I cruise local stores for out-dates.
Wonder how many out-dates will be coming up because of lowered store traffic? 
Posted on 03/19/2020 8:03:21 PM PDT by EinNYC
I just got back from trying to get some common items I need in my refrigerator: carrots, Lactaid milk, and Stok unsweetened coffee. Now I feel very depressed and apprehensive for what's gonna be coming up in the next few weeks.
Went to BJs, as they have great prices on all of the above. I walked into a near-empty store--and immediately the theme music from "The Twilight Zone" started playing. Vegetables--pretty wiped out, and NO carrots. Milk--NO milk of any kind, except goat milk. Guys, you can have my portion of the goat milk! I bought some Silk Almond Milk just to have something. I felt like I'd been slapped, like I had stepped into a nightmare. Here I was in America, and I was being forced to live like someone in a turd world country, with extensive food shortages.
I continued on to Wegmans, and was treated to pretty much the same experience. There was a sign over the carrots -- "Limit: 2 bags of carrots"--but they needn't have bothered, as there WERE no carrots to buy. I needed some for a recipe, so I bought baby food carrots. And a goo-goo to you, too! When I reached the dairy section, I was reminded of Texas--lots of WIDE OPEN SPACES. No milk in sight, and only a few cartons of eggs. I grabbed some eggs, as I needed to buy them before Passover.
As if I didn't hate China, murderous land of selling political prisoners' body parts and the most heinous methods of torturing and killing numerous animal species I ever heard of before, now they are firmly in my sights. I realize that not being able to buy carrots, milk, or refrigerated coffee does not begin to approach the horrible ramifications of the coronavirus plague on many families, putting wage-earners out of work itself, bringing death to loved ones, preventing freedom of movement, and all the other negative changes to our lives, but it's what happened to me now, so far. The food shortage was sufficient to bring it home to me, realtime.
How are the rest of you suffering and how are you coping? I feel for all Americans' suffering induced by the unspeakable lowlife Chinese and their selfishness.
> noticed there was no milk
I always get the ultra pasteurized anyway. It’s expensive, but it doesn’t go bad nearly as quick. There is stuff with an expiration date in May.
Small grocery outside of Nashville.
Milk and Eggs limited to one per person but in stock.
Paper aisle wiped out.
Bread aisle wiped out, had some frozen breads.
Every time I went to the grocery story I imagined what would happen if or when panic hit.
Everything was fine until last weekend. I had been monitoring the bathroom tissue aisle and it was the first time I saw a gap in the shelves.
* I went today and it was surreal. *
The first person I saw when I walked in was a store employee wiping down the self-checkout registers.
There were few people. The paper product aisle only had a few boxes of facial tissue and a few packs of paper towels.
Everything was basically stocked. There was plenty of meat, milk, and produce. Eggs were half gone. There were only a couple loaves of bread, Naturally the multigrain bread I regularly buy was gone. I have a loaf in the fridge but if I can't get more I can do without it.
However, for the first time since mid Feb. some people were wearing masks and gloves.
People were eyeing each other nervously. I tried to keep my distance from everyone; I didn't want to set anyone off by getting too close.
One woman with her face covered in a scarf created a aisle jam by moving her cart directly into a group of shoppers. I backed out before anyone panicked and started screaming (no one did but I could sense tension in the air).
The neighborhood is eerily deserted. Few people on the street.
As I said, surreal.
You said....”Here I was in America, and I was being forced to live like someone in a turd world country”.....
You are not even close to a third world if you’re concerned about stockpiling paperbacked books...you sound like you need a strong course in the difference between want and need.
We aint got anymore than we usually have. That is enough to last a good while.
Just wanted to add: Try going early in the morning when the stores are just restocking.
I was pretty blown away on Monday evening when I saw almost every staple out of stock. I’ve learned somethinng. The trucks in my area arrive in the mid morning. If I go shopping for groceries before 3 or 4, I have much better selection luck.
Badly
300 lbs. of shelved dried goods (beans, rice, pasta, flour, sugar, etc.) 6 chickens good for 5 eggs per day, 40 large meat meals (steaks, etc.), 9 cases of Pellegrino, garden planted, apple tree good for 500 pieces in the fall, fishing tackle, deer rifle, self defense weapons of each type .....
I can hang in until November.
Intersting fact is china will be the first country up and running again while the rest of the world continues to fight th virus.......bet they’ll leverage everyone.
Opposite in my area. Only canned creams of this and creams of that.
cream of mushroom aint too bad- it will do in a crisis at least-
because we care
I’m somewhat lactose intolerant so I only use half and half in recipes that call for milk, usually a cup or less in big batches of a recipe.
Evaporated milk in a can works in a pinch. That stuff has a long expiration date as you probably know already. :)
People have stripped out the sugar, rice, potatoes, eggs. But the fresh veggies are still plentiful.
I've always had food ahead but you know, there is always something you don't have for a recipe...
but we'll be okay...
I think as an exercise in living more simply, perhaps there are items that we really don't need afterall...
one thing for me is switching from name brand cereal to store brand...done....
we really don't "need" paper towels so I've stopped buying them...got plenty of wash cloths and towels that can be washed and reused...
one of these days I want to get rid of all paper napkins by using cloth ones....
Local stores are getting wiped out. The medical clinic is closing its doors for appointments. I have enough food. If needed powdered milk in the house. Lots of canned goods, enough to last for 60 days.
I cruise local stores for out-dates.
Wonder how many out-dates will be coming up because of lowered store traffic?
I’m in Wuhan. Everything is stocked normal.
Bat soup?
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