Food stockpile in case corona virus comes nearby

#142

As of noon today, MSU cancelled classes until April 30. I don’t believe the on-line classes are subject to this cancellation- but, still. That is a HUGE university.

And @Hap… I frequently order items online as I live quite a distance from a large city. (No Costco or Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, etc) for HUNDREDS of miles. While doing some routine online orders late last week, I noticed a ridiculous amount of items were out of stock online. While getting items delivered makes total sense under normal circumstances, it may be more productive for some folks to source out their routine items at smaller, (perhaps out of the way), Mom and Pop stores.

If no one minds, I’m just gonna share this because it makes me smile- thinking of my frugal parents. And I think we could all use a bit more smiling, currently.

I’m not a panic-buyer, but I did learn something from my late Mother. That woman was the master of sales shopping and couponing. As kids in the late 60’s-early 80’s, my brother and I would joke about the nuclear fall out shelter Mom had in our basement. When she found a good sale, she would stock up. And I mean, really STOCK UP! I’d swear we had more toilet paper, oatmeal, canned tuna, Special K, Campbells soup, dried milk, pasta, spaghetti sauce, and Ocean Spray that any store in the metro-Detroit area. My brother used to show his friends the ‘grocery store’ in our basement…no one believed until they saw. And then, there was the freezer. During the summer, Mom would drag my brother and I to every U-pick farm in a 2 hour radius, so we could pick the freshest fruits and veggies, then we’d can or freeze- depending on what was needed. Mom did it all on a dime, and did it well. So well, in fact, that when she and Daddy passed away, my brother and I were in awe of how much money my parents had saved up. You’d never have known Daddy was a school teacher in the rouge. What we see people doing now, amidst this Covid-scenario, is panic-buying. What I grew up learning was just exercises in frugality, economic common-sense, being smart and responsible with our cash flow, and learning how to do stuff like canning- which has largely become a lost craft. I miss my Mother dearly, but she sure taught me alot…and remembering all of that kind of stuff makes me smile. Even the rotten-tomatoe fights with my brother make me laugh now. =)

(Ashley) #143

I also agree I don’t see the need to stockpile, but I am in a lower healthier age bracket so my concerns are different to older less able and higher risk, but I do think people are taking it a little too far! I’m more concerned with the elderly I come in contact with then myself!

(Brandy) #144

@SecondBreakfast- What a great story. You see the most tender and endearing parts of this otherwise comical story about your mom. Thanks for articulating it to us just like you did. You gave me the feels.

(charlie3) #145

Supply shortage could be an issue (but not so far in Michigan). I’m also interested in having the option to just stay home. Having some extra calories stored up simplifies things. It would be nice to have 30 days, not there yet.

Today was salmon, eggs, olive oil, vinegar, peanut butter and a flu shot. (What can I make with olive oil besides salad dressing?)

#146

Dried beef - like Shorty Sausages, or zero carb jerky
Spam😉
Tuna
Sardines or kippers
Salt
Olives
Pickles
Nuts
Whatever sort of canned or bottled drinks you like, Keto approved of course.
Tp, , toothpaste, soap…f you dont have much on hand.
This list, unless you’re carnivore, is a good start.

(charlie3) #147

Your list reminds me of how few different meals I prepare. I don’t eat any of the things on your list. I don’t keep peanut butter in the house normally to avoid binging on it but I bought a bunch for the corona crisis as cheap calories of last resort. I won’t open a jar until better food get scarce. Thanks for reminding me about toothpaste, I’m short on that. I’ve got drinks covered, ice coffee and Crystal light lemonade powder. I had to ban nuts because of binging. Not only have I done very well at sticking to the diet I’m weight stable and never hungry. Took two years to get there. I’d like to be a bit leaner and have a bit more muscle but haven’t solved the puzzle for how to do that.

#148

I was going to the beach yesterday but went to the supermarket instead.

The last cold I had was in 2013 when I was in a stressful carer role for a dying family member. It put me in bed a few days moaning. The end of the following year I started Keto. I had/have the flu vaccine each year over the past decade as I am a teacher teaching young adult teens computer based classes. In two of those years I was a bit unwell for about 2 days after vaccination. Many of those kids can consider junk food and hygiene lapses acts of rebellion against parental type older people who suggest to them to blow their noses and not sneeze into their hands then wipe them on their pants.

