As a prepper what is your instinct right now about shopping/buying food

[cowfacemonkey]

I'm not a prepper but I did follow the news closely re: coronavirus and by the end of January I had started to buy extra supplies, fill the freezer, stock the pantry etc. It has been a true blessing to have not had to have had to go anywhere near shops in the panic buying stages and comforting to know we don't need to leave the house to regularly shop right now. We still go out if necessary to get milk, eggs, bread etc.

We've still got plenty of freezer and pantry food left and at first I didn't notice supplies going down but today I felt a bit wobbly about the fact we have made a big dent in it.

From a health perspective my instinct is to avoid shops, stay home and use what we have but from a prepping/keeping stock high level I feel that I should be replenishing tin and long life foods with a bigger weekly shop.

As pro preppers what are you doing? Sitting tight and using up what you have or does using it up make you feel nervous? How are you prepping for a possible second wave in winter? I guess it's simpler to prep ahead of the first "disaster" but how do you then maintain for what could go on for months/years?

Feeling very much like you to be honest. We've found some local delivery options for fresh stuff, it's a catering supplier but they've started doing fruit/veg/dairy boxes for home delivery. A bit ££ but good quality. Have used some of my stored stuff though and want to restock but can't get online slots and shops are limiting what you can buy. Also we are trying really hard not to go to supermarkets unless absolutely essential. There has to be a gap in the market here for some kind of delivery service for staples like pasta, tins, dried foods - I had thought Amazon but everything seems to be out of stock and I hear Amazon warehouses are terrible to work in so feel guilty about shopping there!

I'm a bit like you OP. Not a pro prepper, but took notice of the news from Christmas and started slowly stocking up.

My freezer is still full and I've still got my stash of dry things, tins, medicine etc.

We're doing a normal weekly shop and eating fresh, then the same again next week keeping the frozen, dry and tinned as back up. For now. Once we're back to 'normal' we will eat through the older stuff and replenish. After this whole thing, I doubt I'll ever go back to not having anything stashed away again!

I managed to order an M&S food box this week which is mostly tinned goods/pasta/jar sauce/tea/coffee/biscuits. A bit pricey and not sure Percy Pig sweets are vital to the store cupboard! but was only online delivery I could find with more staple pantry/tinned goods.

I know M&S got a bit slated on here for the contents but I agree there is a gap in the market for delivery service of staple goods and whilst it's not perfect it better than nothing!

Low level brexit prepper here who used to be buying things on offer and using them slowly. I am in Germany and had a brexit stash of british stuff but wasn’t ever a Proper Prepper. I think I will be now forever, like the war generation who always kept stock. I am
Worried about how the harvests will pan out this Summer, whether we will solve the supply issues, whether rice/lentils/spices will come through from India. Turkey is getting worse with Corona and is prone to protectionism and chickpeas are already impossible to find, wondering whether chickpeas/flour/beans will get through. Same with fruit from Spain. Coupled with another hot and dry summer we may have serious issues . . . So I am topping up my small stash when I can afford to, eating the old stuff now. whilst not ill, hopefully will come through ok if we so get it but there are no certainties 😏

I've used up a lot of my stash when I was ill but have managed to replace a lot of it.
I'm continuing with a weekly shop that is being delivered, as we will soon be getting priority due to someone in the house being shielded. I'm also getting a weekly box from the government which helps for bread and milk shortages especially.
We are also growing as much as we can and will be getting chickens in the next few weeks.
I will never NOT prep now. This situation has proved how necessary it is.

I missed the boat a bit on buying seeds to grow veg, by the time I thought about going down that line I was already trying to avoid the shops. I think it will now be part of the long term plan though. Would love to get chickens but DH is a firm no on that at the minute but I'll ease him round to the idea at some point!

I managed to order in 6 months supply of dog food but didn't think about flea and worming treatments which we normally get through the vets. Not sure if they will dispense it now if they are only doing emergency treatments. Will need to find some online if not. Lockdown with a dog with fleas or worms? No thanks!

I followed the Brexit prepper threads and the theme seemed to be...we won't need to shop

Lower level preppers - we will need fresh goods but not loo roll or dried/tinned goods.

@cowfacemonkey no you haven't. 3 weeks is doable

@bloodysqueakyeggs so you're shopping even though you don't need to?
As a non car driver with limited kitchen space thanks for that. It's good to know you're fully stocked

I live quite rurally so always keep a full food store but I did start to build it up in January. I am now doing my best to eat fresh produce first then frozen and saving tinned and dried.
So if I have cabbage we have it even if it doesn't go.
My next big food worry is fresh fruit and vegetables. I avoid imported food anyway. I've been banging on forever about this country's inability to be self sufficient in food. I'm growing as much veg as I can fit in my garden.

Really Lilmishap? I wonder if I can get what I need online to start growing things?

Lilmishap, buying fresh stuff is reasonable, and veg and fruit are not in short supply round here, is it unavailable for you?

You might find some seeds on Ebay - I did

I'm a low level prepper, so I already had some extra tinned and dried food, and toilet rolls. I followed the news closely and when it became apparent that the virus was spreading in the UK I did a large shop for more supplies, and also bought bags of compost, so I could avoid the shops when panic buying started.

