Oats, sardines and crisps: emergency foods to stockpile – and why you should share them

## Summary
Photograph: FilippoBacci/Getty Images Oats, sardines and crisps: emergency foods to stockpile – and why you should share them In turbulent times, experts recommend building up a store of food if possible – focusing on long-life, no-cook items People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian. With one in seven households with children already suffering food insecurity in the UK, many people cannot afford to build up a stockpile and, without food, civil unrest soon follows. “Yes, do store food, but be prepared to share to maintain social solidarity,” says Prof Tim Lang. “All resilience theory and experience, in shocks, wars, or sub-war conflicts, shows it is essential to maintain social cohesion if you want to maintain social order.” One shock could spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK, according to a report from dozens of the country’s top food experts, published in February. Quick Guide An example of a week's stockpile for a family of four Show For two adults and two children, all omnivorous, according to the Swiss guidelines • Mineral water 47x 1.5l bottles, for drinking and coking • Other drinks 5l of fruit and vegetable juices and soft drinks • Tea about 300g • Coffee 1kg • Milk or milk alternative 5l • Vegetables 21x 300g portions of canned vegetables, such as corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, peas or carrots • Fruit 17x 300g portions, for example apple sauce, canned pineapple or dried fruit • Sauces 7x 200g portions, eg pesto, tomato sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise or mustard • Soups 7x 200g portions, eg bouillon cubes, readymade soup or instant soup • Grains 10x 500g portions, eg pasta, rice, rice cakes, muesli or gluten-free alternatives • Ready meals 12x 250g portions, for example ready-made risotto or rosti • Legumes 14x 400g portions, eg chickpeas, beans in tomato sauce, canned or dried lentils • Meat 7x 100g portions, for example cured meat, salami or canned meatloaf • Fish 12x 100g portions, for example sardines or canned tuna • Dairy 3x 300g portions of hard cheese • Nuts 3x 200g portions, eg cashews, almonds or hazelnuts • Oil 1l, for example olive or rapeseed oil • Spices and seasoning eg salt, pepper, sugar, sweetener • Snacks 10x portions of sweet and salty snacks such as crisps or chocolate Germany has a similar site , while Latvia and Lithuania both distribute booklets to all citizens on how to survive for 72 hours in a crisis. Lang is blunt, calling the advice stupid: “The state ought to be protecting us more and be giving us specific advice.” Lang has a store of food himself. “You’ve got to be thinking, no cooking facilities, plus maybe no water, plus the internet has gone down, so you can’t go and ask the web,” he says. “You must think very carefully about what you wouldn’t mind living off for a week or 10 days if things were really bad.” “My favourite meal is dal and we store beans in 24-36 big jars and we have lots of dried goods,” he says. “We also have tins of sardines and other fish that would help you get through and we always have a lot of oats in – you can soak them and eat them raw.

