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Food in the time of a pandemic

haresfur

By haresfur
in Food Traditions & Culture

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, rotuts said:

I get those 30 lbs tubs delivered from them

 

much less work .  I just drag them in from the front door .

 

I do the same, except from Chewy or Amazon. Cat foods too.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

The Economist has a report on the Marmite shortage gripping South Africa since the start of the pandemic:

 

"I am distraught because I am about to finish my last jar," says Irine Mboweni, a resident of Johannesburg and mother of two.  "There is no Marmite on the shelves and I do not know what to do."

 

The shortages are attributed to the government's policy of banning alcohol sales to free up hospital beds when COVID first hit.  The Economist searched 15 grocery stores in Johannesburg, and found a total of only seven jars of Marmite, three of which had escaped by hiding behind jars of Bovril.

 

Your correspondent will neither confirm nor deny snagging Johannesburg's last seven jars.  Suffice it to say that Mrs Mboweni is no longer short of sludge.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

No doubt you have been reading or hearing about the severe lockdowns in Shanghai. I have no intention of getting into the politics behind what is being reported, but I will say there have been some wild inaccuracies.

 

I'm in near-daily content with friends in Shanghai who are telling a somewhat different story. I'm told that although no one likes them, most people acccept the need for the lockdowns. What they are complaining about is the shortage of food.

They have received food supplies from the government, but they have been irregular and meagre. Four such deliveries since April 1st.

 

1240134319__20220503120727.jpg.f3d80709ec09384d0f4de0897ce3a90b.jpg

April 1st

 

1788028914__20220503120744.jpg.ca9a943438d0c5adb537304dfc5aca9d.jpg

April 5th

2015043792__20220503120754.jpg.e5f54f1336019f0c00946b6a2e36c1f2.jpg

April 13th

 

1402302247__20220502204209.thumb.jpg.5345cc05b295f5408994d49d92374f52.jpg

May 2nd

Each household gets this, irrespective of number of residents. It is used to supplement what little is available in the markets.

This morning a friend in Shanghai informs me that as of last night, they can now buy from a limited selection of 200 items for delivery via this organisation. She is delighted as she can buy what she wants instead of what she is sent without choice. Her first choice was potato crisps/chips for her 12 year old daughter! Then some flour, yeast and baking powder.  And she got some toilet paper! Heaven.

I have felt frustrated because I can buy anything - no shortages here - and wanted to send her stuff, but it just wouldn't arrive. Deliveries aren't being made. My big worry now is that I am running low on my favourite imported, canned Portuguese sardines. I ordered some weeks ago, but they are stuck in Shanghai! But I can't really complain, can I?

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
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Teronms

Teronms

Posted
Posted
On 5/3/2022 at 7:20 AM, liuzhou said:

No doubt you have been reading or hearing about the severe lockdowns in Shanghai. I have no intention of getting into the politics behind what is being reported, but I will say there have been some wild inaccuracies.

 

I'm in near-daily content with friends in Shanghai who are telling a somewhat different story. I'm told that although no one likes them, most people acccept the need for the lockdowns. What they are complaining about is the shortage of food.

They have received food supplies from the government, but they have been irregular and meagre. Four such deliveries since April 1st.

 

1240134319__20220503120727.jpg.f3d80709ec09384d0f4de0897ce3a90b.jpg

April 1st

 

1788028914__20220503120744.jpg.ca9a943438d0c5adb537304dfc5aca9d.jpg

April 5th

2015043792__20220503120754.jpg.e5f54f1336019f0c00946b6a2e36c1f2.jpg

April 13th

 

1402302247__20220502204209.thumb.jpg.5345cc05b295f5408994d49d92374f52.jpg

May 2nd

Each household gets this, irrespective of number of residents. It is used to supplement what little is available in the markets.

This morning a friend in Shanghai informs me that as of last night, they can now buy from a limited selection of 200 items for delivery via this organisation. She is delighted as she can buy what she wants instead of what she is sent without choice. Her first choice was potato crisps/chips for her 12 year old daughter! Then some flour, yeast and baking powder.  And she got some toilet paper! Heaven.

I have felt frustrated because I can buy anything - no shortages here - and wanted to send her stuff, but it just wouldn't arrive. Deliveries aren't being made. My big worry now is that I am running low on my favourite imported, canned Portuguese sardines. I ordered some weeks ago, but they are stuck in Shanghai! But I can't really complain, can I?

 

Glad that sutiation in Shanghai is going to be normal again. These food supplies are not enough.
About your situiation with the canned Portuguese sardines - it's OK to complain when you get used to something and then one day it changes. 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Teronms said:

It's OK to complain when you get used to something and then one day it changes. 

 

What I meant was that it is a bit unreasonable for me to complain that I can't get a relatively luxurious ingredient when so many people can hardly get anything at all.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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Teronms

Teronms

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

What I meant was that it is a bit unreasonable for me to complain that I can't get a relatively luxurious ingredient when so many people can hardly get anything at all.

