Food shortage again?

bearbait

Full Member
A mate from Barrow stock (with a geordie father though) once told me about some farming friends of his family on the wild west of Cumbria who still count their sheep in the traditional way. Yan, tan, tethera, etc. Iirc.

I did once here that a cumbrian farmer once got to represent his country in the sheep counting world championships. It was in Australia and its always hard to crack the NZ team. Anyway he did rather well because of his faster counting system using that traditional number system.

AIUI it's a hang up from a lost language across northern UK coming from northumbria iirc. There's variations across the north I believe. I did read online a table of variations and their regions of use.

As to my friend, his mum was x generation barrovian so knew everyone in that neck of the woods apparently .

According to a neighbouring farmer Welsh farmers count the legs and divide by 4.
 
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Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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Have just been reading about empty shelves and delivery slots being difficult to get again.
I guess that depends on where you live but yesterday even here in the south people are beginning to shop hard .. loo roll being the main problem (?)
I have been carrying on grabbing a few items every time I shopped to squirrel away for the next lockdown which I always said was inevitable come September with kids going back to school and pubs being open with people letting down their guard too soon, and not following distancing rules.
I'm not going to stop untill I can't go out shopping if I need to isolate again.
I'm not looking forward to this winter at all!
 
Mar 6, 2020
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Hemel Hempstead
It was tough at sainsbury this week, could only get wholemeal lasagna sheets, still bo croissants, and they only had the rubbish tomatoes left. We got extra tp though, but not our favourite brand, that was out.
 

moocher

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Mar 26, 2006
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Joking aside I’ve told my mum start stocking up on stuff as they shouldn’t be going out if it’ gets bad again.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
I have quite a stock pile of different pasta shapes and enough semolina to make my own stained glass pasta.
What I can't find is the ambition to use it. Everybody is sold out. Bought a case of TP.
 
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Woody girl

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I do think a lot of people havnt taken things seriously enough. As things went "back to normal" they didn't think about the future spikes that are inevitable, and prepare for it.
With brexit agreements looking dodgy too and poor harvests or food left to rot due to various reasons.. I know a lot of our local cider orchards are leaving apples to rot this year... food will become expensive and we will have shortages this winter and into next year.
I know there are some who joke about it but please think ahead and prepare for these things. If it doesn't happen... which I believe it will but then that's me...at least you will have something to tide you over as winter is the worst time to go hungry! Over the summer I have grown salads and veg which meant I was almost self sufficient . My freezer is stuffed and I'm running out of jam jars for preserves. I have basic medical supplies for winter blues and a couple of months worth of my regular asthma medication so I feel that I'm ok for a few months at least.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Kraft brand Hickory Smoke BBQ sauce is a good ingredient in bastes. Other brands, not so nice at all.
I think about the foods that I have in stock. Still all sorts of meaty things in the big freezer.
Upstairs, you would think that I was hoarding bacon.
Lots of old stuff that I really need to use or toss (cook for bird food).
 

Oliver G

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
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Ravenstone, Leicestershire
We have been manufacturing like mad, it's unlikely you'll get a food shortage of food from UK manufacturers but as a nation we are running out of warehouse space (we still have ISO containers stocked in ports waiting to go to warehouses). What we are likely to get a shortage of is fresh fruit and veg from Europe so it is likely the have a shorter life by the time it gets to shelves.

Spring isn't going to be fun but by next summer we might actually know what the skinny is with a brexit deal and reduced our stockpile of COVID PPE.
 
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Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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I dont care what they tell us. I have taken every opportunity to make sure I have several months worth of needs, Both foodwise and medical sorted.
I have a huge amount of veg seeds that came free with kitchen garden magazine so I will not go short of veg in the coming year. I've saved bean seeds, dried them, and have plenty both to use in stews and to plant come the spring.
I've never saved seed before so we will see how that goes. I have bought several books on self sufficiency, and am now making my own yoghurt and soft cheeses, butter, and bread.
I've also bought a small second hand air rifle, so I can put meat on the table should I need, but being broadly vegetarian, that is back up, rather than something I will take up seriously.
Medically, I bought a nebuliser as it is not so easy to just pop over the road to the surgery for help if needed right now. When I broke my foot after a fall in August, it took 7hrs for an ambulance to come, so that was a big wake up call. I can now treat any serious asthma attacks myself. All I needed was a prescription for some ventolin ampules to use with it.
Everytime I shopped, I bought , and put away a couple of tins for the future.
I have a solar charging system and two power banks.
I have decent water filter.
I have been collecting wood all summer, and it is stacked ready to burn.
I will survive Brexit!
 

Oliver G

Full Member
Sep 15, 2012
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Ravenstone, Leicestershire
That seems like a sensible set of precautions but if I may add one to the list:

It's very apparent in developing countries and indeed in the UK when the first lockdown had started that having a good relationship with neighbours and the local community can be a real benefit. The sharing of not only resources but effort and knowledge helps everyone and indeed makes the whole greater than the sum of it's parts. Having an organisation for people to communicate with where they can ask for support be it a Facebook group, Church Groups or, charities is essential if people are either shy, proud, or just not well integrated.
 

TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
3,232
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Vantaa, Finland
I doubt The British Retail Consortium is in a position to know all the effects, nobody is, it is so convoluted. They probably know if basic food is going to be a problem but will they tell the truth?

It is somewhat surprising why organizations like this feel that they somehow have a public function, why would they?
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
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S. Lanarkshire
We're a very urbanised society.

It is quite noticeable in any bad weather how the supermarkets manage to get their access roads cleared and their deliveries still arriving.
They are incredibly well organised.

As for a 'public function', their's only works if there's stuff for folks to buy, they don't need any other incentive, so they make sure that there is stuff for folks to buy.

Honestly, if the world goes nuts, employ the logistics managers for the supermarkets.
Pandemic and panic buying ? no one starved, the shelves were full again in a couple of days.

I reckon they'll have every warehouse they can get as full as possible with long term keeping foodstuffs just now.
 

TLM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 16, 2019
3,232
1,709
Vantaa, Finland
As you said supermarkets are very good at logistics - at ordinary times - not quite so when things are out of the ordinary. But they tend to be still better than government because individuals at commercial operations tend to be better at improvising and often have more room to do so.

Of course when the customs say: "this shall not pass" even the gods are stymied.

But as said their view point is all commercial, not your well being.
 

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