This has to be a quick pantry post today. I had some eye tests done yesterday and my eyes are still hurt with too much screen time. I had to keep them shut most of yesterday and today I just have to avoid being in front of a screen for long.
We had an interesting week where we felt the impact of shortages and supply chain difficulties. For the first time since the COVID lock down, I had to go to three stores in one day to purchase basic food items we needed. This was not a stock up shopping trip, it was simply to purchase produce, dairy products, etc.
Who knew that there is an industry wide shortage of half and half in our area? After doing my usual Meijer shopping in the morning on Wednesday, I went to Aldi for a few items in the afternoon and they once again had no half and half in stock. A store employee told me it was not only Aldi but other stores were having difficulties getting in some dairy products.
I went to Kroger, where I ended up purchasing a name brand of organic half and half just to have enough for a few days. We were to find half and half at Aldi later in the week, checking early to see if they (finally) had a shipment in. At least I could get everything on my list but it took most of the day.
Our second adventure in shopping during a time of disruption was in our search for a new refrigerator. We had been putting it off but we knew our old refrigerator had to be replaced soon and we did not want to get stuck without one while waiting for an order now taking months.
We went to Lowe's first since they always had the best selection. Oh, did I mention that our house was built in the 1960s and the kitchen really requires a single door white refrigerator? Which seems to be too old fashioned for most kitchens these days.
There were a few at Lowe's among the huge selection of double wide stainless steel models but I am convinced the people who designed these single door refrigerators never cook a meal at home. While larger than our refrigerator we now have, there was actually less shelf space in each one... and our current refrigerator is not very big.
We decided to go to Home Depot, where there was even less of a supply of white single door refrigerators, tucked away in the back of the department, and none were even close to being practical for our needs. By this time, I was very tired (especially as it was the second day of shopping during a supply crisis) so we went home, deciding to try Menards later in the afternoon.
What was interesting is when I prayed about needing a new refrigerator, Menards kept coming to mind. However, that didn't make sense logically because they had the smallest selection of appliances. It doesn't take a big selection if God is helping you do your shopping. ;)
At first, all I could see were double wide stainless steel refrigerators but they had one... only one... single door white refrigerator on the floor. I'm not talking about in stock, I mean only one model period. Not only was it in stock but it was exactly what we wanted... and the price was great!
Feeling a bit like Goldilocks, I realized God had been nudging us toward Menards all along. However, we would not have known that model was "just right" if we had not been searching all day.
The employee who worked at Lowe's had been helpful and he warned us not to wait too long to make up our mind for they may not be getting any more refrigerators in soon.
The employee at Menards told us the very same thing. Except he said not only did he know they were not getting any more in for awhile once their "in stock" supply were sold, he had no idea when they could get more appliances in at all.
The subject of supply chain challenges even came up at my retinal specialist's office. I was told there that they were having trouble getting some medical supplies delivered. Even something as simple as alcohol wipes used to disinfect eye exam equipment.
When we started talking about shortages at the grocery store, the technician who was taking photos of the retina in both eyes told me that she had been warned by an employee at her grocery store to purchase Thanksgiving turkeys now and to purchase any hams for the Holiday season now, too. Once what they had in stock were sold, they probably would not be able to get any more in during the Holiday season.
I know that most of the people who read the Pantry Posts are diligent about seeing what is going on in the world and planning accordingly. I am interested in any shortages appearing in your areas.
What the refrigerator shopping adventure reminded me is that God will lead us to what we need. I believe He also gives us wisdom when we need to make purchases and provides the finances to do so. There is a Christmas ham at the store with my name on it (or there will be)!