At the market I bought supplies as we have a chest freezer at home. My wife is a standard diet eater tending to low carb. Her specific supplies are canned red beans, canned lentils, canned tomatoes, canned chick peas, and nuts. I got frozen cauliflower and broccoli. I got a bit of extra cat food for our cats. I have been slowly gathering on-special meat cuts over the past few weeks and had a butchered lamb already in the freezer. I’ll go past the local olive farm and pick up some oil today and pick up an extra bag of coffee from the roasters. I have been buying an extra can of sardines per week and have a stack of 8 cans in the cupboard. I got some extra tuna, mainly because it was half price. Sadly the avocado trees didn’t fruit this year.

The supermarket wasn’t that busy but the baby wipes and toilet paper shelves were empty. A lot of the Keto foods and pickled vegetables in jars were in good supply. Freezer containers were almost sold out. There were no vitamin C tablets as I got some magnesium and Vitamin B3. The farmers wife told me that a smaller market in another nearby town had good local meat specials as they had sold out of cleaning products, paracetamol and paper products, so less people were shopping there.

I did see some stern faced younger mothers with shopping trolleys bursting with breakfast cereals, snacks and cola. It may have been there standard weekly shop. I don’t go into those aisles, so not sure how the shelves looked.

A lower inflammation inducing way of eating may be of benefit when the infection hits.

So, my days at home will be spent converting the shopped materials into bone broth bases, stews and meals ready to defrost from the freezer. My plan for our small family is good nutrition now, nutrient dense higher fluid foods (soups and stews) when infected with those meals easy to prepare by a grumpy man cold bear, good nutrition in recovery. Along with the standard avoid highly processed fats and carb etc.

It’s likely I’ll catch this bug soon as I am frontline teaching with numerous international students from at risk countries. I’ll get the flu vaccine ASAP in April as I don’t want the double whammy.

But like many in this community are expressing, their concern is for our elders. I want to be healthy enough to help them out, when they quarantine themselves preventatively or due to illness. I’m certainly aware enough to not be a source of infection for them, balanced against regular social interactions. We are already practicing social distancing at family gatherings so as not to do habitual hugs and kisses. But I still call barleese during this practice time so I can hug my mum. My wife and parents-in-law are Italian, it is quite humorous (and sad) to see them try not to greet with a kiss.

Can eggs be prepared for freezing? I’ll see what the Internet says. The slow cooker is on. I’m off to the beach (and olive farm).

Coronovirus Prediction
#149

Marinade your meat in the olive oil. Cook the meat. Then soak the rest of the liquids into mushrooms in the pan.

#150

Absolutely stunned at worked today. I work for a small retailer in my area, and OMG. When I went into work yesterday afternoon, it seemed like there was an uptick in retail traffic for 330 on a Wed. Customer after customer was stockpiling toilet paper. The shelves were nearly bare by the end of my shift. So, what’s the big deal with TP?? Several customers came rushing in right before we closed, panicked, and grabbing whatever TP they could find. One lady told me, “Walmart is out of toilet paper. Everyone is coming over here!” Sure enough…we had customers in the store well after closing time…buying toilet paper, candy, and disinfectant sprays. Advil and Tylenol were also being purchased in pretty hefty amounts as well.

I worked 90 mins late, as long as my boss would let me, trying to put in orders for all the sold out items. No guarantee we will get them, but, doesn’t hurt to try!

Around 1 or 2pm yesterday, Iearned that not only MSU had closed, but also Michigan Tech, Northern Mich Univ, and CMU. Student traffic is lower because of spring break, but there are bunch of Tech students who didn’t leave- and are searching daily for hand sanitizer,masks, gloves, disinfectant spray and wipes, alcohol, etc. I feel bad that I don’t have much to offer in those areas. Even the handsoaps are running low now.

(charlie3) #151

Sounds like you are in Michigan, like me. I wonder how fast the TP supply chain can catch up with the hoarding or if they will try. Tomorrow morning I’ll try to be at the door of my produce store when they open to top off my meat supply and refresh veggies, enough for 10-14 days. I don’t expect a hoarding problem with fresh veggies since they are perishable.

