Panic buyers

[Idliketoteachtheworldtosing1]

Aibu to think that it's damn ridiculous the way people have been panic buying?
Personally I think that all the supermarkets should take a leaf out of our co ops book and allow one 6 pint per person! Yes it caused a few rows but surely that is the fair way when stocks are running low.
It's always milk and bread, some people are so selfish and buy ridiculous amounts of the stuff.
It drives me mad.

YANBU, people have been going mad panic buying.
I actually think people should be more organised in general when it comes to stuff like this and should plan for things like this to happen by keeping emergency stores/rations, even if it's just a few loaves of bread and a couple of bottles of milk in the freezer.

If people did this there would be less need for panic buying in the first place.
I also agree that it's also to do with the way shops manage their stock and deliveries, as well as the supply chain itself running into problems.

I haven't needed to go food shopping for a few weeks now, so we didn't leave the house at all during the bad weather last week.
We already had in 2 x 2 litre bottle of fresh, extra filtered milk that easily lasts over a week once opened, and always has around 4 weeks shelf life.
I'd bought those almost a week prior to the bad weather, and we still have about 1.5 litres left.

My cupboards are always very well stocked anyway, so I don't need to 'panic buy' in bad weather or at Christmas, etc.

I also keep stocks of UHT milk, as well as powdered, dried milk and coffee whitener. Along with tea, coffee, flour, sugar, pasta, rice, noodles, cereals, tinned goods inc.sweet and savoury, jar goods, sauces, packet mixes, frozen meat/fish/veg/fruit, frozen bread, preserves, lentils, pulses, dried egg, sourdough starter, dried yeast, basic medicines, toiletries, household goods, cleaning products, coal, firewood, kindling, matches, pet food, etc.

If it really came down to it, we could probably live for about 12 months on what I have in my stores/freezers, etc.

We'd obviously run out of fresh produce after a few weeks, and things would need to be portioned out, rather than just a free-for-all, but we'd still eat pretty well.

We'd actually decided to run down our stocks a few weeks before the bad weather hit (hence not having been shopping recently).

Once I've done that, I'll then reorganize my pantry and stores, buy new (more efficient) freezers and then build my stores back up again.
I'm very strict with ordering and rotating products by date, etc, to make sure nothing goes to waste and gets used up in time, before being replenished with new stock.

so stocking up for no reason is great, but stocking up for an actual known event is selfish and entitled?

Makes sense

Actually, I never said it was selfish or entitled, I just agreed with the OP that people have been madly panic buying.

The only comment I made is that people would be better off, in general, being more prepared for things like this to happen by having 'emergency' stocks of essentials.

@saoirsesoige I actually understood the original point you were trying to make, and my post at 23.55 on Monday 5th March was my first, so I've not been involved in any comments towards you.

Ok sorry, it looked to me like you were agreeing with the people who had been incredibly nasty for no reason, I must have picked it up wrong. Sorry for lumping you in with them.

No I dont, trouble is they papers put there will be a shortage of something, lat time bread, and people go mad. I always have some in my freezer, because I can only eat a particular type, went to our local Sainsbury yesterday, DH only likes a certain type the sehvles were almost empty of any bread in the morning.Also keep good basic sock larder.

I also only like a certain type of bread but if shop supplies run short You either fall back on the emergency loaf in your freezer, suck it up and have something else or go without.

I agree that The Government has a responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves or who have too great a burden to shoulder alone. But if you can help yourself by planning a bit and keep out of their way while they help people who need it, why wouldn't you.

Has nobody mentioned profiteering yet?

98p for ONE roll in my local budgens. They’d split up multipacks and were selling them individually. Disgusting!

saoirsesoige, for a start I don't stock up for "no reason". Both me and DH hate food shopping so if we have a pretty good stock of tins, lentils etc it means we only have to do a biggish shop every couple of months.

Secondly if, for whatever reason (sickness, the car breaking down, snow etc) we cannot get out of the house for a few days or even weeks we have plenty of food to eat.

Thirdly we only really "stock up" with tinned food, lentils, chickpeas, various dried beans. We might buy 6 tins of tinned tomatoes but if I thought there was going to be a shortage of them I would only buy 2 or 3.

I really doubt there is going to be a shortage of lentils, chickpeas etc any time soon as most people don't seem to eat them. In fact plenty of people don't even seem to know what chickpeas are.

