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Author Topic: Shortages at the grocery  (Read 6819 times)

Offline Northern_Brewer

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #75 on: March 31, 2020, 02:57:38 am »
  I went grocery shopping today, short list of mostly things that were sold out last trip. I actually saw one 12 roll pack of TP - unfortunately it was in the cart of the person in line ahead of me at the checkout, the early bird get's the worm as they say. I didn't pay really close attention but for the most part the shelves seemed to be reasonably well stocked for most things other than paper products, that aisle was bare except for one forlorn looking group of a few dozen packages of paper towels.

That sounds roughly where the UK was 2-3 weeks ago. Hopefully your supermarkets will benefit from the experience elsewhere in the world and be better prepared (Walmart own the second-biggest supermarket in the UK for instance, so will have all the detailed data), but based on our experience then you're at the start of 2-3 weeks of it getting pretty tight in the categories that people are hoarding.  But life goes on, supplies still get through, you don't need to withstand a siege of a month or more, and you won't be eating nothing but pasta for a month - but at the same time it's maybe sensible to make sure you're not going to run out of important things for 1-2 weeks. Nobody wins if the nurse or the old lady down the road can't get basic groceries or eg soap - if you need more than one shopping trolley then you're putting the community (and hence you) at more risk, not less.

Fire Rooster

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #76 on: March 31, 2020, 08:14:38 am »
Went to food store early, and waited in line for the doors to open.
Had memories of younger years standing in line for a concert.
If someone told me one day I would be happy buying toilet paper
,and stand in line for it, I would have laughed.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2020, 02:52:47 pm by Fire Rooster »

Offline MDixon

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #77 on: March 31, 2020, 08:40:39 am »
Our local restaurants are selling supplies such as soap and TP now. It's probably worth checking with the place you are getting takeout if they are selling meats or other grocery items.
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Offline smkranz

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Homebrewed Hand Sanitizer
« Reply #78 on: April 01, 2020, 03:00:04 pm »
I'm sure I'm not the only one here doing this, but as a logical extension of my homebrewing hobby, I am making my own hand sanitizer since it is nowhere to be found on store shelves.  I am sharing my final product with my kids and friends.  There are two recipes I use.

First version is a 70% solution of 3 parts 189 proof Everclear (ethanol) to 1 part aloe vera gel...pretty much any kind will work.  Start with the gel in a small bowl and slowly add/whip the alcohol into it.  That makes a fairly runny liquid sanitizer.  It is very serviceable as is, and dries quickly and leaves your hands very smooth.  But it is also easily thickened to the gel consistency of your choice, with 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (Amazon) mixed well in 2 tablespoons of water, stirred and whipped to dissolve all clumps of gum.  It very quickly forms a very thick gel in water, but the xanthan gum does NOT dissolve directly in alcohol or sanitizer for some reason.  Then slowly stir/whip the sanitizer mix into the gel until you get the consistency you want.  I would mix in 4-5 ounces of your liquid sanitizer, cover and let it sit for a couple hours, and it will thicken up some more.  Whisk in more sanitizer to your final product.   That 1/4 tsp. xantan gum gel will make at least 6 ounces of final sanitizer gel which is the consistency I like but you could easily go to 8 ounces and still have a gel consistency.  Pour it into a squeeze or pump bottle, and voila!

My alternate recipe for a 70% gel is 2.4 parts of 99% isopropyl alcohol (if you can find it...I recently bought 4 quarts from Utah Biodiesel Supply but they're now showing out of stock), to one part aloe vera gel.  Then do the xanthan gum thing, or not.

Some of the aloe vera gel I have used is the green stuff with fragrance in it, which is nice.  The aloe gel I more recently bought on Amazon is clear and unscented.  The final product from that, whether with Everclear or isopropyl, has a prominent alcohol nose.  There's nothing wrong with that, and after you apply it and rub your hands for 20-30 seconds and the alcohol completely evaporates, the smell absolutely goes away so I do not bother with any essential oil fragrances.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2020, 03:37:36 pm by smkranz »
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Offline BrewBama

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #79 on: April 10, 2020, 10:39:21 am »
Saw this today




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Offline inbituinthebrew

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #80 on: April 10, 2020, 10:04:10 pm »
Saw this today




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Offline BrewBama

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #81 on: April 15, 2020, 05:23:44 pm »
One of my wife’s friends said she used one of those shopping services to pick up some things at the grocery. The company deducted the $ from her account but they didn’t deliver the order.


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Offline Richard

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #82 on: April 15, 2020, 10:44:41 pm »
Many years ago my wife went away on a business trip and left me to care for our two small children for a week. To make things easier she placed an online order for groceries to be delivered while she was gone. One of the items she ordered was some kind of jerky treats. They arrived, I fed them to the kids and one of them really liked them. Then I looked at the label and found out that they were dog treats!! My wife, who ordered dog food  for the children, and my daughter, who liked the dog food, have never heard the end of it since!
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Offline BrewBama

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #83 on: April 16, 2020, 06:29:01 am »



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Offline BrewBama

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #84 on: April 16, 2020, 09:15:06 am »
Straight to Ale creates new brew to benefit employee relief fund

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Straight to Ale has been able to stay afloat during the COVID-19 restrictions by continuing to provide to-go food and beer to customers.

The company has had to make some tough decisions as well, including laying off 62 employees.

“That hurt,” said operations manager Matt Broadhurst. “That felt personal. It wasn’t personal, but it felt very personal to us as a company.”

But the company has gone above and beyond to continue supporting these employees in any way they can— by helping them file for unemployment, and now, dedicating a new beer solely to them.

“We have a new beer coming out called ’86’ed.’ It’s an imperial German-style lager,” Broadhurst said. “One hundred percent of the profits from that are going to go directly back to our employees that we, unfortunately, had to lay off.”

By the way, “86’ed” is what these employees playfully call themselves, and the packaging even includes their likeness.

“If it’s as easy as making a beer that we can donate 100 percent of that to them, that’s the least we can do for them during this time,” Broadhurst said.

This limited taproom release will be available for sale in cans starting Thursday, April 16.


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Offline Visor

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #85 on: April 27, 2020, 10:38:51 am »
   With all the closures of meat packing plants I've been wondering how long it will be before we start seeing serious, long term shortages of meat in the stores. Today I saw that one of the big cheeses at Tyson is publicly warning that the supply chain of meat in the US is on the verge of collapse. Glad I have a good sized chest freezer mostly full, if the electricity stays on I should be good for many months, kind of feel for those who don't have that luxury though.
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Shortages at the grocery
« Reply #86 on: April 27, 2020, 11:14:33 am »
House of Raeford saw almost all their commercial sales evaporate so they started selling direct out of tractor trailers. Picked up 40lbs of boneless/skinless thighs for $35 cash. If you live near an area where they are coming I'll warn you 40lbs of chicken is a lot of chicken. Thank goodness we have a vacuum sealer. All the sales I have seen are in NC, SC, GA, and LA.

https://www.houseofraeford.com/news/house-of-raeford-farms-meeting-the-community-chicken-demand/
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