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Prepping for Brexit thread

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  • Living_proof
    Living_proof Posts: 1,921
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    I am getting mixed messages about how food will be affected after the dreaded B word happens. There was a report in one of the Sundays quoting an unnamed CEO of a supermarket chain who predicted beef would rise 40%, cheese likewise and chicken a mere 20%. He thought there would be civil unrest for a week or two until things settled down.

    On the other hand my neighbour at the allotment works for DHL head office and he thinks we will just buy our food from elsewhere worldwide which will be cheaper as EU not setting the rules, and we will fly it in from all over very quickly. So much for food miles. I vividly remember food pricing and availability pre-EEC and it was pretty boring actually with very limited choice and everything was seasonal. Food in our house was pretty much the same for the day of the week, adjusted for seasonal availability. Now we have come to expect aubergines to be 45p or so, all sort of exotic fare on the shelves at a price 364 days of the year. Back Tae Auld Claes And Parritch then. So what? Won't kill us!
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  • dreaming
    dreaming Posts: 1,139
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    Most of my food tends to err on the side of simplicity, mainly because I live on my own and cook mainly just for me, although if I have visitors then I do like to experiment with different things. I dislike fish - the smell, the taste, even the look of them - although I can just about cope with a fish finger sandwich! I also turn to food such as stews/shepherd's pie/sausage and mash etc. in the winter. Apart from the "comfort" factor, they tend to be meals I can make one day then quickly reheat in the microwave the next day - so I can save a little on fuel. I know some people wouldn't like to eat the same thing 2 days running but it doesn't bother me - sometimes I will add something to it (e.g. stew and dumplings on day1/ stew and yorkshire pudding on day2; or add different veg.) but always trying to be economical with the oven.
    For me, it is not just brexit I am concerned about. I live in Northamptonshire and our county council has the dubious honour of being the first council to be facing bankruptcy. They have voted to cut services to the bare bones (although they have been pretty dire for the past few years) and as I have a close relative who needs social service help, I am worried that I will end up having to help them out in emergencies, as other help will not be available (although I do bits and bobs for them already). So I will not only be trying to reduce my outgoings, but also trying to build a small "stash" for them should the need arise, as well as building my own. From what I have read it seems likely that other councils will be following our lead over the next year or so, so I think there are major challenges ahead for many of us.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    edited 12 August 2018 at 2:36PM
    If that happens we'll have to be very savvy as shoppers and use greengrocers that use paper bags and not plastic prepacked things in trays and cellophane wrap, butchers that just pop things in a bag from the counter, I know they'll be plastic bags but only one layer and that will be small to store if it's washed out and will mean that if we go to a monthly bin collection we'll probably not over fill the bin. It might see a re-appearance of 'scoop shops' where goods are in big containers and you buy the amount you need, again one plastic bag and that's small to store in a bin until collection day. I think the government might have to hurry along legislation to minimise packaging if every county council is in dire straits or there will be a huge increase in the number of vermin and that will cause problems, particularly if it's rats.

    If everyone who had room for one also ran a compost bin for veg peel and leftovers that too would cut down on bin fill and make good food for gardens, even flower borders would benefit from a dressing of compost once a year.
  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,598
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    edited 12 August 2018 at 2:43PM
    Islandmaid wrote: »
    Our local Aldi was completely out of all squash, Sainsbury's and Asda was very low on stock, cannot find Lime Squash anywhere...

    I suspect it's due to it being the summer(extra bottles are bought )and the kids aren't at school and go to the supermarkets to get a few bits of shopping for the parents eg bottle of squash.

    Re the lime squash I would guess it's from the same factory as Roses Lime Cordial but as they had a fire production was temporarily stopped, an email/tweet to 1 of the supermarkets would provide an answer.
  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,598
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    If everyone who had room for one also ran a compost bin for veg peel and leftovers that too would cut down on bin fill and make good food for gardens, even flower borders would benefit from a dressing of compost once a year.

    No food waste goes into the bin where I am, there's a food waste bin for it, can even put cooked food in it, it's collected once a week and it's used to make compost. We used to have a compost bin but got rid of it as it attracted vermin, maybe too much food waste was put in it.
  • We don't have a food waste collection down here in Hampshire so anything compostable goes into the compost bin and feeds the plots in the fullness of time but meat, bones, any kind of animal product remains has to go into the main dustbin.

