Community Chat

[PilatesLover]

I needed to brave the stores to purchase food yesterday.  I started with Costco because they're usually pretty well stocked.

I ended up turning my carriage around and walking out!  I drove to our regular town supermarket and the shelves were alarmingly bare.  The items on my list that were non-existent included:

• Gluten free frozen bread (Udi's, Glutino, etc.)
• Annie's gluten free mac and cheese
• Mission tortilla wraps - or any tortilla wrap for that matter
• Hunt's tomato products except for paste
• Pretty much all canned tomato products except for fire roasted flavor
• Gluten free pasta 
• Shredded cheese - all brands wiped out except for two giant sized store brand bags
• Salsa - all brands, wiped out
• Plain yogurt, any brand, in fact most flavored yogurts gone
• Bananas
• Potatoes that weren't half rotten and mangled
• Dishwashing liquid - only a few bottles of store brand

Many shortages in health and beauty, very little butter (none unsalted), very little margarine and my Brummel & Brown gone, etc., etc., etc.  And of course no paper products or sanitizing products at all - not even bleach.

There is another discussion about meat processing plants, but now it seems everything is running out.  It is scary out there.

[BeautyLver]

Perhaps liase with those you know in your area as to best places to shop, days, times to shop.  That's what I have done.    Don't know where you live but doing my research as stated have had no trouble at thks time obtaining most of what is your list.  Sometimes can't purchase what is on my list on a given trip.  But I make  do or I improvise.  I am focusing on the fact that I am as safe as can be...thst I have food, water, shelter.  If I can't obtain what I want, I will again.

[gardenman]

The shelves are being restocked here, but the stuff goes as soon as it hits the shelf. People are buying stuff like it's going out of stock forever. 

[CrazyDaisy]

The last few weeks I have seen just the opposite, shelves being full.  There are still specific brands that are not available but something there for a substitute.  Exception being cleaning prducts.  Did find Clorox wipes but not much of anything else.

[PA Mom-mom]

@PilatesLover  I was at ShopRite (eastern PA) on Sunday. I noticed good availablity of fresh produce and meat. Almost no frozen fruit and veggies, limited yogurt and cheese. Shelves were BARE in the grocery aisles. No raisin bran, etc. As you said, no canned tomato products. I got the last can of chick peas. Paper aisle completely bare. WOW! Once good result of the cold weather in PA is that I can keep lots of fresh produce on a table in our garage. 

[Abrowneyegirl]

I have noticed the opposite!  

3 weeks ago items were limited, but lately, everything except cleaning chemicals is fully stocked.

Yeast is hard to find but I did find it yesterday for a friend.  I could only buy one packet or jar.

I find that shopping later in the day yields the best selection in every store I have visited.

[PilatesLover]

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@PA Mom-mom wrote:

@PilatesLover  I was at ShopRite (eastern PA) on Sunday. I noticed good availablity of fresh produce and meat. Almost no frozen fruit and veggies, limited yogurt and cheese. Shelves were BARE in the grocery aisles. No raisin bran, etc. As you said, no canned tomato products. I got the last can of chick peas. Paper aisle completely bare. WOW! Once good result of the cold weather in PA is that I can keep lots of fresh produce on a table in our garage. 

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That's right - I forgot to mention the frozen products.  No frozen fruit at all.  It's downright scary, it makes you wonder if everyone in the food packing industry is sick?

[rolen]

Things must really vary from place  to place around the country.  I am in the St. Louis area and shopped this morning at a local chain grocery store.  They have special hours of 6 to 7 am for seniors.  I don't like getting up in the dark and driving in the rain to the food store, but it's just how things are now, right?  

I did not have to wait in line to enter the store, but they do have a lady counting how many people enter.  A few weeks ago, there was a line of about 6 people waiting to get in.  Anyway, the store was not crowded at all and I found everything on my list.  

The produce area was overflowing with fresh goods.  I bought bread, buns and fresh bakery breakfast rolls.  Because of the closing of meat plants, I stocked up  on meat products.  I bought ham, fish, beef roasts, ground beef, chicken, pot roast and pork chops.  They had plenty of all of them.  

I bought milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs.  The shelves were well stocked with canned good of all types.  I even found some dry pasta which had been a little scarce lately.  They had plenty of cereal, soup, flour, sugar, condiments, salad dressing and basically everything else.  I did not check out the paper goods as I stocked up on them using web sites a while ago. 

I even commented to the check out clerk how happy I was to have found everything on my list.  It is sad and surprising that some areas of the country as described by the OP are having shortages.  I feel I have been very fortunate with my shopping lately.  

[PilatesLover]

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@Abrowneyegirl wrote:

I have noticed the opposite!  

3 weeks ago items were limited, but lately, everything except cleaning chemicals is fully stocked.

Yeast is hard to find but I did find it yesterday for a friend.  I could only buy one packet or jar.

I find that shopping later in the day yields the best selection in every store I have visited.

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Well that's encouraging news, thank you.

[geezerette]

Some of it depends on where you live.  

And some of it depends on what you're trying to buy.  I was talking to a guy that works for a vendor for a major snack food manufacturer.  He said they (the vendor) were working 24/7 shifts, but had had to retool their plant because the snack food manufacturer was only producing their best selling brands.  

So it's quite possible that certain items you're looking for just aren't being made right now.