Grocery shopping

[bluebelle]

that's odd....our produce has been well stocked, okay potatoes were wiped out the first two weeks.....I haven't been buying any produce that won't be cooked.....call me paranoid, but salad is off the table, I can't wash it well enough to suit me.

Okay. Since you asked. The salad thing ^^^ is being truly paranoid and is not logical.

I didn't ask.   I watch people touch every head of lettuce, every tomato, I choose to not incur a potential risk.   I agree it is highly improbable that the virus would still be living on it even if an infected person sneezed on it, but life is about choices.   You do you, I'll do me.   I also leave all non perishable goods in a quarantine spot in the basement for a week, and either wash or wipe down perishable goods.    My spouse is immune compromised, I'm doing my best to not expose him unnecessarily.   The fact that we need videos and pic-o-grams to "teach" people how to wash their hands tells me that much of the world really isn't that clean.

[Cranky]

Despite what BJs and Kroger have said about limiting people in the store they have yet to actually implement that procedure.  There is no one keeping a head count at the door, and they aren't limiting customers at all.  Costco and Home Depot are the only 2 stores that have actually implemented that like they said they were.

Aldi has someone at the door cleaning carts. They also have a sign stating the limit of people in the store and that there should be no more than one person per cart (aka leave your family at home). I'd hope that the person out front would enforce that, but no. There were fewer than 60 people in the store, but there were families all over the place. Why people would want to shop as a family right now is beyond my understanding.

I don’t know why anyone would want to shop as a family ever. It’s one thing if you don’t have someone to watch your kids, but I always see families at Costco with a mom, dad, at least 4 kids, Grandma, maybe a neighbor...I don’t even like shopping with my husband. It takes twice as long.

Hmm... I get not bringing the family, but I had to shop alone a couple of times when my boyfriend was sick, and it was honestly really tough getting a week's supply of food for two people bought, packed up, and carried home myself. Maybe if you have a clown car instead of walking/biking it's less of an issue.

I have done an awful lot of grocery shopping on foot. Get a folding wheelie cart. It’s life changing! LOL

Meanwhile, I continue to Not Go Out, but I hear by way of FB that meat is - predictably - hard to come by and eggs are spotty again, too.

I did order another produce box from the local natural foods restaurant. The one we got last week was astonishing for $25. I think they’re repackaging stuff from a wholesaler.

[OtherJen]

I did order another produce box from the local natural foods restaurant. The one we got last week was astonishing for $25. I think they’re repackaging stuff from a wholesaler.

Yeah, the restaurants have access to a different food supply chain. It's an excellent way for them to continue making money while helping their customers circumvent the grocery chain shortages.

[Buffaloski Boris]

Grocery shopping hasn’t been a problem. We just got the one really vexing product: aluminum -free baking powder. Target’s house brand was in stock. Bought it using their app. Easy-peasy. Turkey bacon seems to be the problem this week. But that was a problem even before COVID.

[TrMama]

Re: grocery shopping with families in general-again, I typically do bring my kids. They enjoy it, because they are very social, and because it's uninterrupted 1:1 time with me. It's getting a little much to bring them shopping now, and I'm getting used to the convenience of grocery pick up. But isn't there some value in having them come shopping? In talking to them about purchasing decisions, pricing, etc? Plus the practice of avoiding all the grocery store temptations. I feel like overall it's kind of like life training. Seems like a mustachian thing to do.

Fair enough. If I were raising small humans, I would certainly want them to have this life skill. But, like you, I think I'd make it a 1:1 thing if possible.

In the Before Times I usually brought one kid with me. My kids are middle school age and are actually very helpful in the store. I can push the cart and make most of the buying decisions, but having someone to send to the far corner to get that one thing I want from that section and bring it back to the cart was a big time/effort saver. The discount store we most often frequent makes you bag your own stuff, so the kid was also helpful for loading and unloading the food at the till and then again helping to load and unload the car. Their input was also useful for helping me figure out what that kid wanted to eat that week. They learned pretty quick that mom will buy them any produce item they want, so it was a good way to encourage them to eat a wide variety of fruits and veg. Plus, of course the personal finance lessons involved in figuring out unit prices and we can eat a lot of X, or a small amount of Y for $10. Plus, I hate grocery shopping but like the company of my kids. All that being said, they love not having to go grocery shopping anymore.

Another thing that's weird about grocery shopping these days is the almost total disappearance of other people's kids. Before I had kids of my own I used to silently judge parents who brought their crying kids into the store. I vowed I'd never be that parent with the overtired, crying kid in the store at 5pm. Then I had kids of my own and realized that kids cry a lot of the time but food still needs to be procured. Now however, it's eerily quiet in the stores. I'd happily add a few crying kids back into the experience just for some signs of life.

