Britons have emptied supermarket shelves of baked beans, bottled water and batteries after Labour issued a stark warning to households last week to 'be ready' for a national crisis.
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Labour → empty → crisis
Yet, despite retailers like Ocado reporting huge spikes in essential goods, including tinned soups, so-called 'preppers' who have spent decades stockpiling in preparation for when 'disaster strikes' told the Daily Mail how people's recent efforts might've gone to waste.
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efforts → report → waste
Instead of beans and soups, there are much healthier and easier alternatives to stock up on in case of an emergency, be that a natural catastrophe or a cyber attack.
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that → be → emergency
Wife and mother-of-one Ana, based in Wales, urged those wishing to become more prepared to fill their pantries with tinned lentils, chickpeas, butter beans or mixed beans, rather than baked beans.
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Ana → base → lentils
The author of How to Stock Up For An Emergency: The Simple UK Guide To Food, Water & Essential Household Supplies, said: 'They’re often overlooked when everyone heads for the baked beans, but they can be just as useful and in fact much healthier due to not having much salt or sugar added on.
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they → stock → salt
You can add them to a salad, mix them with tinned vegetables, or mash chickpeas with a little seasoning and olive oil to make a spread for crackers, similar to hummus.
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You → add → hummus
I’d personally look for the ready-to-eat tinned or pouched versions, especially if you’re preparing for a power cut.
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you → look → cut
Dried pulses are useful too, but they generally need cooking, water and fuel.
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they → dry → cooking
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Sally Yarnold from Lancashire, has been prepping for over 30 years and now runs the Root & Ridge Homestead, a website and community project offering advice on foraging, cooking and independent, sustainable living.
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Yarnold → preppe → foraging
The 49-year-old told the Daily Mail: 'When people ask me what they should stockpile, I always want to ask a question in return: what will you be able to eat if you have no electricity, no gas, no running water, or all three?
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you → tell → electricity
Wife and mother-of-one Ana (pictured), based in Wales, urged those wishing to become more prepared to fill their pantries with tinned lentils and chickpeas rather than baked beans
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Ana → picture → lentils
For an emergency supply, I’d start with food that can be eaten straight from its packaging, without cooking, adding water or relying on a fridge.
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that → start → fridge
Her suggestions included ready-to-eat tinned fish such as sardines, salmon and tuna, tinned meat, vegetables and fruit, nut butters, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, crackers and oatcakes, cereal bars and ready-to-eat tinned meals, as well as long-life milk.
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suggestions → include → sardines
'There are good reasons for that mix,' she explained.
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she → be → mix
'Fish, meat, cooked pulses and nut butters can contribute protein, crackers, oatcakes and fruit provide carbohydrates, nuts and seeds add energy and fats and fruit and vegetables help provide nutrients.
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fruit → cook → nutrients
'I’d favour foods that are familiar and enjoyable, not just whatever has the longest date on the packaging.
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whatever → favour → packaging
A stressful few days are not the time to discover that nobody in the family will eat what you’ve stored.
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you → discover → what
Sally also encouraged those wishing to prep to store at least two manual tin openers, and to check the labels, because not every product sold in a tin or pouch is ready to eat cold.
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product → encourage → tin
Ana, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of tinned potatoes, explaining: 'They are particularly handy because they’re already cooked and can help make a meal more filling.'
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meal → highlight → potatoes
She also noted that tinned tomatoes and passata are 'brilliant to have' because they can be 'turned into so many different meals'.
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they → note → meals
'Add lentils, chickpeas or vegetables and you’ve got the beginnings of a soup or sauce.
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you → add → soup
If you have a safe way to cook, you can serve it with pasta or rice,' explained Ana, who also founded the UK Preppers Club on Facebook, which has more than 17,500 members.
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which → have → members
Mother-of-one Ana is the author of How to Stock Up For An Emergency: The Simple UK Guide To Food, Water & Essential Household Supplies
Her other tips included buying powdered foods because they take up less space, and also growing your own herbs, salad leaves, pea shoots, or spring onions, all of which don't require any outside space, but rather just a windowsill.
However, whilst neither prepper would put soups or beans high on their stockpiling agenda, they both agreed that Britons were right to secure bottles of water.
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Britons → stock → water
'Water is every bit as important as food, and I think it deserves much more attention than it often receives,' said business owner and writer Sally, who runs one of the UK's largest homesteading (a lifestyle focused on self-sufficiency) groups on Facebook.
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who → think → Facebook
She also suggested you should 'store drinking water in suitable, clean containers and keep it somewhere cool and away from direct sunlight.
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you → suggest → sunlight
'Remember that you may also need water for medication, washing, basic hygiene and pets.
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you → remember → medication
The amount you need will depend on your household, so calculate it rather than simply buying a couple of bottles and assuming that will be enough.
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that → need → bottles
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Sally encouraged households to 'look at what you already have, then work towards a minimum of seven days of food, drinking water and everyday essentials'.
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you → encourage → food
'You don’t have to buy everything at once.
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You → have → everything
An extra item or two during the usual shop can build up a useful reserve over time.
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item → build → time
'Not everybody has spare storage space or money to spend on specialist equipment, and nobody should feel they need to buy an enormous emergency stockpile overnight.
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they → spend → stockpile
'Build it gradually, start with the things your household would need most, and make sure you know how to use what you’ve stored.
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you → build → what
For me, it isn’t about expecting a catastrophe.
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it → expect → catastrophe
It’s about having options when something goes wrong, looking after the people who depend on you and making sensible preparations without fear or unnecessary expense.
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who → ’ → fear
Ana highlighted the importance of tinned potatoes, explaining: 'They are particularly handy because they’re already cooked and can help make a meal more filling.'
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meal → highlight → potatoes
'You don’t have to call yourself a prepper to benefit from being prepared.
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You → have → yourself
You just have to begin with what’s practical for your own household.
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what → have → household
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Sally encouraged people to think about warmth and cooking, 'not just what they can put in a cupboard'.
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they → encourage → cupboard
She suggested buying a portable butane gas stove if suitable for its intended location, a battery-operated carbon monoxide alarm and plenty of warm blankets, sleeping bags, extra layers of clothing and suitable bedding in case the heating fails.
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heating → suggest → case
I’m particularly keen to show that you don’t need acres of land or a farmhouse to be more self-sufficient.
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you → ’m → land
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