## Article Content
Experts suggest people should build up a store of non-perishable goods.
Photograph: FilippoBacci/Getty Images
View image in fullscreen
Experts suggest people should build up a store of non-perishable goods.
Photograph: FilippoBacci/Getty Images
Oats, sardines and crisps: emergency foods to stockpile – and why you should share them
In turbulent times, experts recommend building up a store of food if possible – focusing on long-life, no-cook items
People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian.
In an ever more turbulent world, they say it is essential to choose long-life items that can be eaten without cooking – think tinned beans, vegetables and fish, rice crackers, and oats that can be soaked. But it is also important to choose items you actually like to eat, and some treats such as chocolate or crisps to keep your spirits up. You will also need water – lots of it – not just to drink but for washing too.
Perhaps the most surprising advice is to be prepared to share your stockpile with neighbours. With one in seven households with children already
suffering food insecurity
in the UK, many people cannot afford to build up a stockpile and, without food, civil unrest soon follows.
“Yes, do store food, but be prepared to share to maintain social solidarity,” says Prof Tim Lang. “All resilience theory and experience, in shocks, wars, or sub-war conflicts, shows it is essential to maintain social cohesion if you want to maintain social order.”
One shock could
spark social unrest and even food riots
in the UK, according to a report from dozens of the country’s top food experts, published in February. They said chronic issues like low incomes and fragile “just-in-time” supply chains have left the food system a “tinderbox”. The Iran war, hitting vital fuel and fertiliser supplies to farmers, has added to the pressure.
View image in fullscreen
Empty shelves in a shop in London during the pandemic.
Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Lang warned in early March that the
British government should be stockpiling food
– unlike Switzerland and many others, it is not. A recently
uncovered government report
from 2024 also warned that hits to the nation’s food security from the climate crisis and geopolitical instability meant it could be “at strategic risk of catastrophic failure” by 2030. UK glasshouse growers have already warned of
shortages of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers
in supermarkets due to soaring gas prices.
Some countries take emergency home stockpiles of food very seriously – they add to the overall resilience of a society in a crisis. Switzerland’s
government provides a website
where you can put in the details of your family, food allergies, if you are vegetarian and even if you have pets and get a detailed list of the food required. A week’s supply for a family of two adults and two children, for example, includes 20 tins of vegetables, seven packets of instant soup, salami, a kilogram of coffee and 47 1.5-litre bottles of water.
Quick Guide
An example of a week's stockpile for a family of four
Show
For two adults and two children, all omnivorous, according to the Swiss guidelines
•
Mineral water
47x 1.5l bottles, for drinking and coking
•
Other drinks
5l of fruit and vegetable juices and soft drinks
•
Tea
about 300g
•
Coffee
1kg
•
Milk or milk alternative
5l
•
Vegetables
21x 300g portions of canned vegetables, such as corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, peas or carrots
•
Fruit
17x 300g portions, for example apple sauce, canned pineapple or dried fruit
•
Sauces
7x 200g portions, eg pesto, tomato sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise or mustard
•
Soups
7x 200g portions, eg bouillon cubes, readymade soup or instant soup
•
Grains
10x 500g portions, eg pasta, rice, rice cakes, muesli or gluten-free alternatives
•
Ready meals
12x 250g portions, for example ready-made risotto or rosti
•
Legumes
14x 400g portions, eg chickpeas, beans in tomato sauce, canned or dried lentils
•
Meat
7x 100g portions, for example cured meat, salami or canned meatloaf
•
Fish
12x 100g portions, for example sardines or canned tuna
•
Dairy
3x 300g portions of hard cheese
•
Nuts
3x 200g portions, eg cashews, almonds or hazelnuts
•
Oil
1l, for example olive or rapeseed oil
•
Spices and seasoning
eg salt, pepper, sugar, sweetener
•
Snacks
10x portions of sweet and salty snacks such as crisps or chocolate
Germany has a
similar site
, while
Latvia
and
Lithuania
both distribute booklets to all citizens on how to survive for 72 hours in a crisis. Sweden also provides detailed advice in a booklet: “You need food that is filling, energy-rich, can be stored safely at room temperature [and] requires very little water or can be eaten immediately. Start building up your emergency storage by simply adding one or two additional items when doing your regular shopping.”
The UK’s food advice on its
Prepare
website is, in contrast, minimal: one short

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- But it is also important to choose items you actually like to eat, and some treats such as chocolate or crisps to keep your spirits up.
- Lang currently has two long rows of spinach and he says even herbs in a pot would be valuable in brightening up a meal: “If you’ve got some chives growing, you’ll titivate the beans that you’re eating for the fourth, or 10th time in 10 days into tasting a bit different.
- More fruit and veg shortages to come as weather in UK and Spain hits crops Read more A spokesperson for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the country had a high degree of food security, built on both strong domestic production and imports through stable trade routes.

### Areas for Consideration
- A recently uncovered government report from 2024 also warned that hits to the nation’s food security from the climate crisis and geopolitical instability meant it could be “at strategic risk of catastrophic failure” by 2030.

### Implications
- Experts suggest people should build up a store of non-perishable goods.
- Photograph: FilippoBacci/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Experts suggest people should build up a store of non-perishable goods.
- Photograph: FilippoBacci/Getty Images Oats, sardines and crisps: emergency foods to stockpile – and why you should share them In turbulent times, experts recommend building up a store of food if possible – focusing on long-life, no-cook items People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian.
- You will also need water – lots of it – not just to drink but for washing too.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers food, portions, store topics. Notable strengths include discussion of food. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1592.