Prepping for Brexit thread

[Deleted User]

If the quote is the truth I hope the 75% of people who aren't thinking ahead have a change of heart fairly quickly. If things do get difficult for a while until a new system is established and becomes the norm then there is possibly an uncomfortable life ahead for them in one way or another in the near future. If things just carry on as normal, all our stores and preparations will be used up in everyday living anyway so I can justify having extras in the stock cupboard and not feel foolish for having them.

Primrose

It may be of course that some of the 75% who declared they're not stocking up are not being entirely truthful and are perhaps older people who remember the government,s advice not to hoard in the last war "so that there would be enough for everybody".

The reality of course, was that if you didn,t hoard before rationing was introduced then you found yourself less able to cope with making meals on a day to day basis, so people might not want to risk making themselves appear anti social whilst in private doing everything they can to protect the wellbeing of themselves and their own families.

I suspect that as October 31st draws nearer more people will be caught up in the "stocking up" fever if only to buy in a couple of extra tins of tomatoes or baked beans or whatever. Those who reply on fast food and takeaways to feed themselves may start to find their preparations rather challenged though. For people not used to cooking meals from scratch and improvising, there may be some strange purchase choicesas to what they feel are basic storecupboard essentials.

[Deleted User]

I think there is a great deal of truth in that Primrose, I hadn't been thinking of people who don't cook or who rely on take out food the majority of the time, they wouldn't know what would be sensible choices to put in store or what could be made from them, a sad situation to be in if it all does go pear shaped.

dreaming

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I think there is a great deal of truth in that Primrose, I hadn't been thinking of people who don't cook or who rely on take out food the majority of the time, they wouldn't know what would be sensible choices to put in store or what could be made from them, a sad situation to be in if it all does go pear shaped.

I have a close family member who lives with her partner and both suffer from mental health problems as well as physical disabilities. They have their supermarket shop delivered but also have a tendency to order in takeaway food several times a week. I started a stockpile for them of tinned items and pasta back when March was the leaving date and have kept it going. They don't actually know about it and laugh at me when I have suggested that they could do the same but it comforts me to know that should the worst happen (and I'm actually fairly confident/hopeful that any disruptions will be short-lived) I can at least keep them going for a few weeks.

[Deleted User]

Bless you, that's truly lovely xxx.

oldhaggis

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

HWK has taken himself off to the allotment to pick plums.....on what is going to be a very hot day when I'm NOT going to be making jam!

Snap! Why do men choose the hottest day of the year to pick plums? I was presented with a huge bucketful to process yesterday. There is no way I am making jam in this heat. I have washed, stoned, open frozen and bagged the lot. Last year, for the first time ever my plum jam didn't set, so I purchased some pectin powder from an online site named after a South American river and re-boiled the lot. It set perfectly and I now have the freedom to make jam from frozen plums in the middle of winter, thanks to the wondrous powder.

Having done our research online Mr OH and I have stocked up with more loo roll. He doesn't know quite how much I have already stashed away. I have nightmare childhood memories of staying with grandparents in the 1950s and having to use newspaper!!!

I still have a few tins of tomatoes, bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar from our esteemed government's previous attempt at Brexit but I feel I should probably stock up with a few more.

It makes you think about how fortunate we are to have such a vast variety of foodstuffs from all over the world so readily available. I remember my parents having to order catering cans of olive oil from London in the 50s and 60s because in those days olive oil was only sold by pharmacies in very tiny bottles.

Living_proof

I am on an allotment site on Facebook and the question was posed as to whether members had ever offered vegetable and fruit produce which was rebuffed.

The response was astounding with one mother in law binning homemade strawberry jam and refusing anything which might have dirt on it. Many, many allotmenteers had come across this idea that supermarket goods in plastic wrap was sterile, never mind that it may have been sprayed with dozens of chemicals. What will happen if we have a shortage of fresh produce I wonder? We may have to go and pick our own crops if the foreign workforce dries up. The shock of seasonal produce will hit people hard, especially at Christmas and throughout the winter. I can imagine myself sending down a dehydrated food parcel to my daughter and her family because they are so reliant on supermarket food and fresh food parcels, etc.

[Deleted User]

My father grew wonderful vegetables and fruit in the garden all of which were left to rot by my mother because 'they were dirty' but the ones from the greengrocer are clean so we'll buy them instead. Can't quite get my head round that one as we had running water and she could have washed the mud off and removed outside leaves.....beyond me!

I also don't know why our menfolk decide to harvest things with no thought as to weather conditions or space or time to process them. His explanation was that he thought the plums were ripe and indeed a couple of them were but 95% had beautiful purple skins but were still hard. No matter they are now in the freezer and will make some winter puddings for us and there are lots more that ought to ripen in this warm weather and be jammable in the week when it cools off a bit.

I am appreciative of the lovely ingredients that could be bought from all around the globe but also remember times gone by when very nice and tasty meals were made with food grown right here in the UK and I also remember seasonal times when the first strawberries and summer cherries came into the shops and the salad ingredients came in summer, the first cox's apples into the shops, fenland celery in the winter and waiting for the frosting of parsnips that sweetened them before they came to the greengrocer. Christmas was magical to a child and tangerines in tissue paper , dried dates and figs, cob nuts and English walnuts, oranges and pomegranates were a once a year treat and OH how we enjoyed them rather than having it all available every day of the year and becoming so familiar that our palates have become jaded. It might take a bit of getting used to but less choice might not be quite as devastating as it first seems.

I should also have said the chestnuts that we roasted on the coal shovel on the open fire, nothing tastes the same these days, they were delicious.

dreaming

Living_proof wrote: »

I am on an allotment site on Facebook and the question was posed as to whether members had ever offered vegetable and fruit produce which was rebuffed.

The response was astounding with one mother in law binning homemade strawberry jam and refusing anything which might have dirt on it. Many, many allotmenteers had come across this idea that supermarket goods in plastic wrap was sterile, never mind that it may have been sprayed with dozens of chemicals. What will happen if we have a shortage of fresh produce I wonder? We may have to go and pick our own crops if the foreign workforce dries up. The shock of seasonal produce will hit people hard, especially at Christmas and throughout the winter. I can imagine myself sending down a dehydrated food parcel to my daughter and her family because they are so reliant on supermarket food and fresh food parcels, etc.

I started growing stuff at my last house and one day went to work and told my colleagues that apart from the cheese my salad lunch was all home-grown. "Oh dear" said one (supposedly intelligent) team-mate. "I don't think I could eat anything that had been grown in dirt". I was too dumb-founded to ask her how or where she thinks things are grown. At least I know what has gone on my vegetables.

Farway

dreaming wrote: »

"I don't think I could eat anything that had been grown in dirt". I was too dumb-founded to ask her how or where she thinks things are grown. At least I know what has gone on my vegetables.

You will occasionally find similar opinions on MSE, won't buy loose apples because people have touched them is one that sticks in my mind