To think actually I do need more food than usual?

[DoubleAction]

And loo roll!

I've stuck to my usual shopping routine and it's becoming clear I shouldn't have.

All of a sudden I have 4 adults in the house 24/7. 3 of them eat out at lunch 5 days per week and 2 of them are rarely here for dinner, in the usual course of events.

Two are 6ft young men! The bread and cheese already....

Tesco sold me a bunch of 6 bananas earlier. I don't think we need to ration as such, but my 10 year old had pancakes, banana and black pudding for breakfast 😲 and then asked for a bowl of cereal and a bagel. I told him no obviously (and would have done under normal circumstances anyway) but I have tried to explain that a) we can't go out as much and b) there's shortages. Once he's eaten everything, that's it. Having them home from school does increase the amount needed but I am adjusting expectations.. Lunch might be a dippy egg or beans on toast instead of tuna sandwiches or quiche.

I think many of us have become spoilt with access to snacks - you just need to set some ground rules so either no snacking or allocated snacks for the day - some people with kids are using baskets with say frudults couldn't have same in the fridge or something. As to bread = get them making some, so much of this is boredom eating - I am having to Police mine - usually all treats disappear in like 2 days and there is some wastage of more healthy snack food or breakfast items. Just need to have a family conflab and they can take turns with the bloody shopping too at that age and size

I haven't been brave enough to try Tesco yet I'm lucky in the sense I do a monthly shop on payday (before the shortages) and have a delivery of fresh from a local farm shop that hasn't been affected yet. The farm shop has been an absolute god send for alot of people ok it's going to be meat and two veg for the foreseeable not our usual fare but we are incredibly lucky. If you have that option I suggest you use it keeps the money local too!! The only problem I've had with everyone being at home is using a clean glass for every sip of bloody water..........and I'm done 😂

Yanbu, I had to go shopping for lunch food, as we simply don’t have lunch food in the house.

Dh is now working from home, I’m mainly working from home and 2 growing and bored young boys at home as ds2 is high risk (brittle asthma)

They said on TV that usually 25% of food consumption is outside the home so naturally, on average, we need 25% more food 'in' now - and loo roll, of course.

In theory food not being sold to caterers will find its way to the consumer outlets but how soon is anyone's guess.

I'm slightly wary now of all the reassurances that the stock is all there, it's just a supply chain issue etc etc - this has been going on for too long and my local Coop says they are not even getting their usual deliveries let alone the extra they need - so where is all this food they keep telling us they have?

Not got time to read all the posts but I completely agree, 4 adults here, 1 veggie, 1 intolerant (in general disposition and also to gluten, lactose and egg), and 2 the parents (me and DH). Normally the veggie buys and cooks her own 1 meal she has at home a day and then eats at work. The other one is a student who has come home as uni is closed. Plus DH & I had been on a long holiday prior to the start of the pandemic so had run all the cupboards down.

It has taken a huge effort this week to manage to but the correct amount of food for everyone and DH took stock yesterday and reckons if as expected our delivery next weekend is missing most of our usual items then we will be doing it all again.

We are eating less as we have been trying to ration what we have and are already losing weight which for 3 of us is a good thing. I reckon I'm down to about 700 cals a day. (I'm a lot less active than usual so not really getting desperately hungry - yet)

I am going to be planting extra veg this year in case this continues and we have found some potatoes went sprouted so those are going in the ground in the hope they'll grow instead of wasting them. That will only work if you have space to plant stuff though.

Funny someone mentioned bananas: Haven't had a banana in weeks and we usually get through a bunch every two days - as I try to make them eat a banana instead of biscuits /crisps etc. I end up having one with my cups of tea and one to tide me over until dinner is cooked.

My bloody husband has already eaten a loaf of bread and most of a pack of biscuits today already. As well as eggs Benedict and soup. We have to self isolate on Monday when son comes home from travelling. There will be nothing left by then.

We are using much more food, household of 4, mum dad nearly 19yo &17 yo. DS’ we are self isolating as I have a chronic illness & and I am autoimmune. We aren’t wasting anything or ordering anymore than we need.

Also 4 adults. I am insisting everyone is very careful with food now.

Absolutely no waste, and 'luxuries' like crisps, sweets etc won't get replenished until I can get another internet slot.... or am allowing one person out to do a top up shop once a week.

