WHAT IF IT ALL COLLAPSED?

Perhaps I am a catastrophist. Perhaps it’s a negative mindset that I grew up with. A throwback to famine days? Perhaps it is because I studied the area of nutrition in emergencies and once planned to go work at a therapeutic feeding centre in Africa. But I often imagine the scenario of our shelves empty of food and the panic that ensues for the population. What would you do if your pantry was bare? Where would you go? Is there a local farmer you trust where you can get some food? Is there a garden nearby? How far is it from your home? Do you know how to get there? How would we organise ourselves to share food in an emergency?
 
I imagine if I were very used to having a Just Eat system arriving every day I would struggle to cope starting from scratch to find food again. Our just in time systems are amazing when they work and a real problem when they don’t. As I type I don’t know what is going to happen with war plans, oil traffic and laws of unintended consequences. I do know that the skills involved in growing and producing food are vitally important, more so when there are times of scarcity. Perhaps we will learn to value just how much pretty soon enough. 

​Anne Maher