[SunnyDays]

I always buy Mexican blend vanilla from a local South American store.  Waaaaay cheaper than real vanilla, and can't tell the difference in baking.

If you're not getting real vanilla, I'd be worried about what it actually is.  Old news, perhaps, but some/much has coumarin, which makes it smell good, but isn't exactly good for you (blood thinner).

I had to go look at the bottle after reading this.  It’s Molina brand and specifically says No Coumarin.  Ingredients are water, ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, vanillin, pure vanilla extract, caramel colour, ethyl vanillin, potassium, and potassium hydroxide.  Not as good as pure vanilla, but likely no worse than the artificial stuff and for all the baking I do, probably okay.  Thanks for your concern though.

[lhamo]

I have done an awful lot of grocery shopping on foot. Get a folding wheelie cart. It’s life changing! LOL

+1.  I used one of these I got from Ikea for my weekly grocery shops when we lived in Beijing.  I would get frozen meat at the nearby wet market first (kept an extra plastic bag in the bottom for this purpose to put the frozen bags in), then fruit/veg, then bread, eggs and various imported/specialty stuff from the specialty market.  I could pack most of a week's worth of food for a family of four into that puppy.  I was really sad to leave it behind, but it was too big to be a carry on, and not secure enough to pack/use as checked baggage.  If I ever return to a situation where I can walk to get my groceries easily I will probably get another one.

I am curious as to why more people aren't using drive up grocery services?  As noted elsewhere in this thread, I'm using Fred Meyer's service (part of Kroger) and have only had problems with one session being cancelled right after the shut-down started here in Seattle -- it was an early morning saturday pickup and staff didn't come in on time and they hadn't staffed up to cover shifts at that point.  Since then none of my pickups have been cancelled, and I have only seen another car at one of my pickups.  I've only had a few substitutions from my lists, and very few things they couldn't substitute for.  Never had a problem getting enough eggs, milk, butter, cheese, pasta, etc.  They are waiving the regular $4.95 pickup fee, and it is easy to get slots 5-7 days out.  The only downside is sometimes the amount of meat or produce is not what I would have chosen -- I specifically asked for a 3lb package of beef and they only gave us two pounds, for example, and some of the asparagus I have gotten has had huge/woody stems.  Small complaints for what is otherwise a very nice service, though.  Just curious why others aren't using it more, assuming you have a car.  Not very practical to drive up for a week's worth of groceries in your sneakers, I suppose.  Though if I lived closer to the store that offers this service (my local one doesn't) I would probably consider use a granny cart or a bike with panniers.

[mm1970]

I have done an awful lot of grocery shopping on foot. Get a folding wheelie cart. It’s life changing! LOL

+1.  I used one of these I got from Ikea for my weekly grocery shops when we lived in Beijing.  I would get frozen meat at the nearby wet market first (kept an extra plastic bag in the bottom for this purpose to put the frozen bags in), then fruit/veg, then bread, eggs and various imported/specialty stuff from the specialty market.  I could pack most of a week's worth of food for a family of four into that puppy.  I was really sad to leave it behind, but it was too big to be a carry on, and not secure enough to pack/use as checked baggage.  If I ever return to a situation where I can walk to get my groceries easily I will probably get another one.

I am curious as to why more people aren't using drive up grocery services?  As noted elsewhere in this thread, I'm using Fred Meyer's service (part of Kroger) and have only had problems with one session being cancelled right after the shut-down started here in Seattle -- it was an early morning saturday pickup and staff didn't come in on time and they hadn't staffed up to cover shifts at that point.  Since then none of my pickups have been cancelled, and I have only seen another car at one of my pickups.  I've only had a few substitutions from my lists, and very few things they couldn't substitute for.  Never had a problem getting enough eggs, milk, butter, cheese, pasta, etc.  They are waiving the regular $4.95 pickup fee, and it is easy to get slots 5-7 days out.  The only downside is sometimes the amount of meat or produce is not what I would have chosen -- I specifically asked for a 3lb package of beef and they only gave us two pounds, for example, and some of the asparagus I have gotten has had huge/woody stems.  Small complaints for what is otherwise a very nice service, though.  Just curious why others aren't using it more, assuming you have a car.  Not very practical to drive up for a week's worth of groceries in your sneakers, I suppose.  Though if I lived closer to the store that offers this service (my local one doesn't) I would probably consider use a granny cart or a bike with panniers.

None of our stores actually offer this service in my town.  Or at least, the few chains I checked said "sorry, not in your area".

[OtherJen]

My parents are using the pick up service at Kroger because they are elderly and dad has cancer, but haven’t always been able to get what they need. I make one trip to one non-Kroger store each week and can usually pick up whatever their shopper missed in addition to our groceries. Kroger hadn’t sent the requested eggs or bread in several orders, so I picked those up in my single shopping trip last week.

