Is it actually selfish to stock pile?

[Orange89]

Now I haven’t gone crazy with the whole loo roll situation (I currently only have 2 rolls left) and have been doing my usual shops (average of 3 small shops a week) but it’s safe to say I’m focusing my food on long life semi-healthy foods I can store in the cupboard space we have. It’s a little more than usual but nothing crazy. All I’m hearing is stockpiling is a stupid move but surely and obviously more people are doing this than letting on as the shops are emptying. But surely this is purely practical move? I know this could face backlash from people saying some people can’t afford to stockpile (I can’t really either) but I’m talking high calorie, cheap alternatives instead of the fresh foods they’d normally buy. Or that demand can’t be met but I bet there’s another baked beans / rice / powdered custard etc to last a couple months... Just in case

What actually irks is the profiteering - those that bought it all to ebay it for a fortune.

Yeah I saw two twats in America that bought $70,000 worth of disinfectant wipes and were selling them for 4 x as much on amazon. Amazon blocked their account thank god. They are claiming they have got $100,000 out of it though. I hope they go bankrupt.

@SudokuQueen

But hey, as someone else said, the same sheep panic buying are the same idiots posting about it on fb and twitter. We now know who to rob, get the pitchforks

LOL

@DonkeyKong2019 happy to look out for pasta, my daughters uni town have no shortages of anything apparently. That said there is a large sporting event tomorrow, but I’m happy to keep an eye out and post

I admit I have been stocking up for the past couple of weeks, we used to have in what we needed for the next 3ish days, we now have reserves in the cupboard/freezer. It's akin to what the rest of my family has as the norm, but for us it meant getting the credit card out.

so that I’ve got ding meals for the hard days

@Lunafortheloveogod my friend found a shopping list on the ground about a decade ago that had as one item on the list “sad dings meals”. We thought this was a total mystery until we realised it might mean microwave meals ... I’ve never actually heard anyone else call them ding meals though, so I was VERY excited by your post.

Do other people call them that? Is it a thing?

We live in an area that becomes very inaccessible in snowy winter weather so I prep for winter as standard practice. This week I've been shopping daily after school drop off. Just an extra carrier bag so not excessive amounts but have added to my reserves.

I’m in Australia but have been unintentionally stockpiling since November when the bushfire smoke started to get too awful to go out each day. So when I shopped I brought a bit extra of basics each week and kinda Kept doing it.
My DH thought I was bonkers but since most of his family are in Italy, he has totally changed his mind and is now checking off everything we have to see what we need.

I didn’t bother with my Veggie garden up until we got rain in feb as it was too hot, dry and high water restrictions (our grey water only went so far and I wouldn’t use it on things I’d eat).
So most of the late summer/winter crop is just starting. Kale, broccolini, beans, peas, snowpea’s, carrots and some late cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

maybe people think they'll need all the extra loo roll because they're buying so many beans?

When it started being in the news about China back in January, I thought it's only a matter of time before it comes here, so I made a list of stuff to stock up on, food, toiletries, chocolate etc (it's all things that we will eventually use), and gradually added to it with my normal weekly shop.

I only have one 16 pack of loo roll though, I didn't go full on doomsday prepper

Asian/global food shops will have tinned goods, rice, pasta etc so if you can't find it in the big shops, look in there

I have had an email from the CEO of Sainsbury's saying they are well stocked and guarantee to continue to be so, therefore no need to buy more than you need. That was quite reassuring.

I've always stocked up, bought in bulk and sometimes wondered why I did when looking for places to put things. Now of course I'm glad and have been able to supply others with stuff like toilet roll. I wouldn't panic buy and at the moment am quite content to just purchase what I need. Onlline grocery shopping seems OK right now, expecting delivery on Monday.

I bought an extra pack of toilet roll and an extra pack of pasta. That’s about it but I always have tinned food in my cupboard (maybe out of date though 🤢 doubt I’ll care if I’m starving!). I did buy some extra dog food (two weeks worth) today just in case I have to stay home

Well thanks to the whipped up frenzied panic buying created by the irresponsible media....ridiculous.

As for stock piling...we normally spend £65/70 pw on weekly shop. Today we spent £90.

