We have heard that some cash and carry shops in the Midlands have started to ration the amount of rice that customers can buy. This will affect the takewaya and restaurant market greatly.

But I think this will continue to be a problem. Once people hear that rice is in short supply, they will start to panic buy, leaving empty shelves, which will panic ever more people.

Wal Mart in the USA is already rationing rice, so we may se ethis happen in the UK at some stage as well. Experts say that there is plenty of rice, but if people panic buy, then they will not be able to restock quickly enough.

Not sure if we've really hit shortage levels yet, but I guess by the time it's obvious, then it'll be too late to do anything about it anyway.

My concern is if there are further fuel shortages etc. Our food supply chain in the UK is fairly fragile, in that there is normally only 2 or 3 days of food supply available at the shops. They ship it out form big warehouses to where it's needed on a daily basis.

If there is a big panic, then the local shops can be picked clean and it will be days before new food arrives. And that will be fairly small amounts - a couple of artics - and soo will get picked clean again, pretty quickly. ALl the time, more people get involved in the panic.

I reckon you need to have a couple of weeks of basic food supply in case the system falls over. I'm talking rice, beans, pasta etc. You might get bored of rice, but with different veg, gravy etc. it can be varied a lot. And it could keep you going for a while!