'Money won't be any good when the supermarkets run out': Man, 71, reveals he's stockpiled 600 tins of food in his garden shed that could feed him for 100 days

The government last month urged all households in the UK to 'be ready' with three days worth of food and supplies in case of severe weather or cyber-attacks.Since, retailers like Ocado have reported huge spikes in essential goods like tinned soups, but for 'preppers', stockpiling essential and non-perishable goods is nothing new. In fact, some of them have been purchasing supplies for years.One such prepper is Ian Ferguson, a 71-year-old taxi company owner in Dorset. He said he started stockpiling tins in 2022 because of the war in Ukraine.His emergency stockpile includes over 600 cans of food including stews, soups, beans, curries, rice pudding and fruit.The collection is housed in his garden shed and Ian estimates that he could survive for at least 100 days on his stock, eating around six cans per day.He said: 'There's a phrase "nine meals between mankind and anarchy". That's three days. Imagine you didn't eat for three days.'His suggestion of prepping nine meals isn't out of the question, in fact it's in line with what the government's Be Ready campaign suggests; stocking up on non-perishable food and water for three days.Ian said: 'You've got insurance on loads of things in case something bad happens, so what's the insurance for having food in the house? 'Because money won't be any good when the supermarkets run out.'Join the discussionShould the government be urging us to prepare for disasters, or is this fearmongering that risks causing panic?What's your view?Prepping has become part of Ian's weekly routine; he takes regular trips to the supermarket to add to his ever-growing stock. He's now amassed to around 600 cans, but doesn't have plans of stopping any time soon.He said: 'Originally I thought I'd get to 500, then I got to 600. I don't think I'm going to stop.'In his stockpile, Ian has tins containing stews, soups, beans, curries, rice pudding, fruit. He said: 'If you're hungry it doesn't matter. Peas. Pudding, carrots, stuff like that. You could just mix them up.'But despite having started his stockpile in 2022, Ian doesn't seem concerned that his tins will 'go-off' or expire past their sell-by date.The prepper said: 'People are obsessed with use by and sell by dates then go and buy cigarettes with pictures of cancer-full lungs. We're very selective about what warnings we're going to heed.'What's more, Ian thinks use-by dates are a kind of supermarket tactic to encourage shoppers to buy more (something he doesn't seem to have any issue with either way): 'Obviously supermarkets want you to keep buying.'The 71-year-old was part of the British Army in the 1970s and, as a result, he understands threats of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare. Now, he's concerned about the threats of digital warfare, pointing to recent supermarket freezer cyberattacks that have occurred across Europe.He said: 'Once the shops are empty, every supply chain is basically digital. It's not some bloke with a clipboard and pen writing what you've got.'Ian also emphasised the importance of those with allergies ensuring that they have appropriate food stored for themselves. And Ian's emergency kit doesn't stop with canned food. The prepper also has wind-up radios, camping stoves, sleeping bags, water filtration tubes, an axe, saw and other tools that he could use to collect survival supplies from nearby woods.He stressed the importance of physical money: 'I think we need to keep physical money to keep autonomy and flexibility in this system.'People used to want tangible money. When your battery is flat on your phone, if there's no machine working, it means nothing to you.'For Ian, community is important and if the worst happened he doesn't plan to sit on his stock alone.He explained: 'The whole thing isn't about me sitting there watching people starve. If you have a community, you can share stuff and work out nice things. I'm not looking at being the whole thing, I'm looking at being an active member of a community.'If disaster doesn't strike in his lifetime and Ian is unable to give his stock away, he has a solution: 'I'll open the tins and give it to the birds and get on with my life.'Ian's stockpile collection includes tins of beans, soup, curries, rice pudding and fruit.He feels that the money he's spent on his prepping pursuit is inconsequential when compared to the threat of starvation.He said: 'I might've wasted £1000 or £2000 on food, but I'd rather do that than get into a difficult situation and look at that money and wish it was food in front of me.'While it might seem as though Ian is a pessimist, obsessed with imagining the worst, Ian might instead describe himself as more of an optimistic realist.He said: 'I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I'm more comfortable with that.'And while Ian welcomed the government's Be Ready campaign but thinks it could be doing a lot more. He said: 'They're all for people helping themselves but they've got an obligation to do a little bit. We need the government to articulate a story so everyday people understand the risk.'He added: 'They should say we're going to take the fat off generators; they could be doing a lot more. Selling a kit of stuff to get people started. That would be something.'For those looking to build a stockpile of their own, Ian has offered up his own advice for emergency prepping: add four, six or eight tins each time you go for a weekly shop.