I understood that and tried to say that it is OK 😌

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ì just learned after three weeks that my six cans of sardines have left the Shanghai depot and are on their way to me. Also, and more importantly my friends' situation in Shanghai is much improved.

620301275_portuguesesardines2.thumb.jpg.4abd459d3f586c44a183eff14eb9c2fe.jpg

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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BeeZee

BeeZee

Posted
Posted

I went to Whole Foods to get lunch today, and for the first time I can remember seeing recently, they had unattended food samples out for the taking under plastic domes. All in little portion cups, except the grapes which I saw some guy stick his grubby paw in to. I did partake of a cube of cheese, which I popped in my mouth, and then re-masked.

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

i used to look forward to TJ's samples

 

one person making them , and handing them out

 

in little paper cups .  got to try a number of things that way

 

and added a few to my shopping list,

Edited by rotuts (log)
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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, heidih said:

Dad & wife went to 99cent store yesterday and reported bare bare shelves. 

 

With the price of everything going up, they may need to start going to the $1.99 store.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

better yet

 

go to the BigBox store

 

buy the largest box of ( this part is up to you )

 

set up a table in the parking lot 

 

( the shady spot ) 

 

and measure out $ 0.50  worth

 

and sell it for $ 1.00   .

 

file Franchise Papers  @  noon

 

by the end of the day 

 

a SPAC ( blank check firm ) 

 

will buy you out

 

as you laugh all the way to 

 

The Bank

 

 

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

With the price of everything going up, they may need to start going to the $1.99 store.

 

They just have not changed the name of the store. I think they bought 15 items and about half were 99cents - rest up to $3 or so. Still decent value esp for non food goods - major brands.  Also there is a huge former Albertsons directly across (part of the big anti-trust divestiture) that caters to Latino and Middle Easter shoppers. Great prices  gotta be selective. Those on tight budgets get a 2fer and can use their EBT cards. And a bus stop on a major street (Pacific Coast Hwy)

Edited by heidih (log)
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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

from today's WSJ :

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/free-samples-grocery-costco-whole-foods-11659709260?page=1

 

"" Shoppers who have yearned for nibble-sized freebies to return to supermarket aisles say the experience now has a new cache—minute thrills, served on crackers. Consumers are again lining up for slivers of salami or teeny paper cups of guava juice and again relishing the pleasure of snacking their way through grocery stores and not needing lunch after. Some though say they are noticing fewer samples, and new rules or social cues about consuming them. Some samples have been given out in little bags by workers behind plastic barriers. ""

 

""  

Other businesses have bid free samples good riddance.

“It was a running joke in our staff meeting that people would taste five or six samples and buy something totally different,” said Suzanne Varecka, who owns Honey & Mackie’s ice cream shop in Plymouth, Minn., that sells flavors ranging from carrot cake to Guinness brownie.''

 

""Whole Foods said samples vary by location and range from ones offered in containers with tongs for self-serve to those in single-use cups given by staff. The company said stores decide on products and serving styles. It has also introduced a sampling program on Amazon orders, placing freebies in some delivery and pickup orders to surprise customers.""

 

 

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, rotuts said:

from today's WSJ :

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/free-samples-grocery-costco-whole-foods-11659709260?page=1

 

"" Shoppers who have yearned for nibble-sized freebies to return to supermarket aisles say the experience now has a new cache—minute thrills, served on crackers. Consumers are again lining up for slivers of salami or teeny paper cups of guava juice and again relishing the pleasure of snacking their way through grocery stores and not needing lunch after. Some though say they are noticing fewer samples, and new rules or social cues about consuming them. Some samples have been given out in little bags by workers behind plastic barriers. ""

 

""  

 

 

 

You'd think the WSJ could afford a copy editor who knows the difference between "cache" and "cachet."

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted

Wasn’t sure where to put this, so…

 

I’ve volunteered for years at a weekly soup kitchen run by m church and a neighboring congregation, taking a Saturday morning-noon shift about every six weeks. The weekend before, I text my team to get menu suggestions, so I can pass the grocery list along to the coordinator. This week, they suggested nachos, and I duly asked for chips, ground beef, beans and the trimmings.

 

I’d never have thought of it for the menu. But we got more compliments on what a great meal it was than I ever remember having.

 

Cheap meal, too.

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Don't ask. Eat it.

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
27 minutes ago, kayb said:

Wasn’t sure where to put this, so…

 

I’ve volunteered for years at a weekly soup kitchen run by m church and a neighboring congregation, taking a Saturday morning-noon shift about every six weeks. The weekend before, I text my team to get menu suggestions, so I can pass the grocery list along to the coordinator. This week, they suggested nachos, and I duly asked for chips, ground beef, beans and the trimmings.

 

I’d never have thought of it for the menu. But we got more compliments on what a great meal it was than I ever remember having. People in stressed situations really respond ton something "fun"

 

Cheap meal, too.

It makes sense as a fun complete meal. A little fruit or greenery if possible but  thumbs up

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