Preparedness for when

D&DD

aw they're lovely pics Lyn I was trying to get one of Rosie laying in the daisies and buttercups this morning but she run off like a loon everytime I got my phone out lol

I hope you're making use of all that free wood

I meant to look out for the elderflowers this morning has anyone spotted any yet?? I have the urge to make copious amounts of alcohol this year even tho I rarely drink now :rotfl:

OH has counted nearly 40 nectarines on his little terrace tree whoop the boy's will be happy.

Feeling a bit more chipper after a check around the garden it really brightens your day when the sun is shining doesn't it?

XXX

Shropshirelass

Oh those doggies are so beautiful and working hard too :T

Our 2nd Westie went to doggie heaven last week - we have lost both within the last 12 months and really miss them both. We had decided to wait a year before thinking of another, but I do find my thoughts straying to another four-legged-friend.

I'm concerned about this story of the world food/meat shortage. Its not often TPTB will comment on this sort of thing. There is a report on Sly News now where quote 'Sir Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the International Development Committee, said: "With the UK never more than a few days away from a significant food shortage, UK consumers should also be encouraged over time to reduce how often they eat meat" :eek:

Have also been aware of the reduction in weight in packets and tins available at sm's. It takes so long to do the shopping now, you can see there is something different about the packets, but have to search for details, usually find weight in tiny print tucked away somewhere. Sardines are the latest culprits I have found - tin 1/3rd oil.

D&DD

I was discussing that story with my mum earlier Shropshirelass and she commented its getting just like during the war..

Now it got me thinking (always dangerous!) and I realised that a lot of these news stories read just like the bulletins that the Ministry of Food issued at the start of the war..for example does anyone remember on wartime farm the talk of culling their animals as the feed for them used too much space etc,very similar to todays story..

Then a few days ago a minister saying if you have space to grow your own you should..

or am I just in need of a tinfoil hat??

Shropshirelass

Yes DD&D I saw that story about growing our own. What strikes me now is that this all being blamed on the public - its our fault because we are eating too much meat, and the farmers fault for growing/feeding animals the wrong things.

How about a real attempt at educating people to cook, shop and garden - sensibly I mean, not cooking asparagus and fillet steak, Mrs Moneyscrimper-silly-shopping, or growing a Chelsea flower show garden. :doh:

Rant over and back to trying to sort my own family out

RAS

Shropshirelass wrote: »

I'm concerned about this story of the world food/meat shortage. Its not often TPTB will comment on this sort of thing. There is a report on Sly News now where quote 'Sir Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the International Development Committee, said: "With the UK never more than a few days away from a significant food shortage, UK consumers should also be encouraged over time to reduce how often they eat meat" :eek:

I recommend Simon Fairlie's book to anyone trying to get their heads round the meat debate; he slaughters all sorts of sacred cows in the process. Very few people know enough or have the breadth of experience to challenge both the meat agri-lobby and the vegan community. Somewhat interesting review here (with a slant):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/8012205/Eat-meat-and-save-the-planet-says-eco-warrior-and-former-vegetarian.html

Not easy reading (read it once, read it twice to get to grips and then re-read some sections and gained more understanding). I go back at intervals to get facts.

The basics are - grass fed meat is good, allows us to utilise plant material that we cannot eat ourselves and has the right omega 3 balance.

Grain or soya fed meat has serious consequences for food security both in the UK and in other countries; even more so when it is fed fish as well. Tends to have a high levels of omega 6 with attendent health implications.

Big rant on the appalling management of food waste throughout the EU which could be used to feed pigs but was banned after the F&M outbreak in the UK.

ginnyknit

I agree education is the key, all we have round here is take-aways and they must be making money or they would close.

Mrs Moneyscrimper is good in some ways but all this buying 1 onion and 3 carrots gets on my nerves-save fuel cook a big panful for the week. I know they are doing a challenge but they talk as if thats how you should shop :mad: Its like the pasta I bought today at 50p a bag, it won't be there next week so I got 3 bags, I would have got more but I was using my bag on wheels and the bus.