[Cranky]

It has been VERY difficult to get a pickup slot here. Only the more expensive grocery chain here offered them, and by mid-March their whole system had collapsed. They quit delivering entirely. They seem to have completely overhauled their online ordering system and added more slots, and in some cities have set aside one store that only does pickup.

Evidently a lot of people really want to pick out their own groceries and I get that, but the way things are now, they can just put some random groceries in the back of our car and we’ll figure it out.

[slappy]

I have done an awful lot of grocery shopping on foot. Get a folding wheelie cart. It’s life changing! LOL

+1.  I used one of these I got from Ikea for my weekly grocery shops when we lived in Beijing.  I would get frozen meat at the nearby wet market first (kept an extra plastic bag in the bottom for this purpose to put the frozen bags in), then fruit/veg, then bread, eggs and various imported/specialty stuff from the specialty market.  I could pack most of a week's worth of food for a family of four into that puppy.  I was really sad to leave it behind, but it was too big to be a carry on, and not secure enough to pack/use as checked baggage.  If I ever return to a situation where I can walk to get my groceries easily I will probably get another one.

I am curious as to why more people aren't using drive up grocery services?  As noted elsewhere in this thread, I'm using Fred Meyer's service (part of Kroger) and have only had problems with one session being cancelled right after the shut-down started here in Seattle -- it was an early morning saturday pickup and staff didn't come in on time and they hadn't staffed up to cover shifts at that point.  Since then none of my pickups have been cancelled, and I have only seen another car at one of my pickups.  I've only had a few substitutions from my lists, and very few things they couldn't substitute for.  Never had a problem getting enough eggs, milk, butter, cheese, pasta, etc.  They are waiving the regular $4.95 pickup fee, and it is easy to get slots 5-7 days out.  The only downside is sometimes the amount of meat or produce is not what I would have chosen -- I specifically asked for a 3lb package of beef and they only gave us two pounds, for example, and some of the asparagus I have gotten has had huge/woody stems.  Small complaints for what is otherwise a very nice service, though.  Just curious why others aren't using it more, assuming you have a car.  Not very practical to drive up for a week's worth of groceries in your sneakers, I suppose.  Though if I lived closer to the store that offers this service (my local one doesn't) I would probably consider use a granny cart or a bike with panniers.

I've been using Walmart grocery pickup with minimal issues, although I prefer our local grocery store, as their prices are cheaper. I saw one mom on a local group saying that Walmart pick up doesn't accept WIC, so she wasn't able to use the service.

[Queen Frugal]

I have been doing the Kroger (Dillon's here) pickup with no real complaints. I have been going once a week, as early as possible in the morning. If I actually received everything I ordered, I could go much less, but they are always out of something so I just keep coming back week after week and it seems to be working out. The only thing I have been missing every time is the little dishwasher detergent pods I like.

But regardless, I now have bulk - not at all thanks to Kroger. I have a 20# bag of rice, a 20# bag of teff (it's my 'oatmeal' since I can't eat oatmeal), a 20# bag of GF flour (OMG was that expensive!), and 8 boxes of GF pasta. All but the rice I found on the internet. I normally wouldn't buy in so much bulk but I will eventually eat it and I have less chance of running out and less trips to the store.  have found a local butcher and I am buying up their "freezer packages" and I scored a flat of farm fresh eggs at my last pickup (54 eggs!).

I have been on a baking kick so I bought vanilla off Amazon - the good stuff - and OMG it's $$$ too. Also spices in bulk that I know I will eventually eat - cinnamon and cloves, for example, which both go into my daily intake of teff porridge.

I ordered a deep freeze back in early February that may actually get delivered this weekend. I bought it with the intent of buying a lot of meat - such as a half hog from a local butcher. Now if the freezer actually shows up this weekend and delivery doesn't get rescheduled like it has 4 times already, the question I am asking myself is this: Do I buy pork - or any other meat - in large quantities at this time?

[GreenSheep]

I'm not saying I want to do away with the rules. I just wish everyone would voluntarily follow them. And learn to be extra considerate of others -- grab a bunch of products and go examine them out of the aisles somewhere, perhaps, then put back the rejects.

I wish everyone would follow the rules too, but this idea wouldn't really work either, we're supposed to only touch what we want to buy, and at least at my local stores, there isn't really space aside that doesn't block a route. Ironically, I think the extra barriers reduce floor space and make it more difficult to go around people.
There's no perfect solution, but as long as everyone is being reasonably conscious of space, wears a mask, and doesn't purposely get close to others, the risk is generally low. I appreciate that stores are trying to keep their employees safe, and I think making them enforce directions will just put them at a greater risk of exposure if it means they have to argue with non compliant people.

