Food in the time of a pandemic

[blue_dolphin]

44 minutes ago, dtremit said:

I think there's just so many steps in the supply chain that right now, it's too easy for one of them to go wrong. A half-staffed dairy plant might choose to prioritize production of higher volume products like milk, or there could be a shortage on quart containers. 

Agreed.  Down to the individual store level if almost everyone on a given shift calls in sick. 

I do most of my shopping at the farmers market, a local miller/baker and Trader Joe’s.  TJs was randomly out of all their Belgian pound plus chocolate bars for most of Dec and my usual herb guy was MIA at the farmers market last week but otherwise, I haven’t seen any shortages of anything in my area.

 

[MaryIsobel]

We're seeing dairy shortages here. Even though we live in the midst of a dairy belt; it was devasated by flooding in November. Not sure if that is why or if it is the processing end of things. Produce has been a bit iffy of late as well. Other than that, seems to be a lot of the canned goods shelves are barren, but that doesn't affect us much as we don't buy a lot of it anyway but tough on the budget shoppers I'm sure.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Today Shoprite had a notice posted.  The gist of which:  "Due to unprecedented supply chain problems we don't have much to sell.  We appreciate your patience."

 

Product shortages are becoming funny.  But at least Shoprite had limes and potatoes.  And plenty of fresh produce.  (And toilet paper, which is more than I can say for amazon.)

 

[Annie_H]

I had an amazon open cart going for a few weeks. At one point I had 60-ish items. Then 45. Constantly looking for similar replacements. That is fine as I can usually find a different brand replacement. I ordered three different soy sauces and 3 different brand of eggs just in case they were out of my choice. When I finally ordered, a dozen things were out of stock and too late to find a replacement. (delivery was already on its way)

 

Direct from the farm like Palouse or a local warehouse supply do not need multiple travels and self stocking like a grocery. A company like RanchoGordo with one warehouse location will be more reliable. And local farm shares.

 

Misfits is probably the best deal I've found. And reliable. Produce direct from farms. 95% is loose packed organic. Their inventory does not need much travel. They have eggs, cheese, meats and seafood now. Lots of bread choices like naan, and sourdough. I'm ordering twice a month. Next delivery is Monday but still have lots of produce from a week and a half ago...even the cilantro is still fresh. I have collards, spaghetti squash, leeks, scallions, celery, fennel, lemons, limes, celeriac, radish, red and Napa cabbage, carrots, red onions, and shallots. Russets and sweet potatoes. Lots of choices for the weekend. Oh, and boston and a bit of arugula. End of the romaine. I have until 8pm tonight to add or delete. Excellent customer service if something is off or missing but that rarely happens now. 

 

Recent EATER article on supply chain issues. 

[dtremit]

22 hours ago, Annie_H said:

I had an amazon open cart going for a few weeks. At one point I had 60-ish items. Then 45. Constantly looking for similar replacements.

 

One thing I have noticed with Amazon (we've done WFM orders but I'm guessing it's similar for Fresh) is that a lot of perishable stuff "flickers" in and out of inventory. E.g., they'll have an item at the beginning of the day, it'll be gone later, and back the next morning, presumably just due to normal restocking. Very frustrating, and leads us to order from them a lot less often than other places. 

[BeeZee]

To borrow a lamentation from @JoNorvelleWalker…Shoprite had no grapefruits.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

To borrow a lamentation from @JoNorvelleWalker…Shoprite had no grapefruits.

 

But why would one want grapefruits?  Joking, just joking -- I use grapefruit to make my zombies.  (But only white grapefruit.)

 

[Kim Shook]

This weekend Lidl's fresh meat case was almost entirely empty.  Food Lion is still seeming to keep their shelves and cases stocked better than any of the bigger stores.  They, along with everyone else, had shortages during the snow watch, but they and Publix seem to do much better than Kroger, which seems to always be low on supplies.  

[heidih]

In California we have the intertwined issues of Covid/supply chain and animal welfare law that became effective January 2022 - so there was hoopla about  potential high pork prices. Pork sold here ,including from out of state, has to be raised in minimum turn around space of something like equivalent of 2 bathtubs. Today's article (whose link I misplaced) noted that no shortages now because there is about a 6 month (?!) delay from slaughter so we might see it in June but probably no more than 30 to 50 cents/pound. Of course lawsuits by producers are in full bloom.

[Anna N]

In a time of pandemic Canadians find a new obsession— documenting empty grocery store shelves. 
 

“Never mind hockey, maple syrup or Tim Hortons. Canadians seem to have found a new national obsession in recent weeks: Documenting the state of affairs at their local grocery stores, to try to gauge whether or not the country is in the midst of a food-supply crisis.”

 

Here.

[BeeZee]

At the supermarket today, there was a decent amount of chicken, except bone-in split breasts (I spotted 1 or 2 jumbo packs), however, they had many packages of small split whole chickens - chicken cut completely in half - which wasn't something they used to package. I guess if there is a labor shortage, faster and easier than breaking down the whole bird. Some note posted on the shelf about shortages due to the recent weather issues in the mid-Atlantic. 

