Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine

[MaryG12]

ITA.

Mental health is suffering over here in PeonyLand....

Every time I go out I get anxiety. Whether it’s seeing the empty shelves, someone passing by too close, or accidentally touching my face before I’ve used hand sanitizer.... something always causes me distress now.

I’d say the empty shelves are the biggest trigger for me. Even if it’s not something I need or want - It’s instantaneous anxiety just seeing that the shelves are empty.

The first time I experienced "empty supermarket shelf" anxiety was right before Hurricane Irma hit.

It was pretty scary, too.

 

[utahobserver]

Tip for those who have a Whole Foods near them for delivery: they open delivery windows throughout the day. I put items in my cart last night before bed and at 7am they had opened the 10am-12pm window. Delivery is free for Prime Members.

They are also open to 60+ shoppers only one hour before the stores are open to general public.

For those who aren’t fans of Amazon, they have given all workers a $2 per hour salary increase and will pay double the salary of both part time and full time employees for each hour worked overtime.
Whole Foods Market’s COVID-19 Response

 

[cody22]

West Texas Report - Same food and paper shortages as before. I learned this from "the Grocery Fairy ( our oldest son) who went to HEB for bread and chicken. He found some bread and chicken for himself, and then dropped us off some hamburger and two cheap frozen pizzas for us ( our 14 year old autistic grandson loves his two slices of pizza for breakfast every morning) that he "lucked " into .......I wish everyone a very nice safe and happy Sunday..............moo

 

[xtrain]

I just woke up very early this morning and was able to get a grocery delivery slot for a week from now.

Wow! I just tried Instacart for the very first time today. I placed my order around 8:30 this morning and it was on my doorstep by 11:15. I didn't order very much but did receive all that I wanted with one exception. Prayers for all of us!

 

[Boston Corbett]

One word: totwaffles.

Let Ada Powers explain: Ada Powers on Twitter

I get it: you're on lockdown. You're trying to do a lot with a little. It's hard to find joy in the midst of fear, depression, and austerity. That's why it's time to learn about totwaffles. (thread)​

https://twitter.com/mspowahs/status/1240676111534653442/photo/1

 

[jjenny]

Coronavirus: What supplies do you actually need? We’re not sure where toilet paper frenzy came from

This is a handy list. Interestingly enough, it includes soap, and hand sanitizer. It does not include toilet paper.

Moreover, this article mentions stocking up at home for 2 weeks only.

The bright side is, if you don't go out much, you don't need hand sanitizer much, since your home has soap and water. But you do need TP, and more than you normally use, since you do all your business at home now.

 

[momrids6]

NYC DOE

Free Meals

The New York City Department of Education is committed to making three free meals available daily for all NYC children.

• Beginning March 23, meals will be distributed at more than 400 sites across the city.
• Three meals a day, including breakfast, will be available to all NYC children Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 1:30 pm at locations across the city.
• Use our site lookup tool to find a location near you!

How to Pick Up a Meal

• No registration, ID, or documentation required.
• All three meals a day may be picked up at the same time.
• No dining space is available, so meals must be eaten off premises.
• Parents and guardians may pick up meals for their children‎.

Free Meals

Rsbm. I find this interesting. USDA is quoted in the majority of other places this is happening: the child or children you are picking up meals for must be present. Is NYC paying for these?

 

[Gardener1850]

Geez, from now on, I am using self check only. I was at the store tonight, and a checker coughed all over my food. WTH?!

I have left everything in the garage for now, frozen stuff wiped off, put away stuff in garage fridge and freezer to deal with tomorrow. Half the aisles are completely empty shelves. It is disconcerting.

We totally need a mental health thread. My husband is sitting in the car, and then, wants me to go to 2 more stores and pick him up a pizza! He totally does not get it! He lives in this secure little bubble, he hasn't left the house in weeks. Head banging emoticon.

My DH doesn't get how bad the stores are either. He's been stuck at home (working via internet) while I shop for our food. I think he has cabin fever and just wants to go out and do something, anything. Yesterday he wanted me to go shopping with him to several hardware stores and compare prices on raised garden beds in stock versus buying the cedar lumber to build our own. I pulled up all the price info on the store websites and showed him it was cheapest to order pre-made cedar raised garden beds online for delivery. We ordered with Amazon Prime and it will be here by the end of the week (2 day delivery is more like 6 days now but I'm not complaining). We will still have to go get the dirt ourselves. I looked into having dirt delivered but the delivery fee doubled the cost of the dirt. But at least that won't require much contact with store staff. We can buy our dirt online for store pick up, then show an employee our receipt and they will load it into our truck for us. We did this last year with mulch.

Yesterday DH asked me if we were going to church today. He spent all of Sat at home working outside and didn't look at the news once. I had to remind him that there were still no church services because of Corona Virus and a ban on 50 or more people gathering at once. We'll be watching it online instead. He sheepishly said, "Oh, OK. I thought maybe it had changed. I haven't been looking at the news." If I didn't watch the news I think he would never know what was happening in the world other than the fact his office told him to work from home for a couple weeks because someone there tested positive for CoV. I expect that his 2 weeks of working from home will be extended, but DH might still be thinking he can return to working at the office in a week.