17 comments:
Brenda as you know I am in South Australia. We just have generally low shelves at the moment. However cars are hard to get. Most cars are on a year or so order and its unknown if that year will turn to more. I think so as magnasium is in shortage.. this goes into Aluminium and also semi conductors. So now we are hearing world wide car production is likely to halt soon. IN UK this has meant that second hand cars have gone up in price so much they are more expansive than new ones. All parts and components to vehicles and machinery are hard to get. Tractors are very hard to get. Think of this on a farming scale... Now with fertiliser shortage, fuel increases... farmers are going to have big problems. Therefore I think this situation could get a lot worse. The shipping doesn't look a lot better as even if the ships actually start moving the price per container is now to much for many.
I do my main shopping on Wednesdays at 3 different stores within a quarter mile of each other. The Kroger store was very short of fresh milk and eggs. It turns out that the problem at the Kroger is staffing. They do not have enough employees who work in the dairy department to stock the shelves. Possibly Kroger does not allow employees from other departments to help.
The Publix store was short of the same items they have been missing for a while - Gatorade and some other packaged beverages.
Sprouts ( small imitation whole foods type store) seems to have everything in stock.
We live in upstate NY between Rochester and Syracuse. We have been to Walmart and Aldi recently and so far both stores are well stocked.
I live in Ohio, a suburb between Cleveland and Akron. So far the only shortage I have seen was in Aldi’s… the large boxes of facial tissues were not to be found and most of the cube (small) boxes were gone. I’m in my early/mid seventies and learned from my depression era parents to always have supplies on hand. When we lived in a house with a basement we had metal shelving where I kept food supplies. To this day I can remember one of our children’s friends saying to me that my basement was like a grocery store! I have never hoarded; I keep ample stock for instances of having not be able to get goods in a store. ( I can also use those reserves as donations for our church food bank.) That served us well when we were unemployed for almost 6 months. I even learned how to make plum bread using small plums that grew on a tree in our yard. My bigger concern is not having access to fresh produce. We eat bananas every day, salads or coleslaw most nights and fresh finger veggies with our lunches as well as fresh fruit. My husband is type-2 diabetic and this routine has served us well. In our climate I cannot grow lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers for most of the year. I have to wonder if any of the containers at sea have produce in them that will be rotten?
Karen in Ohio
So far the only thing we have not been able to find is our favorite soda, diet gingerale. I always shop at two stores & have always gone to Aldi first, then Walmart. Often something I want at Aldi is out so I buy at Walmart. It was that way before covid. I couldn't get evaporated milk at Aldi last week but I did buy some at Walmart. My d-i-l picked up another case for me at Sam's club as well.
Canadian Thanksgiving is in October and I managed to get some turkey thighs but no breasts and the whole bird was in much shorter supply than usual at my neighbourhood grocery store - nor did I see any of the usual boxed. stuffed turkey breasts. The small hams that I usually buy went up about $3 in price and there none of the regular sales either.
Half and Half - in fact all dairy is fine - half & half and cream were actually on special this week so I;'e stocked up - but this is probably because it;s Canadian milk - we don't really import. Other items can be a bit hit or miss - I might not notice a shortage until I look for something specific and then can't find it - or things are not in their usual spot because they are trying to fill in gaps.
I do notice that there isn't as much choice - manufacturers are definitely sticking to their core products. Prices are also rising so it's good to be stocked up so that I really only buy fresh items and things that are on sale or that I have Loyalty Point offers on - I've actually reduced my grocery bill a bit over the past couple of months just because I don't need as much at the moment.
We have been experiencing some odd supply issues since the beginning of the pandemic. Lots of little things mainly. However, my mother really hates it all and is quite rude to employees about these issues. Currently the one that has affected us is the non availability of brioche...This brioche comes from France which is a long way from Australia. There are others but they just won't do.
Last year when our young friend rented the house next door to us it did not have a refrigerator. So we decided to help her out and give her our older refrigerator and buy ourselves a new one, even then there were shortages and we had to end up getting a slightly smaller refrigerator than we already had just to have a refrigerator at all.
