Prepping for brexit

[Numberonecook]

Ive just started getting some bits together ready for brexit. As a food scientist I am very aware of how much produce comes into the country and the resources needed to get things around the country. Im also aware of the chain and how everything is ‘just in time’ And a delay in the chain could lead to serious shortages and price rises.

This really worries me as there is 5 of us to feed. So, what non food essentials do you think I should also consider? We are not prepping for huge disaster just 6 months or so. I’ve got things like toiletries, loo roll etc. Anything else?

Don't forget pet food, if you have pets. A lot of the supermarket own brand sachet pet food is made in Poland.

Yes. Pet food - and pet stuff generally- is really important.

cat food pie....

It might be worth mentioning dogs can eat cat food but cats can't eat dog food.....

We live overseas so brexit shouldn't affect us in terms of supplies etc.

However we do always keep a small supply of things here, and tbh its been used at least twice each year.

As an idea:
1)Recently there was flooding higher in the mountains, in term it somehow contaminated our drinking water supply (the entire area not just our house). We couldnt drink from the tap without boiling the water first for 11days. The shops had plenty to replenish, but it was helpful the first few days that we had a small amount of drinking water at home without having to rush out. like I said you could drink once boiled, so we didnt need to buy all our water as boiled for cooking and hot drinks.

2)snowfall. Supermarkets were open fine, main roads clear, but our small lane wasn't and couldnt get the car out for 3 days. Meant we could have walked 1km to shops, but would have been a pain carrying more than a small bag home.

3)dh and I both had the flu back in February. neither of us would have been safe walking or driving to the shops for at least a few days as both dizzy, fainty and similar. again had enough soups in freezer, some part baked bread and medicine to just ride it out.

So yes, In our recent experiences, easy food for 3-5 days that you might want to eat when ill or its cold. plus a few days water is a good minimum amount to keep

Top supplies used here:
Part bake bread - lasts a few months and we just use up and rotate
Oat milk - keep in cupboard, easy for porridge. makes nice hotchocolate
salted prezel, stick type things - good when ill. easy snacks
mulled wine - tastes even better when your stuck! and drink enough you wont mind

Very interesting that cats can’t eat dog food. My cats’ favourite foods are mouse guts and squirrel brains. What’s in dog food that’s worse than that?!

I 'think' cat food has added something (possibly Taurine?) which is in dead animals but not in processed meat

I'll go google!

I think i'm half-right

& taurine is in (mouse) guts

We're leaving the country on 22nd February for France, coming back on 22nd April. Providing we can get back, obviously. Mr will need to get back to work, but at the moment I won't have a job to come back to, so could stay with relatives in France.

We'll be leaving a house in the UK with two freezers while we're away. I'm thinking that if we can get back, we can load the car up with 'nice' treat type things, but I should leave a stash of frozen fruit and veg and milk at home in the freezer?

Mr is vegan, so we're pretty good at cooking with lentils and pulses normally, I can do without meat and eggs if I need to (would prefer not to). Am thinking that I'll also put some ready made meat based meals in the freezer to supplement my diet. We are able to easily buy alternative milks before we go too - they have long sell by dates on them.

Do you reckon that sounds enough? Anything I've missed that I won't be able to possibly bring back with me in April?

Sounds pretty thorough. Stock up on basic first aid and whatever little treats you like - wine, chocolate, tea, coffee. Just in case it gets a bit hairy and you need to stay in.

Put a small plastic cup of water in the freezer, when it's frozen put a penny on top

If you have a power cut while you are away the penny will refreeze lower down in the water, so you know you have had the power cut and the food may/may not be safe

That’s a good tip with the penny, thanks KartyMac

I've just bought a big bottle of olive oil. That aisle is going to go tits up if we get problems.

The thing is that a massive amount of stuff will keep. So all you are doing is shopping early. If you buy a large bottle of olive oil now you have simply bought it in advance of needing it - probably also at a much lower price, particularly if you combine the prepping with shopping the offers.

I've done this for years anyway and my BF has commented on how we manage to eat so well for the same amount as she spends. Our food is supplemented from the garden and that makes a difference (I am still drowning in fresh raspberries and fresh tomatoes and the courgettes in the freezer and dehydrated will last us right through until they're fully grown again!) but the other thing is that I buy things when they're on offer. I would never buy a box of diet coke for example full price. It's currently on offer at £6 and just before Christmas will go up to £9. If you have the space and the cash it makes sense to buy more now even without any potential brexit issues.

When we were very broke, if something went wrong I had no spare, so I started keeping extra beans in the cupboard/bread in the freezer as beans of toast works for a meal in an emergency (& is a favourite)

Then as things got a bit easier I started buying a bottle of oil even tho' the one I was using hadn't been finished, and extra tins of tuna, and spare sausages even thought I meal planned.

Now I have 2 in the cupboard of most things I use, and I just stock rotate - but even if you only spend a few extra pounds a week you could have a bigish store in a few months and if nothing happens you are just well prepared for the future (you know when your child announces as you leave for school we have to take a tin/bottle in today or at bedtime the night before when they say I need cakes/recipe ingrediants for school tomorrow)

@NoSpend19 Couldn't agree more. What some people see as mad prepping for the zombie apocalypse, I simply see as common good sense most of the time.

Agree. Don't have to call it prepping if that has weird connotations for you. Call it "putting stuff by" or "getting extra bits in". Whatever.
It's like people talking about "upcycling" or "life hacks". It's just a buzz word to describe stuff people have been doing for yonks.
The prepper police aren't going to come round to your house with a checklist.
Some blokes do some willy waving about it - it is mainly blokes that do this - but you do what works for you and yours.
And don't tell people in rl.

Katy - I have found the same. And last week I had a nasty cold and we ran out of loo roll. I used the packet from my stash. I am.starting to wonder why I never did this before, especially as DS has disabilities which mean sometimes I can't leave the house.

& I replace when I open something not when it runs out

Opened a tiny tom sauce at the weekend and made a hot sauce with it, a few bacon sandwiches and mince and mash and we are nearly at then end but there are 2 in the cupboard so we can buy a new one next time we shop and no-one missed out on an essential!!

& I replace when I open something not when it runs out

Exactly. That way you don't ever run out or eat into your supplies.

Very sensible.
Sensible a bit thin on the ground elsewhere. Focus on your family and its needs.

Its sad though isn't it bellini that the country is in such turmoil that all you can do it look inwards and ensure your own family is as safe as possible.

Yep @NoSpend19 , but it is all you can do when there is turmoil around you.
So want to be seen as a paranoid loon in hindsight. That would be a good result.