I certainly don't stock up on bread or milk. I may have one or 2 loaves in the freezer and probably one bottle of milk. I don't see the need to stock up on either of those things. We get through very little milk. I put the tiniest splash in tea and coffee but am happy to drink both black. I don't usually put it on cereal. I would rather have yoghurt or oat milk on cereal.

We don't eat that much bread either (it's not really that good for you). I do sometimes make bread and if I ran out and thought the shops would not have any I would make some.

I don't have cupboard and cupboards full of food and I only have a normal fridge freezer. I just think it is short sighted to have very little food in the house.

We had quite a lot of snow last week and so we didn't step foot outside the house. No need to as we had plenty of food.

People who rush to the shops at the first snowflake or because it's Christmas and shops are going to be closed for a whole day are, in my opinion, pathetic.

We have a large Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Iceland and various little corner shops within a short walk and I haven't been able to get any milk in any of them since Thursday and I don't quite understand why.. it only snowed for about a day here and whilst the roads were quite bad then it had all completely melted by Saturday. I'm guessing it's a lack of deliveries rather than people panic buying but we live in the middle of the West Country! Surely our milk isn't travelling far and wide to get here anyway?

plenty of people don't even seem to know what chickpeas are

Sorry that hijack, but . What people are these? Every child I know eats hummus these days.

At the end of the day people that are organised say " gee, lookit that weather report, a whole week of misery is due. Even the weather alert has gone to red. I best follow advice and not go out in it unless its urgent" and then they go to asda and buy enough stuff to last a week. It is hardly panic buying. But at the end of the day, shops get perishables delivered daily and the fact that they run out is proof that people were right to go out and get enough to last the week in the first place.

I am always organised. I have a chest freezer full of food, at least 6 pt of fresh and 6pt of frozen milk and 2 frozen loaves at all times. I have atleast 8 tins of sausage and beans, beans, 6 jars of pasta bake, lots of pasta etc. I keep candles for emergency situations and even have a camping stove and gas cylinger "just in case". But that isn't because f snow, its because I have 4 kids, chronic health issues and am currently on a low income. Common sense.

Weirdly, our local supermarket did run out of lentils.

People who rush to the shops at the first snowflake or because it's Christmas and shops are going to be closed for a whole day are, in my opinion, pathetic

Yes, they should stay at home despite the worst weather warnings in decades. and let their kids starve because you think they are pathetic.

God, people are horrible

Why are your kids likely to starve? Don't you have a couple of days supplies in just in case. Might be a bit dull or a bit of a struggle (I have a fussy eater in my house) but, unless there is larger issue in that household, no one will starve. Very emotive language.

Alice I'm in the West Country too and if you read my post up thread, it said that many farms did not get their milk out on Thurs/Fri at all. Sadly the milk no longer goes from farm to shelf directly, it goes to a processing/bottling plant, then to the retailer's supply chain before it gets to your local store. So it could have travelled very far and wide.

I wonder if there's anyone on MN who works for one of the supermarket's that could explain better.

Why are your kids likely to starve? Don't you have a couple of days supplies in just in case

yes, a couple of days. But with the snow we couldn't get to the shops for a week!
Listen to yourself!

Well, I was trying to be polite. You actually should have supplies in for a cushion of at least a week.
I'm not saying my dh didn't give the shops a go but he was under strict instructions to turn around and come home if it was too mad. It wasn't. He didn't.

Oh I should should I? Says you?

Why? I have a supermarket 5 mins away, I have no need to keep huge amounts of food in my small kitchen, and I need fresh milk for my child.

So you went to the shops same as I did, so wtf are you doing lecturing me?

You don't want to? That's your call. Do what you like. You have alternatives to "just in time" on your own supplies. Some people do things differently to you.

I know they do, but you don't appear to, telling people what they "should" do according to your ideas.

People buy what they need in the shops. Why is this so hard for you people to understand?

Wow. So much stress on here about this. Which is one of the reasons I have stuff in stock at home. To avoid it.
I have plenty of other things to whinge about that, I'm sure, others think is unreasonable. I personally think it is generally unreasonable to complain about thinly stocked shops in a weather blip at the end of winter. Totally understand some people feel they can't do get a cushion of stuff in for health / financial reasons.

When there is a snow situation like the one we have just experienced - or are still in the midst of - normal, sensible people think of the wider community not just about themselves. There is no point in getting obnoxious and sweary on an online thread if you do not adhere to this unwritten law. It really does nothing to enhance your case.

Why is this so difficult to understand, hmm?

Nobody has starved. Fgs