Swiss think end does not justify the beans

SWITZERLAND isn’t the kind of country you would associate with the end of the world.

But deep beneath the about 700 000 bell-clanging milk cows chewing soft grass lay a hidden, far more disturbing reality: 300 000 shelters designed to withstand nuclear attacks.

To some, it may have taken until this week to realise what those shelters really mean, when Swiss authorities said they were planning to categorise coffee as not essential for human survival.

Once implemented, coffee will not be treated as a priority in times of war or crisis and stockpiled.

“Coffee has almost no calories and does not contribute to safeguarding nutrition,” the Swiss government’s unsparing assessment concluded.

Almost certain to trigger resistance, the decision has very practical implications for Swiss authorities: after 2022 they may no longer have to force coffee companies around the country to stockpile thousands of tons of coffee beans to be prepared for the apocalypse.

Put very simply, this means that Switzerland would run out of coffee earlier than previously planned should war or a natural catastrophe ever cut off its supply routes.

Since World War I, the country has stockpiled goods such as animal food, rice or sugar with such doomsday scenarios in mind. Those reserves will continue to exist.

Western Europe hasn’t seen a major war on its soil since the end of World War II and until recently there was no sign that this would change any time soon.

But Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 has put Europe on high alert, just as concerns have been on the rise over an escalation of tensions between North Korea and the US. Both conflicts do not appear to pose imminent threats to western Europe at this point, but they’ve still had an impact on European governments.

The Swedes recently distributed a 20-page leaflet that urges citizens to stockpile food and drink. The recommendations, which also feature motivational slogans (“If Sweden is attacked, we will never give up”), are a continuation of a Cold War-era strategy that relies on all citizens resisting an invasion even once their military is defeated.

The German government spearheaded Europe’s stockpiling movement, when it urged citizens to store piles of water bottles and food, too.

This reflects growing concerns over a geopolitically volatile situation in many parts of the world.

Germans mostly ridiculed the recommendations, accusing the government of scaremongering.

On Twitter, the hashtag “panic buying” (in German: Hamsterkäufe) trended soon thereafter.

But Britain’s efforts to leave the EU appeared to prove that no nation is fully safe from supply shortages, even in the absence of war.

Amid concerns of a no-deal Brexit, the British government drew up emergency plans and even ran out of storage space to stockpile medicines and food.

Some Brits took matters into their own hands and headed to supermarkets in their droves: Brexit is now delayed until Halloween, unless a deal is signed earlier.

In Britain, more so than in other countries, stockpiling has become a new societal fault line between those in panic and those who have maintained some optimism.

After one man went on a drunk and panicked pre-brexit shopping spree in March, spending more than $800 (R11 600) on 144 rolls of toilet paper, one British woman took her frustration to social media, tweeting out photos of her husband’s “mad”stockpiling mission.

Switzerland still has until November to prevent similar scenes: that’s the deadline for the country’s final decision on the meaning of coffee for (mainly Swiss) survival. | The Washington Post