Yeah, that's a good point. I was trying to offer some sort of solution instead of just being a complainy-pants, but it wasn't a good solution. And I agree -- I do think the risk is low given the parameters you listed. And I really don't want employees to be burdened with having to enforce rules. Like I said above, they have enough to worry about already.

As for someone's question about why more people aren't using drive-up grocery services... in my case, they're not available in our area. No pick-up, no delivery. We've gone to Costco once a month, and we've ordered a few things from Amazon and some online specialty shops.

[lhamo]

I guess stores in the Seattle area are ahead of the curve on grocery delivery/pickup options -- come to think of it, maybe the bigger chains started it first here to compete with Amazon's grocery pickup service, which started a couple of years ago.

[jeninco]

Trader Joe's doesn't offer pickup, and for a lot of what we buy (fruit, cheese, nuts and dried fruit) they're by far the least expensive local option. And our store is limiting people in the building, so as long as I guess a not-too-crowded time, it's quite pleasant to be in the building and they're able to keep everything stocked. If I choose a medium-crowded time, the've got line spots 6 feet apart marked on the sidewalk, and people are generally quite good about staying apart.

Anyhow, we're alternating TJ's with a small local chain I'd like to have stay in business,each every other week or so. We make the occasional supplemental trip to the Kroger (it's a King Soopers here)  for flour, beans, and rice in, um, "non-charming and delicate" quantities, and the local Asian market -- I think one of my teenagers is mainlining nori. And sesame seeds. And we're running out of soy sauce, even though we buy it in nearly food-service-size containers.

I was looking at the food bill today and feeing horrified, but then I realized it's about two weeks of today's store worth of shopping, and that we're actually right where we were over the summer, the last time all four of us were eating here.

[2sk22]

Trader Joe's doesn't offer pickup, and for a lot of what we buy (fruit, cheese, nuts and dried fruit) they're by far the least expensive local option. And our store is limiting people in the building, so as long as I guess a not-too-crowded time, it's quite pleasant to be in the building and they're able to keep everything stocked. If I choose a medium-crowded time, the've got line spots 6 feet apart marked on the sidewalk, and people are generally quite good about staying apart.

This is exactly the situation in my household. Everyone loved Trader Joe's products and their prices are the most reasonable. Sadly they have simply not offered any alternative to actually shopping in the store. I had to wait in line for about 20 minutes but the actual experience in the store was quite pleasant and I finished my shopping very quickly.

[penguintroopers]

Aldi offers delivery via instacart, but the prices for everything are marked up. I'd still have to tip the shopper, and as a healthy couple in their 20s I don't feel like its fair for us to unload our risk on someone else just because we have money.

The other grocery chain I *might* use the service on doesn't allow alcohol to be purchased via pickup (generally 50%+ of our spending when we go there), there's still a convenience fee, and spots to get the service are always two weeks out.

Our balance has been making our usual one week trip now a 3+ week trip.

[chaskavitch]

I went to the liquor store next to King Soopers on Sunday, and found out they offer online ordering and curbside pickup.  I'm very excited about that - I usually am the one who goes, since it's on my way home from work (and DH works from home), but DH is the one who drinks beer, and I'm always at a loss if they don't have EXACTLY what he asked for. 

They also turned away 3 different people while I was in the store because they didn't have masks.  They all walked right past a big old sign in the middle of the walkway in the entry that said the store would not serve people without masks, lol.  I was impressed with the store's consistency :)

[sui generis]

I went to the liquor store next to King Soopers on Sunday, and found out they offer online ordering and curbside pickup.  I'm very excited about that - I usually am the one who goes, since it's on my way home from work (and DH works from home), but DH is the one who drinks beer, and I'm always at a loss if they don't have EXACTLY what he asked for. 

They also turned away 3 different people while I was in the store because they didn't have masks.  They all walked right past a big old sign in the middle of the walkway in the entry that said the store would not serve people without masks, lol.  I was impressed with the store's consistency :)

I got a little nervous reading your last paragraph, considering the employee that was murdered the other day for trying to enforce a mask rule. Not only are essential employees taking on more health risk, but risk of violence now, too.

[chaskavitch]

I went to the liquor store next to King Soopers on Sunday, and found out they offer online ordering and curbside pickup.  I'm very excited about that - I usually am the one who goes, since it's on my way home from work (and DH works from home), but DH is the one who drinks beer, and I'm always at a loss if they don't have EXACTLY what he asked for. 

They also turned away 3 different people while I was in the store because they didn't have masks.  They all walked right past a big old sign in the middle of the walkway in the entry that said the store would not serve people without masks, lol.  I was impressed with the store's consistency :)

I got a little nervous reading your last paragraph, considering the employee that was murdered the other day for trying to enforce a mask rule. Not only are essential employees taking on more health risk, but risk of violence now, too.