I have had an email from the CEO of Sainsbury's saying they are well stocked and guarantee to continue to be so, therefore no need to buy more than you need. That was quite reassuring

Really? I think that’s incredibly naive.

They’re hardly going to email and say ‘OH MY FUCKING GOD WE’RE NEARLY OUT!’ are they? Whether they’re prepped or not, supermarkets won’t add to the panic buying issue by being honest about their position.

I’ve stockpiled over the last 2 days. I’ve meal planned, visited Asian food markets for big bags of lentils, beans etc.
I’ve researched how to pack and freeze eggs, bought all the ingredients to make my own bread. Lots of tins of tuna, tomatoes, cereals etc and my freezer is tightly packed with frozen meat, veg and fruit.

I now have enough that we could survive a month or so without stepping foot outside, if need be.

Of course it’s selfish. I accept I’ve probably added to the bare-shelves issue. And I feel for anyone who, due to money or space or any other reason, can’t stock up.

But my kids are my priority and I’m not going to die on the hill of moral superiority or faux-calm over this.

I’m not worried about Corona itself - I’m worried about the governments apparent plan to let it sweep through the population largely unchecked in order to get to herd-immunity levels. This approach is different to the rest of the world and I think we can’t yet even imagine the shit storm we’ll all be in this time next month when millions have it at the same time.

@lineandsinker - could you order your baby’s formula on Boots online and do Click and Collect?

Really worrying that you can’t get the necessary formula.

We are living in scary times for sure.

@PeridotPassion I don’t see a months supply of food as a problem, many people do this normally. I do see people buying 20 packs of 24 toilet rolls an issue. If I need the toilet this much I’ll probably wish I was dead

Witnessed security guards in Aldi confronting two women about the leave the shop. The women went through the checkout buying some Aldi stuff but keep the majority of it unpaid for and in their Sainsburys bags screaming that they had a right to take it because she was ill and 'no money' and then started swearing threatening and throwing the food back at the staff who then threatened the police and shouted back at the custmer that she should be ashamed of herself.

Tesco row broke out when a woman tried to buy an entire tray of soap and screamed over the security guard and four staff members. I didn't even get the one thing I went in for (no, it wasn't toilet rolls)

The aggressive behaviour is scary.

Chap in Aldi with two deep trolleys full, loading the cashiers belt was clearly stock piling - literally 4 of everything. Was funny until he called out to his wife/partner on next checkout who had her own full trolley.

Wow...words actually fail me.

I bought what I needed and also donated tins, custard and choclate to the foodbank. I have no problem with prepping over weeks as it's just a bit here and there and even 1 big pack of toilet rolls is ok. It's when they take an entire tray of soap or whatever it is.

The bacterial wipes amnesty is bonkers because it is a virus not a bacterium.

On the plus side, think of the Clubcard points

I felt uncomfortable when I put 6 of the last 8 tubs of instant mashed potato into my trolley , but it was for the food bank . It was on their ‘urgent’ list for this week .

I think "stockpiling" or panic buying ridiculous amounts is selfish. A family of 4 isn't going to get through 96 toilet rolls in a month (one of my facebook friends) and now it's sold out in some places, which makes it harder for people who struggle to go from shop-to-shop. I think that is selfish.

My household has over a week's worth of food/toiletries. We've got 2 adults and a teenager who could go to the shops - and nobody at high risk - so I think it's very unlikely we would ever need more than this. If my household was more vulnerable, I imagine I would want 2-4 weeks' of supplies.

It is selfish if you are taking anymore than what you need. Dh was shopping in our local ASDA and an elderly couple were looking for sugar, only the huge bags were available. They decided between them that they couldn't afford the extra money for the large bag, so went without. Dh paid for a large bag and went to find them, the lady of probably 70+ cried, he also gave them a lift home as they were struggling in the crowd.

Oh dh (39) has stage 4 bowel cancer with less than 12 months to live.

Selfishness shocks me at a time like this. Thankfully there are still very kind people around.

A very kind mumsnetter offered to send me extra paracetamol when we thought we would run out.

I agree OP, it is selfish.

@loubieloo4 I am so sorry . Please tell your dh that he is lovely to have done what he did and helped the elderly couple.

Lots of love to you both 💕.