Remember in 2020, when everyone was hoarding everything? I couldn't find yeast in my local stores for months. I'm convinced that someone, somewhere had a spare room filled with bags of yeast.
When people are stressed, they (we) do strange things, like buy a lifetime supply of bleach. Uncertainty breeds anticipatory feelings of scarcity.
A week ago I wrote about my big stock-up shopping trip at WinCo, mentioning how I went over my allotted cash. It was a generous amount of cash I'd packed with me. So, I was genuinely surprised when the cash register subtotal was ticking higher than was comfortable for me.
Since then, I've thought about why I spent so much, or should I say, why I bought so much. I bought 4 pints of fresh-ground peanut butter, 2 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, 2 types of breakfast sausage, 2 whole chickens, a flat of canned vegetables, and many more items in larger than normal (for me) amounts.
I think it has hit me that for the time being I'm just not going to be able to get to WinCo as often as usual. I went once in August, once in September, and now so far, just once in October. I think I was having some feelings of impending scarcity, that I wouldn't be able to get to the grocery store for several more weeks. And I really didn't want to run out of any of our favorites. While my situation isn't a crisis, it still triggered the cavewoman need to store up lots of wooly mammoth for the winter.
So here we sit, with enough food to last several weeks. It actually feels strange to not need to run out to the store to buy more of almost everything for a while. We'll run out of bananas, but the rest is well-stocked.
Who needs four pints of freshly-ground peanut butter? What was I thinking? The fortunate thing in all of this is I didn't buy much that was perishable or couldn't be stored in some way to prolong shelf-life. I froze a few quarts of the 2 gallons of milk. The meat all went into the freezer. The small amount of produce I bought was all long-keepers. And we'll eventually use all of the peanut butter.
I've had issues with food scarcity thoughts in the past. One of my daughters deals with these thoughts on a regular basis. 2020 certainly didn't help for either one of us. The mind reacts strangely to various triggers. Being too busy to go to WinCo happened to be my recent trigger causing overbuying of food. I think it helps to identify the "why" of some of our shopping or spending, particularly when it doesn't make sense for our usual selves. It helps in providing some self-compassion for a one-off over-spending. And it can help guide us when future circumstances are similar and could potentially derail our normal behavior.
Did 2020 grocery shopping have any lasting impact on how you shop now? Have you ever lived through a period of food scarcity, real or imagined? How did that change your grocery shopping?
We moved from California to a small city in Oklahoma in 2022 and went from having all sorts of grocery stores around to only 3- Aldi's, a store called Homeland which I've never ventured into because the flyer prices seem too high, and Walmart. That's it. We have had tornado and weather warnings here that have caused a rush on the stores, my daughter works at Walmart and would send pictures of shelves being completely wiped clean in a few hours because a snow storm was coming. So I'm always aware to be ahead in my grocery shopping, because there may be competition for what's needed! Also we are in what is considered a food desert and there isn't much of anything being grown here, so everything has to be trucked in and I notice that things like fruits and veggies spoil much quicker. So I've been a lot more aware of our grocery situation than I used to be!
ReplyDeleteWhen snow is predicted here, everyone rushes to the store and buys bread and milk.
DeleteHi Trina,
DeleteYou make some very good points about staying ahead of any shortages, or avoiding competition for goods before a weather event. I think by staying ahead of those weather events, it's a signal to grocers to keep their inventory up at all times. And by you keeping well-stocked, you're leaving needed food on the shelves for others who don't stay stocked up.
We only have those big snowstorms (the kind that cause everyone to panic buy) about once every few years. My daughter and I did have to stop by the store in 2019 to pick up laundry detergent the night before a storm and faced huge lines at the check-out. And we saw several friends and neighbors at the store that night. I was glad all that I needed was the detergent. People were mass buying eggs, milk, and bread that night.
Thanks for sharing, Trina.
While the pandemic certainly had an effect on how we shopped, I think we are mostly back to our old ways. We try to shop once a week and usually hit Aldi, Walmart, and Costco. However, we sometimes need milk in-between.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteOddly, I never returned to my old way of shopping. This is in part because our Kroger affiliate stopped offering a Senior Discount day once a month. But also, we've had several grocery mergers in the last few years, so there is less competition between stores, and the loss leader sales reflect that. And, I just don't want to go to several stores in a week any longer.
I'm glad for you that you've been able to return to previous ways of economically shopping.