My game plan comes down to, stay home. I’ll shop for food. I have no desire or need to be in crowds, use public transportation, eat out, etc. The only thing I’ll miss is the public library. I don’t want to be infected and I don’t want to infect anyone. If everybody could be strict to perfection the virus would be gone in weeks.

I heard a youtube video where someone read an account of a hospital in northern Italy where beds are so short nobody above 60ish was receiving treatment of any kind–very harsh triage.

(Doug) #152

Maybe… I’ve got a really long fast coming up, and I don’t even know it yet.

(charlie3) #153

I’m not worried about my region running out of food. I’m concerned about access to the food I want to eat and keeping control of when I’m exposed to crowds. We need to be telling people to just stay home. It’s hard for politicians to recommend because it hurts businesses.

#154

Yes, we’re in the UP, not far from MTU. I’m not at all concerned about the meat supply, as we have quite a bit of grass fed beef in the freezer from the last two steers we butchered. And then, there’s the venison I processed last Nov…
My husband is great at strategizing, and articulated his thoughts to the oldest son over a phone call this morning. He told him, we are going about our lives with the realization that it’s likely we will get infected. If we don’t, then great. If we do, then we have a plan. If we get sick, then we’ve made sure to have enough consumables on hand to last our family of 5 here for x number of days. (might need to grab another bag of dog and cat food though.) Not panicked, just prepared to stay put if need be. Between Scrabble, chess and the LOTR - we should be just fine for awhile. =)

#155

Michigan update…the Gov just announced closure of all public schools until April 6. All of the confirmed and presumptive cases are in the lower penninsula, but yet here we are. Ohio announced school closure as well.

And, due to high winds and heavy snowfall, school is either cancelled or delayed today, anyhow.

#156

Kentucky schools will close after today.

I have a pretty good supply of food. May pick up a pack or two of frozen chicken. I told my kids that they would just have to suck it up and eat what we have. Somehow they didn’t inherit my ability to eat the same item day after day if need be, so the constant trips to feed them at a fast food place will stop for a while. The sad thing is that our town will probably lose a couple of private owned restaurants and businesses before this is over. I can’t see a way for some of them being able to pay the bills without any customers.

(charlie3) #157

I went to my produce store first thing in the morning and the place was as busy as a Saturday. The cashier said things were MUCH busier than usual for so early in the day and she thought people were over reacting. I bought about the same as usual but that’s on top of an overstock at home. If something is out of stock the next time I shop I can wait until the next shopping time except for fresh vegetables.

I asked a store manager if the store had received any special guidance about food handling because of the virus. The answer is no.

The big news this morning is about tourism, professional sports, bars, and restaurants. I’m not a customer for any of those.

(Jeff S) #158

This infographic is helpful for people who are having a hard time understanding the aggressive measures being taken against what seems like a small (currently known) impact:

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #159

Good.

I worked in grocery for 8 years. The food handling standards are very high, especially in the deli and meat departments. If things are sufficiently off during an inspection, the store gets shut down. Mistakes happen, but as a former member of middle management, let me assure you it is taken seriously. I worked at a high-end place, so maybe other places aren’t as stringent, but in my experience all problems are taken seriously whether they are reported by a government official, customer or employee.

I do admit personal ethics may be a part of my perspective. My bosses knew I’d fight anything vaguely untoward and defend any whistleblowers to the death… but thankfully that was never an issue. They didn’t want the substantial fines, so rules were followed and they put me in charge of fixing any small issues found by the dept. of ag.

I hope every store has a bulldog like me, but even if they don’t, the govnt has made the cost of noncompliance high enough to deter major problems.

The real problem in a grocery store is that it is an essential place that everyone needs to go to. And pick up products, check the label, and put them back on the shelf. In this regard we keto folk are the problem :laughing:, not mindlessly grabbing the same old garbage in “the middle”. The only way around that is to switch to a delivery only model. And debit cards. ‘Cause cash be nasty.

(charlie3) #160

I shop in one of the premier produce stores in my region that been operating several generations. Just the meat department might have 15 employees on duty. The head butcher and I are on a first name basis. I have no concern about their routine sanitary standards. What’s interesting is no pubic health authority as spoken a word I can find about whether fresh food surfaces can transmit the virus.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #161

It is the routine sanitary standards that protect us from things like this. Often the answers are mundane. Like “wash your hands” and "keep food below 40* or over 140*. Not sexy, but effective.