A nutritionist and a survival expert guide us on the products to buy
The last warning signal has been launched last week by the German Government. You have created a website dedicated to a hypothetical major blackout, including a brochure with tips and warnings. This measure comes after the Austrian Ministry of Defense also alerted its citizens of a possible supply cut that “will not only affect the country, but the whole of Europe” and launched an information campaign with advertising in the media and the dissemination of thousands of posters distributed throughout the country with the title ‘What to do when everything stops’. The posters are accompanied by a small guide with practical advice on what materials to have at home to be prepared: fuel, candles, batteries, preserves or drinking water. Switzerland has also launched similar slogans.
Spain has a crisis protocol ready to face a major power outage throughout the country, a plan that always remains activated. The device involves supply and distribution companies, security forces and official bodies. The operator Red Eléctrica Española, given the alerts that arose in other European countries, issued a statement a few days ago in which it pointed out that “there are no objective indications” that suggest that a blackout will occur throughout the country.
It would not be far from the first large-scale power outage in recent history. Between March 7 and December 31, 2019, more than 30 million people were affected by a major blackout in Colombia and Venezuela. In Sweden in 1983 four and a half million people were without power for almost three months. And in France in 1999, more than three million people were left without electricity at the height of Christmas.
It doesn’t hurt to be proactive. A nutrition expert, Beatriz Robles, and a survival specialist, Carlos Martínez, help us fill the pantry and complete a kit in the event of a possible power outage and supplies. In any case, it is a pantry fund that does not hurt before any incident.
The first thing to do, they say, is not to rush to buy without measure because we would produce a shortage effect similar to that which occurred during the pandemic. Rule number two: try to make a list with specific needs and buy healthy products, that is to avoid the tendency to buy what can be easier and more pleasant: packages of chips, cookies, sweets, sausages …
Beatriz Robles advises that this stock of pantry the queen should be “legumes and cooked vegetables”, preferably in a glass jar: lentils, chickpeas, beans, stew, pods … Nuts, “toasted or natural but always without salt ”, are also essential. Given the difficulty of storing fresh fruit for a while, a good option is dehydrated, but without added sugar: plums, peaches, figs, raisins “, details this graduate in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and graduate in Science and Technology of the Food. Canned fish in olive oil and low in salt would complete this far-sighted purchase.
Carlos Martínez, from the Boreal Survival School, emphasizes that cities today are “totally dependent on electricity, not only for household needs, but that any type of business depends on it. In the event of a major blackout, we should be prepared for at least two weeks of self-sufficiency. ‘
The expert emphasizes that water is “absolutely essential” and that if there is no electricity “treatment plants or water pumps that supply homes would not work.” It is necessary to calculate two or three liters per person plus the one that is going to be used in cleaning, toilet and cooking. It also highlights that laptops and mobiles could not be recharged in a situation of supply cut, so it would be necessary to have external batteries, in addition to batteries, candles, lighters … “Candles are essential for economic and long-lasting lighting” .
Fighting the cold would be another challenge in this hypothetical scenario of a long blackout, so it would be good to ensure “enough sleeping bags and blankets.” “The ATMs will not work so it is important to have cash,” advises Carlos Martínez, who recommends that provisions be made “for a minimum of fifteen days.”
Hardware stores run out of gas stoves
The fear of the blackout begins to exhaust some products to cope with a power outage. The first have been the gas stoves; they are no longer in the vast majority of hardware stores. “In this last week we have sold all that we had left and there is no stock,” explained a Bilbao hardware store on Friday. In Madrid and Barcelona it is also impossible to acquire these devices. “The same thing is happening as with toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic.”
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