I forgot about that, I just read that article last night.  That's insane.  Seriously.  I'd like to think that wouldn't happen where I live, but obviously it's impossible to predict. 

Fort Collins has a face mask mandate:
"Face coverings will be required in the following places:
- Any enclosed area, including retail and commercial businesses or on-site service providers, to which the public is invited or in which workers, including volunteers, from more than one household are present,
- Any City of Fort Collins building or indoor City facility;
- Any public transportation, including City Transfort buses and bus shelters; or
- Any other public indoor place where persons are unable to maintain safe social distancing (six or more feet separation) from others not of their own household."

Exemptions include kids, people with health problems precluding masks, people undergoing medical or dental procedure that requires mouth or nose access, and customers of banks, financial institutions, and pawn shops.

I just keep seeing people pulling down their masks to talk to each other, or to talk on the phone, or putting it just over their mouths and not their noses, and I'm like "Guys, that totally defeats the purpose of wearing a mask!  It's not that hard to talk through them, especially paper masks!"  /smh

[Retire-Canada]

I forgot about that, I just read that article last night.  That's insane.  Seriously.  I'd like to think that wouldn't happen where I live, but obviously it's impossible to predict. 

Long before COVID people were being shot dead over parking spaces, merging into traffic and other mundane stuff so there's nothing new going on.

[TrMama]

I've been continuing to shop in person because the delivery/pickup slots are so overloaded here that even people who really need delivery (like my MIL) can't get it. She's disabled and has had her groceries delivered for years. She's also not super tech savvy and isn't capable of gaming the system the way younger, smarter people are doing locally. Nor is she great at "making do" with different ingredients. If she didn't have DH and I to shop for her she'd be fucked. She nearly lapsed into a diabetic coma several weeks ago because we didn't realize how poorly she was coping with the recent changes in her life.

So I'm shopping in person so more delivery/pick up slots are available for people who don't have alternatives. DH and I are able bodied and can mitigate our risk via proper use of planning/masks/hand sanitizer/etc.

[OtherJen]

This morning, I made my biweekly (as in, every other week) trip to the locally owned green grocer that I would really like to stay in business but that doesn’t offer pick-up/delivery.

I don’t think I will go there again unless they start limiting the number of customers in the store at a time. It was busy, and social distancing was a joke. Fortunately, we signed up for a CSA share, and the farmer is on track to start that up in late May.

[kanga1622]

Our one grocery store in town does have pickup but I don’t get a whole lot from them as their non-sale prices are higher on our usual items. Their sales have been very minimal during this time.

Our Walmart doesn’t offer pickup. So I go out every 2 weeks to get what we need from Walmart and then hit the grocery store if I need something that cannot be found (or I don’t like to buy i.e. uncooked meat) at Walmart.

Prior to this pandemic, we hit both stores weekly and spent about half our grocery budget at each. Now we buy primarily from Walmart but cannot wait for sale prices to kick back in! But I was sad to see that many grocery employees were not wearing their masks correctly (mostly only mouth covered) which is a little concerning.

[Runrooster]

Okay. Since you asked. The salad thing ^^^ is being truly paranoid and is not logical.

I didn't ask.   <snip> You do you, I'll do me.

This, in triplicate.  The pandemic is new.  There are no hard and fast rules.  Virus shaming or paranoid shaming should be off bounds.  I have a coworker who acts like she does everything perfectly, and any less is crazy and any more is paranoid.  She washes all incoming groceries (in a routine I didn't grasp) BUT her husband still hits 4 stores every week.  When I suggested they limit themselves more - "we take every precaution" after all - she said they can't find everything at one store and "he enjoys it".  Well, duh, most of us enjoy grocery shopping at least when we can find everything on our list.  But I'm able to cycle through stores, buy extra when I'm there or go without, go to one store each week.  That said, she has an extra member in her household and one less frig.

I've also wanted to tell her that if she were to "take every precaution" she'd stop going to her in-person job.  My parents have wanted me to, and that's a bigger risk than someone coughed on my gallon of milk.  But, I haven't felt compelled.  We all do what we can, what seems necessary.  Attitude about differences is unproductive.

From my end, I was slow (though no slower than her) to adapt masks - they're annoying and seem like less value than hassle.  I wear them when required and now it's habit but I don't wear it at home or in my 2-person office.  There's an entire thread about how easy it is and why isn't everyone wearing one.  Masks suck, that's why.

[Channel-Z]

My preferred grocery store just instituted a meat limit of four items per person.

I'm not sure any of the food facilities around here are operating at full capacity, and some are still closed. At least one ground beef plant reported today more than half of its workers tested positive for COVID-19.