[Kim Shook]

When we were up in the DC area last weekend, we stopped at Giant (as we always do for bakery cookies and cheesecake).  I couldn't see any indication of shortages at all.  We went up and down every food aisle and around the entire perimeter and everything looked like it was fully stocked.  This was the Annandale 236 store.  It was wild.  Looked like a Richmond store from 2019.  

[chromedome]

16 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

At the supermarket today, there was a decent amount of chicken, except bone-in split breasts (I spotted 1 or 2 jumbo packs), however, they had many packages of small split whole chickens - chicken cut completely in half - which wasn't something they used to package. I guess if there is a labor shortage, faster and easier than breaking down the whole bird. Some note posted on the shelf about shortages due to the recent weather issues in the mid-Atlantic. 

Halved chickens are a common thing here. A half-chicken is a good size when cooking for two, so I've always assumed that was the reason.

[Shelby]

We went to the big city Dillon's last Tuesday.  I've never seen the shelves so bare.  Granted, there was a snow storm coming in and the store was packed with people preparing for that, so I'm sure that greatly contributed.  The pasta isle had barely anything and there were signs apologizing for the shortage of bagged pasta.  I didn't look at the meat section--too many people.  Veggies were super sparse.  

[cyalexa]

On 2/5/2022 at 3:30 PM, Shelby said:

..... The pasta isle had barely anything ....

We have had bare pasta aisles in OK too. I have not seen whole wheat rotini for months. While I have not become a hoarder, I no longer practice "just in time inventory". 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by cyalexa
correction (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, cyalexa said:

We have had bare pasta aisles in OK too. I have not seen whole wheat tortellini for months. While I have not become a hoarder, I no longer practice "just in time inventory". 

 

 

 

I am unashamedly a hoarder.  I have pounds and pounds of pasta.  Plus probably fifty pounds of flour and three pasta makers should the prepared pasta supply run low.  And did I ever mention Rancho Gordo beans?

 

What is tragic:  I am out of limes and orgeat*.

 

 

*however Spanish Marcona almonds and organic Turkish apricot kernels are soaking overnight.

 

 

[haresfur]

9 hours ago, chromedome said:

Halved chickens are a common thing here. A half-chicken is a good size when cooking for two, so I've always assumed that was the reason.

 

I recently cut a chicken in half that way and roasted one half. It turns out to be a nice way of doing it imo. I could see doing it even if cooking the whole bird. The other half was split up more for a tagine.

[weinoo]

14 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I couldn't see any indication of shortages at all. 

 

Same here.

[gfweb]

me neither

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I just placed a Whole Foods order, I believe my largest Whole Foods order ever.  My first since amazon added the delivery fee.

 

The price of Diamond Crystal kosher salt had gone down to $5.79 for the 3 pound box, but it was marked with an exclamation point as having limited availability.  WF distilled water was being rationed.  I was allowed to purchase but two bottles.

 

Whole Foods, like Shoprite, has no organic cranberry sauce.  Whole Foods did have limes.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Salt and water were sold out.

 

[kayb]

Well, you can tell it's been a while since I was out shopping. Hit TJ's and the International Market, when returning from Child C's today, being they are both convenient to her house.

 

The TJ's haul:

 

White and rose', bottles I'd never tried (the Lagranja is purely and simply because I liked the label)

 

 

Ditto reds. Two bottles of the TJ Grand Reserve.

 

Cheeses, pepperoni, cornichons, curry sauce, olive oil, rice.

 

One batch of the International Market.  Coconut milk, shrimp paste, chili paste, curry sauces, tom kha soup mix, falafel mix, fava beans.

 

Soy sauce, canned fava beans, teriyaki sauce, soybean sprouts, Shao Xing wine, Key limes, onions.

 

And a Misfits order due this afternoon! I'm a happy camper.

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by kayb (log)

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Well, you can tell it's been a while since I was out shopping. Hit TJ's and the International Market, when returning from Child C's today, being they are both convenient to her house.

 

The TJ's haul:

 

White and rose', bottles I'd never tried (the Lagranja is purely and simply because I liked the label)

 

 

Ditto reds. Two bottles of the TJ Grand Reserve.

 

Cheeses, pepperoni, cornichons, curry sauce, olive oil, rice.

 

One batch of the International Market.  Coconut milk, shrimp paste, chili paste, curry sauces, tom kha soup mix, falafel mix, fava beans.

 

Soy sauce, canned fava beans, teriyaki sauce, soybean sprouts, Shao Xing wine, Key limes, onions.

 

And a Misfits order due this afternoon! I'm a happy camper.

 

Nice!!!!  Glad you got stocked up.  And, I buy wine based on labels too  

[haresfur]

@kayb looks like you are ready in case there's another wave. Good job

[kayb]

14 hours ago, haresfur said:

@kayb looks like you are ready in case there's another wave. Good job

Well, I can eat cheese, Asian food and drink wine, anyway,