    We have two compost bins in the garden and a double one made from pallets on the allotment and we've never had vermin problem, just slow worms who live in the garden bins and come out to bask in the sun beside them when it's warm enough. I'd like a food waste collection every week for the un-compostable stuff but making compost with the inedible veg bits has improved our rather poor soil over the years and meant better crops for us.
  • I get so wound up about rubbish collections here. Mainly because of people being obviously lazy and not recycling. We compost and recycle everything that we can. I have 2 babies both in nappies and use washable nappies most of the time. We normally put out 1 black bag a week. Some rare occasions 2. The 2 houses across the road from me put out 6-7 black bags a week each with no sign of their recycling box anywhere. Makes my blood boil. :mad:
  • Saipan
    Saipan Posts: 54
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    I have posted before about the dire situation relating to Council services - sadly Northamptonshire will be just the first to declare effective bankruptcy. East Sussex has announced that it is to cut services to the bare legal minimum and that families and neighbourhood voluntary groups will have to take increasing responsibility for supporting those older people who will no longer qualify for social care from the Council. I work across three Councils at a senior management level and the situation in these areas, al of which are very different to each other, is no different - they are all only just sustaining their present levels of service (which are poor because there simply is not enough money to meet current demand) and at least one is likely to follow Northamptonshire in the next few months. The Local Government Association estimates that a further 15 Councils are on the verge of bankruptcy with many more heading that way in the next year or two. (This is not a political statement or scaremongering btw - all of the above is factual.)

    Last week the Department of Health stated that women will have to give up work to look after their parents unless EU care workers are given priority after Brexit. In my view, family members (not just women!) will have to do this anyway unless social care services for the elderly receive significantly increased funding very quickly. Nothing that the government has said indicates that they will do this.

    As a family we are preparing for Brexit by ensuring that we are as well-qualified as possible so we can maximise our earning potential - hopefully we can ourselves then compensate for reduced or discontinued services. I am painfully aware that many people are not in a position to do this and worry what will happen when services simply are not there. We are also moving closer to each other so that child care and caring for older members of the family is easier. Personally I am also taking out private health insurance (I have a serious heart condition) which, after many years of working in the public sector, I find very, very difficult on every level.

    dreaming wrote: »
    Most of my food tends to err on the side of simplicity, mainly because I live on my own and cook mainly just for me, although if I have visitors then I do like to experiment with different things. I dislike fish - the smell, the taste, even the look of them - although I can just about cope with a fish finger sandwich! I also turn to food such as stews/shepherd's pie/sausage and mash etc. in the winter. Apart from the "comfort" factor, they tend to be meals I can make one day then quickly reheat in the microwave the next day - so I can save a little on fuel. I know some people wouldn't like to eat the same thing 2 days running but it doesn't bother me - sometimes I will add something to it (e.g. stew and dumplings on day1/ stew and yorkshire pudding on day2; or add different veg.) but always trying to be economical with the oven.
    For me, it is not just brexit I am concerned about. I live in Northamptonshire and our county council has the dubious honour of being the first council to be facing bankruptcy. They have voted to cut services to the bare bones (although they have been pretty dire for the past few years) and as I have a close relative who needs social service help, I am worried that I will end up having to help them out in emergencies, as other help will not be available (although I do bits and bobs for them already). So I will not only be trying to reduce my outgoings, but also trying to build a small "stash" for them should the need arise, as well as building my own. From what I have read it seems likely that other councils will be following our lead over the next year or so, so I think there are major challenges ahead for many of us.
  • Saipan wrote: »
    I have posted before about the dire situation relating to Council services - sadly Northamptonshire will be just the first to declare effective bankruptcy. East Sussex has announced that it is to cut services to the bare legal minimum and that families and neighbourhood voluntary groups will have to take increasing responsibility for supporting those older people who will no longer qualify for social care from the Council. I work across three Councils at a senior management level and the situation in these areas, al of which are very different to each other, is no different - they are all only just sustaining their present levels of service (which are poor because there simply is not enough money to meet current demand) and at least one is likely to follow Northamptonshire in the next few months. The Local Government Association estimates that a further 15 Councils are on the verge of bankruptcy with many more heading that way in the next year or two. (This is not a political statement or scaremongering btw - all of the above is factual.)

    .

    Would it be possible for you to give us any indication of who these "15 Councils ......and...many more heading that way" are please?

    Forewarned is forearmed I guess.

    Admitted I'd be particularly interested to see if that includes any of the Councils in West Wales (now I'm living here - and they already shock me with just how poor they are compared to what I'm used to - and they've got that extra expense for translation coming out of their budgets too under current Welsh Assembly law that English councils don't have).
  • zeupater
    zeupater Posts: 5,353
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    Would it be possible for you to give us any indication of who these "15 Councils ......and...many more heading that way" are please?

    Forewarned is forearmed I guess.

    Admitted I'd be particularly interested to see if that includes any of the Councils in West Wales (now I'm living here - and they already shock me with just how poor they are compared to what I'm used to - and they've got that extra expense for translation coming out of their budgets too under current Welsh Assembly law that English councils don't have).
    Hi

    This would likely be the source document if you want to flick through it ... https://www.nao.org.uk/report/financial-sustainability-of-local-authorities-2018/

    ... of course, all LAs really do need to benchmark their performance against best practice for others in their own sector & against best practice outside where practical, there's plenty that can be done before delivered services need to become affected ...

    HTH
    Z
    "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle
    B)
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