[Arbitrage]

@Arbitrage Penzey's spices (online) has great vanilla extract, if you still can't find any.

Thanks - I guess I should've clarified that I've seen Vanilla Extract for sale, but not at Sam's Club where we purchase it (since the price/volume is perhaps 10% on those big bottles what it is when purchased in the tiny little snifters).

We still have some, but I do like to use a splash of it in each of my containers of homemade yogurt, and I eat a lot of yogurt.  I'll probably start considering making plain yogurt soon, and leave the remainder for baking needs.

[wenchsenior]

HOLY CRAP, I FOUND YEAST!!!!  And FLOUR!!!  First time at any of 4 stores I've checked for the past 2 months.  It was instant yeast, and it was from Mexico with a label in Spanish and a brand I've never seen before, but it was yeast on the shelf nonetheless. About a dozen units! 

Very excited! It's the little things.

[skp]

With all the talk of food shortages, I've been looking into CSAs and buying 1/2 a cow.  I've always been interested, but this is just the push I needed.  We already raise our own meat chickens, but I gave up on a garden because we have a lot of trees and crappy clay soil.   We have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  We live in Amish country and I called the local meat market about buying the cow, thinking that it might be a problem because everyone else is thinking like me.  No problem with that.  But the freezer is the problem.   We already have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  I had to get a bigger one.  My freezer is back ordered till July.

[jeninco]

With all the talk of food shortages, I've been looking into CSAs and buying 1/2 a cow.  I've always been interested, but this is just the push I needed.  We already raise our own meat chickens, but I gave up on a garden because we have a lot of trees and crappy clay soil.   We have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  We live in Amish country and I called the local meat market about buying the cow, thinking that it might be a problem because everyone else is thinking like me.  No problem with that.  But the freezer is the problem.   We already have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  I had to get a bigger one.  My freezer is back ordered till July.

We have a side-by-side fridge/freezer in the kitchen that I deliberately ordered without the ice maker so I could have additional freezer space. We also have a rather small chest freezer (maybe it's ... I dunno, 3 feet by not quite 3 feet by a little over 3 feet?): between the two we can just barely manage to hold 1/2 steer. We have to be mindful to completely empty the chest freezer and mostly empty the other one when we take ownership of the beef, but as long as we remember to cook some of the bulky stuff early, we have space enough to operate after a few weeks.

I've been thinking about ordering 1/2 hog, as the same local processor that we get our beef from will do pigs...

[Zikoris]

HOLY CRAP, I FOUND YEAST!!!!  And FLOUR!!!  First time at any of 4 stores I've checked for the past 2 months.  It was instant yeast, and it was from Mexico with a label in Spanish and a brand I've never seen before, but it was yeast on the shelf nonetheless. About a dozen units! 

Very excited! It's the little things.

We found some "weird" yeast too last week - it must be a brand that sells in Europe, because the package has something like eight different languages on it. And it's in strange packaging. But it's a pretty massive amount, so that's great!

[Queen Frugal]

With all the talk of food shortages, I've been looking into CSAs and buying 1/2 a cow.  I've always been interested, but this is just the push I needed.  We already raise our own meat chickens, but I gave up on a garden because we have a lot of trees and crappy clay soil.   We have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  We live in Amish country and I called the local meat market about buying the cow, thinking that it might be a problem because everyone else is thinking like me.  No problem with that.  But the freezer is the problem.   We already have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  I had to get a bigger one.  My freezer is back ordered till July.

I hear you! I ordered a freezer from Best Buy on February 9 so I could buy meat in bulk from a local butcher. And the delivery has been rescheduled 4 times! It is due to arrive this Saturday but I am keeping my expectations low.

[Leisured]

I have not read all posts, but replying to those who mentioned shoppers handling fruit and salad veg, once you are home, wash fruit and salad veg in soapy watern then rinse in clean water. Lettuce is a problem, but tomatoes can be cleaned. A some nave pointed out, cooking vegetables sterilises them, something our ancestors have benefitted from for a very long time.

I also wash plastic milk containers before opening, as well as other plastic containers.

In our part of Australia, the supermarket makes hand sensitiser available as you enter, and a staff member wipes the handles of shopping trolleys after each use. The supermarket also has clear plastic screens between staff and customers. I suspect that the clear plastic screens will remain once we are back to normal.

[PoutineLover]

You should not wash veggies with soap, it's unnecessary and potentially harmful. Water and rubbing by hand or with a brush is sufficient. If you want to wash plastic containers with soap, it probably can't hurt, but unless you are at high risk it probably isn't necessary.

[SunnyDays]

You should not wash veggies with soap, it's unnecessary and potentially harmful.

How so?  I've always done this, except for lettuce,spinach.