I've sown more seeds than usual this year, as I'm aiming to grow a lot more veg than last year, knowing that shortages could continue. I'm planning to use some of the stored food, to avoid the shops as long as possible, during the coming weeks, as the NHS will be at crunch point so it would be the worst time to catch Covid-19 and need treatment. I've ordered a Morrisons food box to delay shopping, but when lockdown is relaxed,and things calm down a bit, I will do some late night supermarket shopping, and stock up before winter.

This health crisis has reinforced my prepping mentality, and I think there could be riots and civil unrest at some point, which makes me more determined to increase my prepping and grow the maximum that I can, in our small garden. DH wasn't a prepper before the pandemic, but he's totally on board now and is more flexible about what he will eat (previously a fussy eater, but not now, as he doesn't want to waste food).

I might consider buying a small chest freezer before winter, as we don't have a freezer at the moment, but we don't have space for it in the kitchen so unsure we have room for it. Anyway, if there are power cuts it won't be much use. Ideally I would live in a detached house in the country, with a couple of acres of land, and grow all our own food. I'd also keep chickens, and have solar panels on the roof, with a generator for back up. It's a nice dream that many preppers probably share, especially now.

@cowfacemonkey

I phoned my vet the other day about the same thing. They have now prepared my dog’s flea/worm pills so all I need to do is to phone them when I want to collect it and they will leave it on the reception desk for me. Phone your vet and see what they say.

Thanks Triglesoffy I will give them a call on Monday and hopefully they will. We pay them a monthly direct debit that includes flea/worm/booster jabs so hopefully they will have the same system in place as yours

Not sure about civil disobedience, hasn't happened anywhere else yet that I've heard

Buying fresh, using the stored dry.

But I went for eggs, milk, fruit today and was horrified at the level of the food bank trolley so ended up giving them stuff. And that's the prep thing. What I want is for the government to tell me when I should be using my stash. It's easy when it's a flood or earthquake. But this is supply chain, long-haul.

I am contemplating buying a quarter cow though. The farmers are still selling, I can offload mince on my friends who are struggling and support local organic farming. Live on that for a year. I wonder if the food bank would take mince...

I've been struggling with the same dilemma. At the moment my instinct tells me to buy fresh food while I can and replenish any prep stores as soon as I use them so they are always there. I haven't been to Tesco or any other big supermarket for weeks now, I went during panic buying frenzy or just at the start of that to pick up a few things but I already had most of what I needed. It now feels unsafe to go. I am sticking to smaller less popular food shops and going less often.

It is very hard to know what we are dealing with and how long to prep for, what we are prepping for and so on. At the moment I want enough food so tat if I suddenly feel, no I don't want to venture out at all, I can make that choice and we'll still be fine. But at the moment it still feels semi-safe. In London I would probably feel differently and would be looking at online food, desperately trying to get a delivery slot etc etc.

My stash isn’t a constant food supply - it’s more like a backup for the times I’m unable to get a delivery or click and collect. If I’m lucky then I order enough fresh food for the week plus a few more tins and packets for the stash. If I’m unlucky then I have to live off my stash until I manage to get a slot. I’m planning to continue this pattern - best case scenario the stash never gets touched because I can get food delivered every week.

I'm fairly similar not what I'd call a prepper but I live rurally with a long drive and have fully stocked freezers as can not be arsed dragging tesco orders up on a sledge after last year. Been buying fresh and rotating some tinned/ freezer stuff. There seems to be pasta / tinned tomatoes/ loo roll filtering back into the shops. My main concern is long term supply lines especially of fruit and veg. If no pickers from Europe then British crops will struggle to make it to supermarkets. Growing stuff in the garden/ greenhouse will have to be a norm I think.

We got veg and herb seeds in Tesco today. Due to my poor memory and incompetence in terms of shopping we had plenty of chicken, toilet roll, mince and liquid soap. Unfortunately the panic buying by others mean my husband now has to go out everyday for fresh food such as milk, bread, eggs and veg. We can go without but the kids have to be fed. I don't think I'll forget the news item where the woman walked out of the supermarket with 48 toilet rolls and a very small bag of food.

I should say that my husband has said that the shelves are no where near as bad as they were. The supermarkets have had to become more "parental" when it comes to customers. He goes to the local Aldi a lot, it isn't as popular as it's small and has a smaller selection but it does the job.

Are there no smaller businesses around your wats that do veg, bread or grocery deliveries? Have a look on Facebook to see if there’s any groups. For anyone in (NI) there is one called ‘Who is Delivering? Northern Ireland.’

On my first random serve, I found one for Hastings, England. Then somewhere called Wimborne and surrounding areas.

I’m a prepper and I haven’t had to order anything yet as the only thing I needed so far was bread, which a kind friend drops of as my child is shielding. When I order I will want mostly fresh veg for batch cooking, but will also order tinned and jarred food and rotate what I have. The pint of prepping is to ensure that you have emergency food to fall back on in the case of a prolonged shortage, not in order to plough through, so you end up with an empty larder and freezer. If you do that then you’ll be back at square one. It also ensures that you don’t get caught up in panic buying and contribute to the stripping of shelves. Shop smart and in a calm considered manner and make sure you keep a good note of how much you have in stock and what you remove. just remembered I didn’t deduct the tin of beans and drinks I had earlier

I'm using my normal food cupboard and rotating my stocks, still buying fresh meat, milk and bread fruit and veg, don't want to touch my frozen bits while I can get fresh things, slightly worried about supplies so buying back things that come out of my stocks, thinking ahead for things that will be needed in 3mths time,don't forget ordering anything on line mths ahead if birthdays as delivery's very slow