Medical supply problems are worrying. We had problems with the supply of bottles for blood samples here in the UK. That was a few weeks ago. I don't know if it has been resolved yet. We have been warned that some foodstuffs, such as turkeys, will be in short supply for Christmas and also that a shortage of trained butchers may lead to problems with the supply of pork. I have also read a lot of things about people unable to start home improvements because of shortages of materials.
So glad you were able to find a refrigerator that was "just right"! The shortages in our area seem to change every few days - and they are things one least expects ... like bagged carrots in the produce section. I had to go to three stores before finding them. There is a critical shortage of vehicles on the sale lots right now. I know of several families who are looking for used vehicles and are having a very hard time. It took my husband weeks of searching for a suitable car for our daughter, and they had to drive several states away to get it - and that was a few months ago! But God is good, and no shortages can ever hinder His ability to provide for our needs ... "Is the Lord's arm too short?" (Num. 11:23)
-Joy
Thanks for the 'heads up' about the turkeys for the holidays.
Here, the stores seem low on some cat foods and kitty litter. At least the shortages aren't as bad as last winter.
Happy Halloween.
I have noticed that some items are not being re-stocked. I will know more when I do my shopping this week. I've been cooking with what I have on hand with the exception of fresh veggie or milk.
In my town, we are having a medical personnel shortage - the national guard had to fill in at one hospital and the other hospital is bringing in the traveling nurses from other states. My daughter-in-law is a nurse in the CICU and she says they do not have enough staff - it's common for her to work 15 hours a day.
I forgot to add that housing remains a huge problem here. One daughter has managed to buy a house. The other is searching. This weekend they put an upgraded offer on a house and were the top offer until Saturday when someone out bid them by $50 000 cash. It is so difficult now and the price rises by sometimes more than $1200 a day.
Then there is the rental problem which is very sad too and landlords are pulling all kinds of illegal moves.
Hi Brenda,
I experience those nudges from the Lord. A couple months ago I needed a couple large plastic bins. I can afford to go to Walmart to purchase a couple at about $24. But one Saturday morning I felt impressed to go to Goodwill. At that time I was deciding to quit Goodwill because I do not like how they changed pricing things. Regardless, I walked into Goodwill and found two very nice large bins for $2.99 ea. I was pleasantly reassured how the Lord can provide what you need.
Also, I follow a couple people about food purchases on Utube. One of them mentioned you can use whipping cream in your coffee. You don't need that much. I've been trying that and it does take a bit of getting used to. Organic is not easy to find though. Our Aldi's and Walmart do not carry organic milk products.
Lydia
we live deep in the mountains.. and have a tiny town market for things absolutely necessary. there isn't a shortage (there) but the prices are elevated even further than usual. thirty minutes north is a grocery store two doors down from our church so we go there after service on sunday. not shortages of the "no name" brands of canned goods but the other brands very little is available. we add to our pantry every week by about $10-15 dollars - the "no name" brands are half the cost so we've reached for those - and are pleased with the quality.
i'm encouraging my sister and her husband to pad their pantry just a bit every week - - and to consume a bit less every week. i now make my portions of chicken/beef/fish smaller then put them into the deep freeze. then i stretch as best can - adding shredded potato to hamburger meat, adding more rice to a chicken casserole, making my own bread items, making my own mix for cream soups - it's a dry mix and saves plenty of pennies. fresh veg is still available and the price is about the same. we seem to be eating more thoughtfully now rather than just grabbing, needing to make things last.
years ago (20?) when i began padding the pantry as needed a friend said, "well, if we get hungry we'll just go to Sherry's." :/ hm. i shared that each of us needs to do our part. and that the Little Red Hen comes to mind.
it's a different world, these days. may God give us wisdom. and grace. and mercy.
We haven’t seen too much where we shop Aldi. There have always things out of stock this time of year especially as it is Amish wedding season!
That’s interesting about the turkeys and hams. I’ll have to buy one this week.
Keep in mind Lowe's gives Vet 10% discount. We got our 1 door refrig. from them. I don't like it but we don't have large kitchen either- small spot for refrig.
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