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.
If your food needs water to be eaten then you need to store that extra water, which is by far the largest part you need to keep.
I have rainwater collection, boil it and it should be safe to drink.
Boil it without electricity?
Fire
I have tablets for purifying and rainwater, but that needs rain, and in winter it means fuel.
Food for these days should not be dependent on water.
Unlikely to get that cold here that everything completely freezes, usually keep enough wood dry to boil a fair bit of water and I can easily go out to get more of necessary.
That’s good, then can you read your original comment and see that other people are in other places with other situations? 😌
So stockpile so e fuel as well?
Well, not everyone can burn wood, or has a storage place capable of having the 2L of water per person, different people live in different places.
The 3 days is so the state can come in and help, if you live in a big city center, the requirements are not the same as if you live in a farm.
What stops you burning wood?
My roof? It’s hard to burn wood when you don’t have a fireplace. In summer of course we do it outside. But with the density of a city center that means that it’s hard to store enough wood/coal to make meaningful impact on the amount of water you need to boil to cook.
In winter it would be simply counter productive to go outside and be cold to boil rice.
It’s simply easier - and safer - to have water for drinking and food for eating.
Population centers have different needs.