[PoutineLover]

You should not wash veggies with soap, it's unnecessary and potentially harmful.

How so?  I've always done this, except for lettuce,spinach.

Fruits and veggies are porous and can absorb some of the soap, and soap isn't safe to eat. Obviously it's going to be small amounts if you rinse well, but it doesn't provide any additional benefit over just using water so its not really worth the added risk.

[FIRE Artist]

You should not wash veggies with soap, it's unnecessary and potentially harmful.

How so?  I've always done this, except for lettuce,spinach.

Fruits and veggies are porous and can absorb some of the soap, and soap isn't safe to eat. Obviously it's going to be small amounts if you rinse well, but it doesn't provide any additional benefit over just using water so its not really worth the added risk.

That is interesting, not something I have thought about as I have only ever just rinsed my produce with water, but I remember there being a vegetable spray wash product on the market a few years back...I wonder what was up with that and if it is still being hawked to people.  They could likely make a fortune during these times with minimal marketing.

[Dicey]

Went to Costco today.  People were pretty good about wearing their masks. One guy had his pulled down under his chin, so you bet your ass I called him out. He fixed it. Damn skippy!

Noticed that butter was 6.39 per 4lb. package. That's under $1.60 per pound, people! I bought eight pounds, but only because I still have at least that much in the freezer. No TP, paper towels or hand sanitizer. Happily, none of that was on my list.

[RetiredAt63]

You should not wash veggies with soap, it's unnecessary and potentially harmful.

How so?  I've always done this, except for lettuce,spinach.

Fruits and veggies are porous and can absorb some of the soap, and soap isn't safe to eat. Obviously it's going to be small amounts if you rinse well, but it doesn't provide any additional benefit over just using water so its not really worth the added risk.

When I was in training as a Scout leader, they pointed out that the main cause of upset stomachs at camp was poor rinsing of dishes.  Soap is not meant to be eaten.

[mm1970]

Went to Costco today.  People were pretty good about wearing their masks. One guy had his pulled down under his chin, so you bet your ass I called him out. He fixed it. Damn skippy!

Noticed that butter was 6.39 per 4lb. package. That's under $1.60 per pound, people! I bought eight pounds, but only because I still have at least that much in the freezer. No TP, paper towels or hand sanitizer. Happily, none of that was on my list.

We have TP!!

Husband went to Costco last week (Monday), no TP, no tissues, no butter. 
He had to go into the office today, and swung by Costco on his way to Trader Joe's, and got TP and tissues (but no butter). 

I think he got butter at Trader Joe's though.  We usually get it at Costco.

TJ's is my normal store, but this was the first trip there since March 13.  It's nice to be well stocked on some regular items.

[FIRE Artist]

I went to a restaurant supply/wholesaler today and it was kind of brilliant.  Very few cars in the parking lot, super easy to social distance inside.  They had the usual stuff available to sanitize hands and cart handles.

They had tons of flour, yeast, sugar etc.  I bet they even had toilet paper but I didn’t think to look for that.  The packaging for many things is bigger than what you would buy for your home but not ridiculously so unless you are looking to buy condiments (seems like they only have huge vats of condiments), but then other things you can buy what you would normally buy in a regular grocery store, like single frozen pizzas. 

I definitely recommend people consider this option.

[turketron]

I went to a restaurant supply/wholesaler today and it was kind of brilliant.  Very few cars in the parking lot, super easy to social distance inside.  They had the usual stuff available to sanitize hands and cart handles.

They had tons of flour, yeast, sugar etc.  I bet they even had toilet paper but I didn’t think to look for that.  The packaging for many things is bigger than what you would buy for your home but not ridiculously so unless you are looking to buy condiments (seems like they only have huge vats of condiments), but then other things you can buy what you would normally buy in a regular grocery store, like single frozen pizzas. 

I definitely recommend people consider this option.

oooh, this is good to know. There's a Gordon's Food Service store in town that I've been curious about for  years, but it's a bit out of the way so I haven't really had enough of a reason to go. I have Monday off of work so I might use that as an opportunity to venture over and check it out!

[frugalnacho]

Still no flour or TP.  I still don't understand the whole "it's industrial toilet paper and it's not packaged for residential" argument.  Maybe if it was a short term thing it wouldn't be worth retooling and figuring out how to get your TP onto residential rolls and distributed to the stores, but it's been over 2 months at this point and all I find is empty shelves and occasionally a few elusive packages.  Any company that managed to turn it's industrial product into residential in the last 2.5 months would be crushing it right now, they can't keep that shit on the shelves. 

