this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.26-113538/https://www.ft.com/content/eeb1ee80-00b8-4f9f-b560-a6717a80d58d

EU households should stockpile essential supplies to survive at least 72 hours of crisis, Brussels has proposed, as Russia’s war in Ukraine and a darkening geopolitical landscape prompt the bloc to take new steps to increase its security.

The continuing conflict in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic that brutally exposed a lack of crisis response capabilities and the Trump administration’s adversarial stance towards Europe have forced the continent to rethink its vulnerabilities and increase spending on defence and security.

The new initiative comes as European intelligence agencies warn that Russia could attack an EU member state within three to five years, adding to natural threats including floods and wildfires worsened by climate change and societal risks such as financial crises.

Europe faced increased threats “including the possibility of armed aggression against member states”, the European Commission warned on Wednesday as it published a 30-step plan for its 27 capitals to increase their preparedness for crisis and mitigation measures.

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[–] lethargic_orb@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago

That has been the recommendation for civil protection for a while already. Not so much because of the risks of war, but e. g. floodings, power outages, storms etc. And most importantly you should stockpile water, because at a power outage, there will be no tap water anymore. That's the most important bit people here seem to forget. So nothing new here, actually.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

72 hours of food is just grocery shopping

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm definitely not prepared.

Without water, gas or electricity, there's not really much left in essentials I can use from my grocery shopping.

I don't know about you, but I usually buy fresh food that needs to be cooked, and drink water from tap.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

worst case ill just eat my poop

72 hours, the average length of a special military operation.

[–] WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

My grandma lived through WWII and rationing. After she died, we were cleaning out her house to find she had hidden cans of food stockpiled everywhere: behind the washing machine, in the pit in her garage, in the corners of her loft, everywhere.

If rationing ever came back in, she was more than ready for it.

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Given how quickly supermarket shelves emptied at the start of COVID, this is good advice generally for a crisis.

[–] wuzzlewoggle@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

True. We had a pretty big storm here a couple of years ago and the next day the supermarket shelves were almost empty. We really don't usually think about how fragile the supply chain is when it comes to a crisis.

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

72 hours means you go to the store on Monday and then again on Friday. I thought this was kind of the norm for everyone? I mean, not for me, I go once every 10 days but surely 3 days is not that big of a deal?

[–] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 28 points 1 day ago

Thank goodness that wars only last for 3 days exactly.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)

72 hours of food is crazy to me. I would be making a trip to the store when down to maybe a week or two.

Guess Europe really does shop different.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 day ago

I have half a dozen supermarkets in 10min radius by foot. multiple more if I use a bike/scooter.

There's really not much use in stocking huge amounts of food at home, especially when you want to cook fresh stuff.

Non-perishable things like canned and frozen meals is mainly used as a fallback in case of lazyness (ignoring canned stuff for ingredients)

I go to the supermarket at least once a week. normally 2-3 times

[–] kattfisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Completely depends on how you live.

Someone who lives in a house with plenty of storage and a 30 minute drive to the nearest store will have a lot of food at home. Whereas someone who lives in a tiny apartment with a five minute walk to the store will not.

In general, places like American suburbs, with huge single-family homes, no stores and complete reliance on cars, are rare in Europe.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 1 points 20 hours ago

I don't live in the states, but the reliance on driving here is real. Small towns are lucky to have one grocery store and are usually very expensive.

[–] namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I prefer eating fresh food, which means that I usually have to go to the store roughly every other day. If I buy more than a couple days of food, it just means more crap in the fridge and more spoilage.

And if my food did last longer than a few days without spoiling, then I'd really start to question what it was made of....

Editing to add that this is easily possible because I have several stores within a short walk or ride on the transit, as it was also pointed out in a sibling comment.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 2 points 21 hours ago

I guess where I am there is limited fresh food available anyway. Other then breadstuffs and the odd tomato/lettuce the stuff I get at the store has to last at least 2 weeks. Also might be why I appreciate my garden so much.

