular basis and have the correct storage for them. There is no point having 30kg of bread flour and letting it go bad.

We are buying 2-3 extra items a week to put away. We are not afraid to dip into our reserves if our kitchen cupboards run low.
We have built up our reserve over about 18 months, taking advantage of offers.

We grow a decent amount of food and have plans to grow more but it all depends on space and environment. The things we have found easiest to grow as new gardeners are

Tomatoes
Courgettes
Spinach
Onions
Potatoes (we have had a lot of success with spuds in pots)

Try some rhubarb.

It virtually looks after itself and within two or three years you'll have a very respectable patch.

I like the fact wine is third in your list .

i'll have a think if I can add to very comprehensive list above.

Dried herbs and spices. Pep up bland food and last for ages.

It's worth keeping note of what you eat and get through in a week and trying to replicate it slowly and working out if you could grow some of it yourself. If you can't could you buy it cheap and bottle or can it yourself? Could you do without that item and opt for another choice?

That's good advice JustinBobby.

I'd also recommend going back to some of the old recipes. Your DMs or MILs will likely have old cookbooks from the days when people had to make do with a far more restricted range of ingredients than we import today. Wonderful tasting, many of them. Experiment a little - there's no reason why you absolutely have to stick to the cuisine you've been living with for the last few years.

JustinBobby. Wow. Thanks for that list. That is what I was looking for.

ThickandThin Yes, wine and beer. grin was looking at Wilko for wine and beer making kits. Only made wine once and that was years ago. I am envious of a friend who makes sloe gin.

Cozie. Yes, we have prepped for budget and have already cut down on luxuries. For some reason, the thought of "food insecurity" makes me anxious perhaps because I Kondo'd most of our food stock. Thanks about the tip on cookbooks/recipe.

Mmmm. There's an 'immediacy' about food wand water supplies isn't there?

I'd be interested to see what essentials others are stocking up on in prep for Brexit. I'm sure I'm missing loads.

I remember during the credit crunch "small luxuries", such as nail treatments saw a rise in spending. I wonder if their is a food version of this? Small treats to keep moral up when things feel tight?
Perhaps even the likes of a boxed brownie mix or jelly?

I just saw an advert for this - gives your food a shelf life of twenty five years!!

Where do you store all this??!

Your storage capacity would feed, along with other things, into your plans for dealing with any problems, I guess. Some people will have ample storage, some very little, some people willl be ferociously organised, some people not so much so - and so on. I doubt everyone has the same solution to any possible difficulties.

What about personal items alongside food and household?

Such as spare pair of glasses (spectacles not drinking), sun glasses should be cheap as out of season, medicines etc.

Of course - although, as with food, you'd have to rotate as appropriate and bear in mind any shelf life.

Hi there! I am interested in this, although from a different (more paranoid?) perspective. I heard that germany had advised its citizens to have at least 10 days worth of food. So I thought that maybe there is a possibility of isis attacking power stations or water plants, leading to the whole kit and caboodle to go down in certain parts of the world while the mess is sorted out. Like PPs, I am buying extra stuff at the supermarket. Tins and non-perishable food that could be eaten cold or with boiling water if necessary. Although I did realise when going round the supermarket today, that my "reserves" as well as being very meagre would be fairly revolting, especially together!

So far, I have
peanuts (which get raided by DH who is not taking this seriously)
tuna
tomato sauce
pickle
pasta
cous cous
chickpeas
kidney beans
baked beans with sausages
sardines
sultanas
tinned soups
olives
porridge
pickled vegatables

Now, I am thinking of getting a small water purification kit. have I been watching too much walking dead

I'm trying to imagine the meals you'd make from that lot. You're right!

PS - get DH to watch Blackout. It's on All 4 and, together with American Blackout, it's on YouTube. I'll try to find you a quick link.

Here's one of them.

PS - that link is out of sync for me. If that's happening for you, best try to find the programmes on your own probably.

Fusion We store some in our cellar but most in the kitchen or garage. We don't have a lot of space so make for storing food we won't use, so we make sure it is all factored into our diet and rotated around.

Should read "We don't have a lot of space so make sure we aren't storing food we won't use. We also make sure it is all factored into our regular diet and rotated around." The perils of typing around toddlers and puppies!

Another thing I have bought more of recently is pickling vinegar and similar. We pickle a lot of veg such as onions and red cabbage, so I would like to have decent stocks ready and available.

Maybe even try making your own vinegar? (I haven't tried it myself but I believe that it's fairly easy to do.)

Really? That hadn't even occurred to me. I will certainly look at that.

This is one, maybe, to grab the internet while we still have it as a resource. I'm sure there's plenty out there to help and it would be a good skill to have.