[Fomerly known as something]

Still no flour or TP.  I still don't understand the whole "it's industrial toilet paper and it's not packaged for residential" argument.  Maybe if it was a short term thing it wouldn't be worth retooling and figuring out how to get your TP onto residential rolls and distributed to the stores, but it's been over 2 months at this point and all I find is empty shelves and occasionally a few elusive packages.  Any company that managed to turn it's industrial product into residential in the last 2.5 months would be crushing it right now, they can't keep that shit on the shelves.

This thread prompted me to check out my normal spot for TP shopping.  Amazon did not have what I normally get but I saw plenty of commercial style TP for sale on the site including a box of amazon commercial TP.  Thankfully, I had bought my normal multi months worth back at the end of February so it’s not an issue yet. 

[Dicey]

Still no flour or TP.  I still don't understand the whole "it's industrial toilet paper and it's not packaged for residential" argument.  Maybe if it was a short term thing it wouldn't be worth retooling and figuring out how to get your TP onto residential rolls and distributed to the stores, but it's been over 2 months at this point and all I find is empty shelves and occasionally a few elusive packages.  Any company that managed to turn it's industrial product into residential in the last 2.5 months would be crushing it right now, they can't keep that shit on the shelves.

I've heard that the machinery is completely different and that both types operate at or near capacity most of the time. I have also heard that the paper is completely different. My old ass likes fancy toilet paper. I have never used paper from a commercial dispenser that I would want to steal, let alone buy. No thanks. And that goes for single-ply Scott tissue as well.

[TomTX]

With all the talk of food shortages, I've been looking into CSAs and buying 1/2 a cow.  I've always been interested, but this is just the push I needed.  We already raise our own meat chickens, but I gave up on a garden because we have a lot of trees and crappy clay soil.   We have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  We live in Amish country and I called the local meat market about buying the cow, thinking that it might be a problem because everyone else is thinking like me.  No problem with that.  But the freezer is the problem.   We already have a small freezer that I didn't think would be big enough to fit both the cow and the chickens.  I had to get a bigger one.  My freezer is back ordered till July.

If you're DIY and would like to improve your clay soil, I suggest producing biochar from your woody waste. After marinating with some chicken litter/droppings, it will be a very nice long-term soil amendment.

"Flame capped trough" or "flame capped kiln" are the simplest effective method.

[FIRE Artist]

I went to a restaurant supply/wholesaler today and it was kind of brilliant.  Very few cars in the parking lot, super easy to social distance inside.  They had the usual stuff available to sanitize hands and cart handles.

They had tons of flour, yeast, sugar etc.  I bet they even had toilet paper but I didn’t think to look for that.  The packaging for many things is bigger than what you would buy for your home but not ridiculously so unless you are looking to buy condiments (seems like they only have huge vats of condiments), but then other things you can buy what you would normally buy in a regular grocery store, like single frozen pizzas. 

I definitely recommend people consider this option.

oooh, this is good to know. There's a Gordon's Food Service store in town that I've been curious about for  years, but it's a bit out of the way so I haven't really had enough of a reason to go. I have Monday off of work so I might use that as an opportunity to venture over and check it out!

Call first to see if they will sell retail so you don’t waste a trip.   The place I go to in Canada has a membership card system for industry, where I assume they get better pricing and probably tax breaks, but they do sell cash and carry to retail customers as well.  I don’t usually buy groceries there because it isn’t a convenient location and I am a single person household, but it is fantastic for picking up deli containers (I use instead of zip lock bags) and catering things like ramekins that I find a never ending number of uses for. 

[LifePhaseTwo]

I went to a restaurant supply/wholesaler today and it was kind of brilliant.  Very few cars in the parking lot, super easy to social distance inside.  They had the usual stuff available to sanitize hands and cart handles.

They had tons of flour, yeast, sugar etc.  I bet they even had toilet paper but I didn’t think to look for that.  The packaging for many things is bigger than what you would buy for your home but not ridiculously so unless you are looking to buy condiments (seems like they only have huge vats of condiments), but then other things you can buy what you would normally buy in a regular grocery store, like single frozen pizzas. 

I definitely recommend people consider this option.

Which place is this?

[FIRE Artist]

I went to a restaurant supply/wholesaler today and it was kind of brilliant.  Very few cars in the parking lot, super easy to social distance inside.  They had the usual stuff available to sanitize hands and cart handles.

They had tons of flour, yeast, sugar etc.  I bet they even had toilet paper but I didn’t think to look for that.  The packaging for many things is bigger than what you would buy for your home but not ridiculously so unless you are looking to buy condiments (seems like they only have huge vats of condiments), but then other things you can buy what you would normally buy in a regular grocery store, like single frozen pizzas. 

I definitely recommend people consider this option.

 
Which place is this?

Canadian Wholesale Club.  It is owned by Loblaws. 

[LifePhaseTwo]

Thanks @FIRE Artist! It’s not far from me, so I’ll send hubby to shop.