[–] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

A lot of us shop once a week or so too, but most things people want are fresh baked goods, fruits, vegetables, milk and other fast-spoiling things.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I read that as 72 days at first and thought something serious was expected soon. Oh, 72 HOURS. Who doesn't have that?

Also unless you are on the border, how useful is that likely to be? What would the expectation be, only short term supply chain disruption so shops may run out of something in the first few days but after that food supply will adjust to it?

[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

I don't have 72hrs of food at home, because I have almost no self control. 2 days of food can very easily also be one day of food haha

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't think the preparation is meant for full blown war. It's for disruptions.

Russia won't be able drive tanks all over Europe any time soon, but they are capable of cutting cables to attack energy distribution, hacking payment methods and other infrastructure dependent on networks.

Remember the start of Covid? There was plenty of toiletpapir, hand sanitizer and test kits for everyone, but nobody could get it in stores for a long time because everyone wanted it at the same time. It's better if everyone stock up over a longer period of time, so it doesn't crash the supply chain when it is needed.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

That makes quite a bit of sense as to how it would be useful.

[–] lesatur@lemmy.wtf 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (15 children)

Germany's advice for normal times is to be stocked up for 11 days. 3 Days compared to that is laughable even so it is better than 0.

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[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 93 points 3 days ago (47 children)

I'm from EU and this is way less than my country suggests, which is 2 weeks.

I actually have 2 weeks supplies, but I'm gonna eat baked beans and vegan chocolate and drink coke zero the last few days 😅

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[–] Dropper_Post@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

what about fasting? I bet we have enough fat to fast couple weeks at least

[–] Alfredolin@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

It's not about having something to eat for 72h, it's about resilience.

[–] Redfox8@mander.xyz 31 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Meanwhile, here in the Uk our government is making sure we won't have enough money to buy more than two days of food at a time.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I mean, 14 consecutive years of Conservative leadership will do that to the best of nations.

No doubt the UK has a MASSIVE uphill struggle ahead to bring back a sense of prosperity for its people, but it’s a bit disingenuous to make it sound as though it’s the fault of a Government that’s been in power for less than a year so far.

It can take mere seconds to destroy something, and multiple times longer than that to fix it.

In Australia, we are a couple years ahead of the UK (in terms of our first Labor Gov’t following a decade+ of Conservative leadership); things don’t magically get better overnight, but we are at least on the correct path now — here’s hoping we don’t fuck things up by voting the Cons back in later this year 😫

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[–] Obelix@feddit.org 40 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Just a question for people here who do not have 72 hours of food stored in their homes? Do you go to the supermarket every day? Or do you cook at all? What are you doing on the weekend? What happens when you're sick and can't go shopping?

[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

Supermarket daily, mostly microwave stuff.

I eat what I buy. If I buy a days food I'll eat it in a day, if I buy 2 days food I'll probably also eat that in 1 day. If I'm sick I wear a mask, if I'm super sick I ask someone to deliver me some shopping but then it is more than a days worth because I don't want to ask someone to do my shopping every day.

[–] tauren@lemm.ee 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Do you have 72 hours of food supplies that you can use in case of an emergency? When there is no water and no electricity, and you can't cook mac&cheese in the oven.

[–] Flickerby@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I assumed most everyone had at least two weeks of emergency supplies. Like I have a stock of a couple weeks supply of food and water in the basement in case of emergencies, that's what my parents taught me was the bare minimum in case of emergencies.

[–] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Do you go to the supermarket every day?

There's 5 food stores <7 minutes away from my apartment,. Why stockpile when you can just walk and pick up fresh food every other day.

What happens when you're sick and can't go shopping?

Is that a common occurrence? Just get a friend or family member to shop for you if you're that ill, or order food delivery.

[–] golli@lemm.ee 18 points 2 days ago (3 children)

But don't you still have some staple stuff like noodles, rice, frozen or canned foods and so on in your house? Combined with the fact that you might buy food in larger quantities (e.g. not just 1 apple, but 6 or maybe 1kg), i'd also imagine that most people have enough food for 3 days in their house.

The imo more interesting thing would be fresh water.

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