Prepping for Brexit thread

cuddlymarm

Maybe now Boris and his cronies are making it clear that we are in for a No Deal we might start getting a bit more information. For now I’m stocking up on long life stuff. Surely the supermarkets will start talking to uk producers now they know that there may be complications in the overseas supply chain.
Cuddles

Cheapskate

Lord Digby Jones on BBC just now was talking about how the UK is a pretty big market for Europe's exports, and car manufacturers and the like won't want to lose our custom. He also (mildly) accused politicians and the media of scaremongering over the whole Brexit thing. He and the reporter were in a wholesale food market, and he pointed behind him and commented on how much stuff we DO still produce here.

We've become so used to a fantastically wide range of foods, white goods, cars, and numerous other products, that some people are panicking about losing this largesse, when (IMO) we'll not starve, there'll still be goods on the shelves (albeit a slightly reduced choice maybe), and petrol in the pumps. I'm more concerned about the increasing xenophobic attitudes I see around me, and some of my (foreign) friends have experienced.

A xo

[Deleted User]

I'm topping up on tins, jars, and loo rolls and also things that will store like sugar, leaf tea, soap, toiletries etc. not so much on dry goods because of the potential for pest infestations if you happen to get a duff pack in your store cupboard. The cereal crops in the fields here this year look mega abundant and heavy eared this year so I'm hopeful of a harvest good enough for home produced flour and things like pearl barley and oatmeal to supply our needs from the UK. We really DO grow wonderful fruit and veg in this country, if supermarkets STOP the dreadfully wasteful habit of rejecting entire fields of veg grown here because of market oversupply and also stop the even more dreadful practice of rejecting fruit and veg that are not visually perfect but selling the wonky ones along with the perfect ones we may be able to feed ourselves as well as we do now, admittedly with probably less choice and eating seasonally. It will NOT be a disaster but there WILL be moans and groans from a spoilt nation accustomed to the world on the shelf IF you happen to want it that day.

I'm so fed up with the only news being negativity and gloom and doom about the whole Brexit issue, it probably won't be life as normal if it happens, neither do I look back on the past with rose tinted glasses as a time of nostalgic perfection and Shangri la it was sometimes cold, wet, hungry and difficult but then so is 2019! I'd love to see articles focusing on what will still be here and not on what we'll lose!

Farway

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I do so wish that news items on Brexit would be a little less based on negatives like how much food and 'flowers' (for heavens sake when did flowers become an imperative?) we import and how difficult it will be for the suppliers to keep on as normal and start looking at what we DO produce here and what will STILL be available if we do leave under No Deal conditions.

Hear hear, I was listening this morning, the Beeb reporter was going on about how Danish pork products, bacon etc, may have supply problems, and I suddenly realised I only ever buy British meat
I know you can't just grow a pig or cow instantly, but I wondered why the reporter did not ask the obvious question about using British meat instead

cuddlymarm

Perhaps we need to aim for this group to point to the positive things about our prepping. For instance saving money in the long run by buying when on offer or stocking up against bad weather etc
Cuddles

DigForVictory

You know I've been posting about making your own jam etc? While you can (if you have a creditcard & an Internet connection), take advantage of the cultural appreciation of jam making over in Germany & reload on lids & rings for kilners from amazon.de?! (Do please apply a tape measure & a hearty dose of cynicism as well as Google Translate?)

I have a few vintage kilner jars (just enough to flinch at amazon.uk prices) so have got a few dozen lids & rings coming over. Splendid pretext for not emptying the freezer Today as the lads do pull faces at the storage blotches on the rings & lids.

It also appears that the 82mm jam jar lids can make the bonne maman jars reusable, which may be useful for someone thinking their jam jar lids aren't really up to another year.

The default supermarket jam jar size in the UK is 63mm. (A mate buys the lids in by the 5 kilo sack, and hands out lids labelled SAMPLE - bring him a dozen jars the lid fits, take a home made jar of jam home...!) I buy from Wares of Knustford as I get a better choice of pretty lids at a fraction of the amazon cost - (how Do Amazon carry on selling - raw convenience...?!)

cuddlymarm

So they are discussing Brexit on the BBC2 news at the moment. One supplier said we could have shortages of fresh stuff for several months because the U.K. imports more in winter.

dandy-candy

I’ve been a bit of a lurker on this thread but think i should join in a bit now. Today i decided to go through my cupboards and do a stock take of what to get in, and also arrange things in date order. I had a lot of serving dishes that have sat unused in the cupboard which i have finally decided to take to the charity shop as the cupboard space is better used for food/cleaning items.

I do try to buy British meat, but if imports do get delayed then all those who usually buy dutch bacon etc will start buying British too so we will still get shortages of locally produced stuff. I’ve been vegetarian in the past and ideally would like to switch the household to only eating meat a couple of times a week so shortages of meat wont be too hard on us. We already grow fruit and veg at home, and I can stock up on tins ones for winter.

I can make bread but i’ve got lazy about doing it so need to get back into gear.

Does anyone think food shortages might cause unrest and strikes? Do you think electricity shortages might happen or is that unlikely?

[Deleted User]

I write the use by date on the labels on the tins so I can always see which ones need using first. I use a black permanent marker and it makes life easier.

Living_proof

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I do so wish that news items on Brexit would be a little less based on negatives like how much food and 'flowers' (for heavens sake when did flowers become an imperative?) we import and how difficult it will be for the suppliers to keep on as normal and start looking at what we DO produce here and what will STILL be available if we do leave under No Deal conditions.

I guess if you were a florist it would be a bit of an issue. I am reminded now of the artificial silk peonies in a bag on top of the garage shelving. If push comes to shove....