 

[utahobserver]

Geez, from now on, I am using self check only. I was at the store tonight, and a checker coughed all over my food. WTH?!

I have left everything in the garage for now, frozen stuff wiped off, put away stuff in garage fridge and freezer to deal with tomorrow. Half the aisles are completely empty shelves. It is disconcerting.

We totally need a mental health thread. My husband is sitting in the car, and then, wants me to go to 2 more stores and pick him up a pizza! He totally does not get it! He lives in this secure little bubble, he hasn't left the house in weeks. Head banging emoticon.

You have to try box breathing. US Navy Seals use this technique to reduce stress during missions. I use it to keep myself sane.

Box Breathing

 

[epiphany]

momrids6:

Child Nutrition | NYSED


Child Nutrition | NYSED

03/18 New guidance from USDA regarding COVID-19 SFSP and SSO Meal Delivery Using Existing Authority

03/20 Noncompetitive Procurements Resulting from a Public Emergency

 

[epiphany]

momrids6:

IDK, perhaps, Federal funds dispersed by NYS due to public emergency in NYC?

 

[book-thinker]

Costco

Beginning March 24 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., Costco will temporarily implement special operating hours for members who are 60 and older. The pharmacy will also be open during this hour; however the food court will maintain its normal operating schedule. These hours apply to all locations except the Business Centers, which will remain open during regular hours. Find a Costco location near you. https://bit.ly/2UofArz

This is great news, thank you for providing this information. One major grocery store near me are providing little or no signs advising people to keep a proper distance from each other. People handling the produce with their bare hands.
Too many people for my comfort level.

In normal times I would sound paranoid.

I need to find a safe way to wash my produce after bringing it home.

 

[Dontknow?]

Update on Sprouts for people in the SW. They will have prepackaged bulk foods instead of bins and barrels.

 

[ilovewings]

Forgotten Harvest needs donations to continue mission during COVID-19 outbreak

DETROIT – Forgotten Harvest has refused to let the coronavirus outbreak stop their mission, but they need help to keep going.

The organization wants residents to know what they can do to help them and others during the crisis. Forgotten Harvest is in need of cash donations to help re-configure how it helps people and, at the same time, keep exposure risk to coronavirus as low as possible...

DH is venturing out to Nino Salvaggio's for fresh fish, fruit, vegetables. We usually have three or four fish meals a week and only had two during the past week. We eat very little processed food and are longing for fish and fresh produce. He took a mask with him and will use a plastic bag to select fresh fruit and veggies.

i love Nino Salvaggios---

 

[epiphany]

I'm following along w/ my InstaCart shopper (Aldi) for an order that I began trying to place last Thursday.

I'm watching as he sends me one Out-of-Stock item note after another. Other items - offering a replacement or refund.

No frozen veggies. No Cannellini beans. No whole wheat bread. No eggs. No garlic. No sweet potatoes. No OJ. For other products, when a replacement is offered they are most often smaller in size at higher prices.

This is quickly getting to be very expensive now.

I don't cry often, but I'm pretty close to weeping now

 

[xtrain]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed>

I need to find a safe way to wash my produce after bringing it home.

I wash all of mine in some white vinegar and water. HTH.

 

[MaryG12]

I need to find a safe way to wash my produce after bringing it home.

RSBM

Give Your Produce a Vinegar Bath

This can be done in your kitchen sink. Include produce you would normally peel to eat, such as an orange.

Before you do this, clean your kitchen sink with white vinegar and sponge.

 

[momrids6]

momrids6:

IDK, perhaps, Federal funds dispersed by NYS due to public emergency in NYC?

Something is different about it. I wondered because they are super strict about the kids needing to be with the adult when meals are picked up. It's really hard for many who are still working/ kids at sitter/car situations, etc. to abide by this. I was hoping for a loophole I could pass along.

 

[Suglo]

I went to the market at 6:00 am when they opened both on Saturday and today, Sunday. There were maybe 10-15 other people also doing the same. I found everything that people say they can’t find with them exception of hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. They did have Clorox surface cleaners galore though and plenty of toilet paper and paper towels. The thing is that about 10 out of the 15 people waiting with me filled up their carts and overflowed them with the paper products and other hard to find items. The stores ALL need to institute 1-2 packages of hard to find items per customer. Anyway this is in California. I hadn’t been able to find much of anything during the past two weeks but being there before they opened made a huge difference. I expected huge crowds both days but was pleasantly surprised.

 

[book-thinker]

RSBM

Give Your Produce a Vinegar Bath

This can be done in your kitchen sink. Include produce you would normally peel to eat, such as an orange.

Before you do this, clean your kitchen sink with white

Same!

I wash all of mine in some white vinegar and water. HTH.

Thank you