Being brutally realistic - how bad do you think it will get?

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

Sorry to muscle in on your forum.

I've just been doing a bit of reading, and have read that the UK imports around 80% of its pasta from Italy and maybe 50% of its rice from India. So assuming significant shortages of both imminently, there will be a significantly increased demand for potatoes and other British produce, combined with a shortage of migrant workers in the fields.

Am I oversimplifying? Or is all this already blindingly obvious to those of you who are used to planning ahead?

Thank you looseleaf.
I cannot place a internet shop with a supermarket - no delivery slots in my area. I will start a list and one of us will venture out next week.

We find small local shops best as our local one lets us ring with a list and pay over the phone and they leave our shopping by our car. We do this once a week but a friend’s village shop like this closed last week

Dont forget that brexit hasn't gone away. It's going to be tricky to prepare for a no deal in the current climate. Definitely start growing where you can.

I think that the risk of a No Deal Brexit after the transition period ends is going to make for interesting politics/more nightmarish shit.
I'm guessing too that if we successfully "flatten the curve " - horrible euphemism for what will be a ghastly time - and lockdown is lightened there will be a second wave of this leading to more lockdown. And then we run into the no deal Brexit risk.
Just more For Fucks Sake.

I think it is alarming but fully expected that countries are already restricting exports: Serbia not exporting sunflower or its oil, Kazakhstan flour and wheat, and Vietnam rice. Also, that countries are already seizng goods destined for other countries- see Uncle Sam seizing face marks in Bangkok en route to Berlin, and wasn’t there today a Venezuelan submarine that sank today trying to seize a ship? I will try to find a link for the latter. The rest is splashes across the Guardian.

A family member works for a local supermarket. They said the majority of deliveries arriving only have essentials on them so stuff like chocolate and fizzy etc will decrease soon once everything is put out from the back of stores as they are Getting less deliveries of them.

The Venezuelan ship story is here: www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52151951 the German cruise ship was not carrying passengers and was on its way to assist with capacity/equipment further North, although this isnt in the article. Too bad it was steel-capped and couldnt be captured 😉

In the war they grew potato plants from peelings I think. I'll try to find a link.

Oh there's loads of info. Just had a Google.

It must take longer, as there is so little “potato material” to start with. Better than nothing though. Has anyone grown potatoes from peelings/peeling chips?

I never knew that but yesterday saw a gardening video showing how an onion regrows if you leave a quarter of it and put the roots in water. I’m already trying it !

This..........I used to have one of these, loved it.

www.primrose.co.uk/victorian-potato-barrel-h60cm-d43cm-p-2319.html?cPath=734_755

You can also get grow your own mushroom kits for indoors and Tumbling Tom cherry tomatoes can be grown in hanging baskets.

I did a grow your own mushroom kit and ended up with a massive surplus! Worked really well

I did a grow your own mushroom kit and ended up with a million little flies out of the soil. It was not fun

Giant strawberries do really well on hanging baskets outside though. Hanging baskets from a washing line with stuff does fab as well no slimy fuckers can get to them

I've tried the grow from scraps thing, everything just went mouldy. If someone has a good method for it I'm all eyes.

Some consolation for now: www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/04/03/world/europe/03reuters-health-coronavirus-netherlands-potatoes.html

there are lots of potatoes as not enough chips were sold. We just need to get them to us though 🧐

Ooooh, I know there are lorries coming with produce from the Netherlands, not as freely as before but regular deliveries.

Lettuce grows really well in window boxes and spinach.

What's the corded telephone about? Is that helpful if electric goes off?

I have a big whisky barrel that I was planning to turn into a water butt - now pondering if it would be good for potatoes.

We have kale that has grown all through winter & is still fine but about to flower so need to research if I can just cut off buds & keep it going.

@buckeejit , the corded telephone is a way of accessing the telephone network- which itself may be at risk of a power cut - if there's a power cut.
For clarity: I do not anticipate power cuts. We are different to the US which has a lot of its power cables house to house above ground and isn't always as automated as ours.

@bellinisurge stupid question but would the corded landline still work when there is a power cut?

@buckeejit we will be needing water butts if we have another mad summer m. The potatoes will need lots of water too

A note of caution concerning growing potatoes from shop bought potatoes as opposed to seed potatoes; shop bought potatoes are not produced in blight proof conditions, and can therefore cause the spread of potato blight in an area that has previously been free of blight. This is not a good idea...

@stella1know , that's the risk - that our systems are too electrified, as it were.

I work for a British food company - we are doubling production of certain lines (eg flour), protecting supply chain of ingredients & simplifying pack sizes etc.

This has been reported in the news & definitely happening on the ground too: also protection (bit less than PPE but screens etc) to protect the factory workers

What a helpful post as I really want to know how we’ll cope if imports aren’t enough - do you mean U.K. farmers are growing more wheat ? Or can you protect supply in other ways?

The UK only produces half its food

• imports e.g. 55% of fresh produce from the EU, who may need to keep more for themselves

At the least, the UK needs to ensure that current UK crops are harvested and picked

• but is running out of time to find the pickers

So, it looks useful to grow what you can of your own
Even if there aren't shortages, prices of some things may go up a lot

I suggest making friends in your local farmers market if you have one

• contacts with farmers are useful

Talk to your local farmers and see if they expect to have their crops picked and for sale locally
If not, maybe you could arrange to pick some for yourself for a small fee say

• that's more practical for most folk than trying to grow a lot of fruit and veg themselves;

takes a lot of land and work to feed even one family for several months

While in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago the manager was stood in the middle of an aisle openly talking on his mobile phone to someone about how certain lines were no longer going to stocked to make room for more of other everyday essential stuff. It was the Easter egg/chocolate/biscuit/crips section that was under fire at the time, which was about the only aisle which hadn't already been stripped out in the middle of the stock piling. You could feel the panic amongst the people who could hear what he was saying - now it sounds like a cracking plan.