Im just waiting for them to come up with a slogan like 'Dig for Victory' that works now. You will see the well to do at the garden centre buying huge glazed pots and ready grown veg seedlings :rotfl:

Shropshirelass

I do agree with you Ginny, it will all have to be a money-maker for someone, then advertising will appear.

We have a real problem in this country because of the massive gap between rich/poor, London and big cities/elsewhere, those that slavishly follow media and fashion/the rest of us.

RAS thanks for your suggestion, I will check out Simon Fairlie's views. I am glad the International Development Committee also mentioned coming down hard on wastage of food - but wont hold my breath for any serious intervention.

D&DD

Thanks RAS will read that later I've got the food report thingie I downloaded in full to read too so I may be some time!

link here http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmintdev/176/176.pdf

Food security has always been top of my watchlist I do read a lot online about different crops in many parts of the world to try and stay ahead when there's a shortage being forseen it's not just the shortages but the fact that having fewer crops some years drives the price of certain stuff through the roof as we have seen recently..

I'm still concerned how the potatoes are going to be this year too as I know certain varieties were not freely available as seed as it had rotted in store..will this affect all seed potatoes when we grow them this year I wonder..my first lot are nearly ready so will see if they are a decent crop and most importantly if they store well or not.

mardatha

I don't believe a word of these reports usually, unless I find stuff online from a lot of different places that backs it up. I think as somebody said, its govt propaganda and they trying to steer us in a particular direction. When I see that the house of commons has cut back drastically on meat and that only veggie meals are being served at big banquets etc, then I might believe it.
But I still won't eat bloody veg lol

GreyQueen

D&DD wrote: »

Thanks RAS will read that later I've got the food report thingie I downloaded in full to read too so I may be some time!

link here http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmintdev/176/176.pdf

Food security has always been top of my watchlist I do read a lot online about different crops in many parts of the world to try and stay ahead when there's a shortage being forseen it's not just the shortages but the fact that having fewer crops some years drives the price of certain stuff through the roof as we have seen recently..

I'm still concerned how the potatoes are going to be this year too as I know certain varieties were not freely available as seed as it had rotted in store..will this affect all seed potatoes when we grow them this year I wonder..my first lot are nearly ready so will see if they are a decent crop and most importantly if they store well or not.

Evening all.

I'm concerned about potatoes being late this year. I grow my own and am self-sufficient 12 months of the year, with the last sorry specimens being eaten as the new ones are ready to be dug.

This year, the spuds are well-behind where they were on previous years, which means that my second-earlies will be running right into the Full Smith Periods which are pretty common in mid-late summer. I had to deal with potato blight last year and managed it with a combination of OCD observations and getting the tater tops off and away at the merest suspicion of blight. But I still had to pick thru and trim infected tubers.

One of my fears is that if we have a really bad go-round with blight, combined with the harvest falling later/ flooding causing commercial growers to not be able to get the harvesters on the fields, we could be looking at scarcity and price hikes. Potatoes are also an ingredient, in the form of potato starch, in many things. As tatties are the cornerstone carbohydrate of our diet, rising costs/ falling availability would have serious impacts on our ability to balance the household accounts.

One thing I have done is to seriously-stock up on tinned new tatties. They've got two years BB date on them and are only 15p for a large can, which will serve me two hearty meals or three slighter ones, as a component, of course.

I'd be so bold as to suggest it mightn't be a bad idea to have some more. I shall be getting some in.

Re the meat/ vegetarian debate, I have at various times been a vegan, a vegetarian and am an omnivore at present. I probably eat animal products most days, most often in the form of a egg, but the majority of my main meals are likely to be meat-less.

The conversion rate (calories in to calories out in the form of meat) to produce fowl or red meat is a lot higher than to produce eggs, but thinking that you can simply trade out land/ resources used to produce meat for arable crops or veggies is to be pretty ignorant of the realities of geography and climate in the UK.

People grow certain crops on the warmer, drier, flatter lands of the south and east of England because it works well. Other people raise sheep and cows on hilly pastures because the temperature, rainfall, topography etc make them good producers of grass but not much else. Thinking that you can change reality and that graziers should become market-gardeners or barley barons is pure ignorance.

But hey, politicians have to be good at summat..........:p