I have 2 stores in this town of about $40,000-safeway and wm. Both have a long-standing history of being out of stuff, pandemic or not. If I have trouble finding something for awhile, and then someone has it in stock, I find myself buying extra just in case I can’t find it again. This also happened at Costco with frozen corn. It’s the only brand we eat, and they were out for months. I spotted it a few months ago, and bought 4 bags lol. Costco is an hour away, and we only go every 2 or 3 months. I decided I needed 20 lbs of corn in my freezer lol.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane,
DeleteA woman after my own heart! I would definitely buy 20-lbs of corn, given your circumstances. This is so much something I would do.
That must be frustrating to have both of your local stores frequently out of stock of items. Our local Walmart Neighborhood store did experience that about a year to two years ago. Every single time, the freezer cases would be almost empty, shelves would be bare of Great Value brand items. The milk cooler would be half full. And this was week after week. I kept thinking they must be winding down to close that location. But they didn't, so I don't know what was going on. They've returned to normal levels of stock this year. My wish for you is for your only two stores to change their stocking policies.
Thanks for sharing, Diane.
I sometimes do the cavewoman thing, too. Last spring, one of the things I stocked up on (that I heard was going to be scarce due to tariffs) was soy sauce. I didn't go crazy, but it's shelf-stable and I use it frequently to jazz up my meals, and didn't want to be without. I always like to have a stash of toilet paper (at least 6 rolls worth)--I've always been this way, but covid definitely made me more mindful of keeping extra on hand.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI didn't hear about or think about soy sauce as something that might be limited or much more expensive. Good for you to make sure you have enough. I, too, use soy sauce frequently in cooking. It has that umami taste that adds something to dishes that other seasonings lack. I also use it to darken stews and gravies when the coloring looks too pale. I'm now the same on TP, too. I used to wait until I was almost out before buying a large amount again. Now I restock TP when we still have a month or two in reserve. That's my new comfort level.
I hope you had a great weekend, Kris.
Ha ha, I have freezers (plural) and what my daughter and DIL refer to as my apocalyptic pantry. I stay well stocked because 1) I was raised in the country so canning, freezing, and stockpiling come naturally and 2) we now live waaay out on a mountain in a town of 502 people and the Mayor jokingly likes to tell me that my husband and I are the two in that number. Going to the grocery involves a one hour+ round trip drive so I stay stocked up. Nothing wrong with it. Let people laugh. At any given time I can pull dinner out of my…supplies 😀 Annie
ReplyDeleteHi Annie,
DeleteSo, you're the house that everyone in your family will be coming to when there's a run on everything in the stores or roads are impassable due to weather events! It makes complete sense that you would stay so well stocked. I would too if in your shoes.
It sounds like you have a comfy-cozy lifestyle up on the mountain.
Thanks for sharing, Annie.
I understand the cavewoman mentality! This year I've been doing a whole lot more canning. Mostly free gleened fruits and vegetables from friends and family who have abundance. Also since 2020 I have a toilet paper , soap, shampoo, laundry soap featish lol 😆 I think I have a feeling of urgency to be stocked up just on case. Thank you for your blog love the content! Gaila in the NW
ReplyDeleteHi Gaila,
DeleteI relate so much to what you said. I'm so glad for you that you've been on the receiving end of all of the fruits and vegetables from friends and family. Good job on canning it all. You'll definitely be glad you did this winter.
I am now the same way about detergent, soap, TP, etc. I definitely do not want to rubn out of any of those items.
Have a great day, Gaila.
I was one of those on the bandwagon in 2020 and had a really hard time using up the stash. I still have a few things let that are probably expired and I just can't get through them. So I probably won't jump on the bandwagon unless we have another big shortage like 2020. I do however, make sure i have flour in my freezer and don't even worry about yeast these days since I have sourdough starter that makes awesome bread as well as a lot of other things. I have learned to make a lot of things so running to the store isn't priority these days.
ReplyDeleteMy father passed away on Oct. 3 so no more garden veggies. He didn't have a big garden last year and none this year as his health was not so good. But 94 years old was a good long life.
Alice
Alice, I'm so sorry to hear about your father. 94 years, wow. I had noticed that you hadn't commented in awhile and was wondering if everything was ok. Prayers for you during this time of transition in your life.
DeleteI'm so sorry for your loss, Alice. My prayers for peace and comfort are with you and your family.
DeleteAs far as excess from 2020 goes, I've had a larger family at home to help me go through almost everything we stocked up on. There are a few items that we are still plowing through, but we'll get to those eventually. I wish you the same success going through your excess food stuffs. You make an excellent point about learning how to make so much using what you have on hand. With that skill, you really can go a long time without grocery trips. Thanks for that reminder!