I am losing weight, which is good

YANBU I have another two bodies to feed lunch five days a week next week. Neither of them constantly eat though, so it is just those ten meals and maybe the odd snack, plus extra milk for warm drinks. I have had to say that we need to watch our food spend now though as my work has dropped by about two thirds and I'm self employed. Normally we just buy whatever we fancy, regardless of the cost.

@Zilla1

A 21st century Walker

Dads Army on right now

Definitely. DD16 would usually eat at school and I’d eat at work and DS1 would get most of his food at nursery.

Now we’re all home all of the time.

Totally isolating other than one supermarket trip per week to minimise risk to DD who is incredibly vulnerable.

It’s very tricky. I have a strict routine.
Normal shop- online £40 arrives Monday, 5 planned breakfasts and dinners, enough for Saturday with small top up shop for fresh stuff and maybe a Sunday treat ( or bride food from freezer).

Coronavirus shop- Sunday - need go to 3 different shops for essentials as no online delivery until Friday. Buy extra tins as no fresh food available and no idea when it will be. Monday bread shop, Tuesday look for meat shop ( unsuccessful), Weds meat shop successful, Thursday need veg and eggs both in stock. Fri delivery arrives with everything I ordered on it. Now both cupboards and fridge rammed.
Saturday - more in cupboards and fridge than I would have normally but now DS is off school ( I’m working still). No idea when to shop next or whether to eat or save tinned/ frozen foods.

I have to self-isolate so obviously I had to stock up an unusual amount beforehand, not knowing for certain how I will manage later. It is not panic buying, but reasonably getting in needed supplies.

God reading these I realise how bloody lucky we have it here!!

I am self isolating - I have plenty in the house, but it’s amazing how your attitude to food changes.

I keep checking I have enough, and have eliminated the ridiculous food waste that used to go on in this house.

No more opened but barely used packets left to go hard in the fridge then thrown out. Portions separated and frozen immediately.

I've gained two college students who would usually be fed by their university, plus DH is now at home all the time when previously he worked away a lot. And two high schoolers who used to get school lunch every day.

We're not being greedy but we are buying about twice as many groceries as we were before.

Meanwhile foodservice trucks are empty and unused because caterers, restaurants, cafes, colleges, schools etc no longer need the supplies.

There's enough food out there still available. The question is how to get it through the supermarkets and other shops to the consumers more efficiently.

I’ve just made my youngest burger and chips, because she wanted the same as her friend (both SN and chatting on FaceTime) Used a cup to cut circles in the bread, so she could have bun. I’m eating the crusts with a disgusting tin of vegetable chilli that someone gave me. But needs must. It’s my penance for having a bag of crisps earlier. There will be times I will simply be eating to life, rather than living to eat, which I was before all this kicked off. There’s a tin of butter beans currently laughing at me from the shelves. I have lots of food, so I’m extremely lucky, but I’ll eat the gross stuff first, in order to stay alive and enjoy the lovely stuff when eating with my youngest.

I'm trying to give them more filling meals - homemade soup, porridge, baked potatoes and pasta hoping they'll ask for less snacks

Children don’t need to snack. It’s a habit we seem to ingrain in to them from toddler. They also don’t need a pudding with lunch and dinner as seems to be the way with school dinners. No wonder we have an obesity crisis.

Mine don't snack - they just add extra meals into their day. I come downstairs at 2am and find them cooking macaroni cheese or warming up soup.

Mind you, my 14 year old grew about 5" so far this year, so perhaps I can forgive him.

Tesco have told me (online shop which I fully expect to be missing most of) that I could only have three bananas. Will be interested to see what turns up. I don't have high expectations

You can get round that by ordering a bag of bananas.

Yeah - I feel ya. The six foot, skinny, starving boy-teenagers are a real thing. have two - 15 and 18. They are like locusts, they hoover food up. And I can hardly say they need to cut down on food, when they are they very image of teen boys should be - tall, slim, lean, square shouldered. They are the very image of what young men should be (even if I do say so myself!).

Still we are being very careful. No pigging out allowed any more.

@fridgegrazer I didn't think of that! Makes sense

I've just made a whole slow cooker of veg soup using all the veg that was starting to go a bit soft. It looks vile, but a few chilli flakes should make it passable. That'll do me for lunches this week (wfh for the first time). The dc are not massive eaters but we don't feed them midweek (bfast club, school lunch, childminders dinner) so that'll be a shock to the system adding 30 extra meals to out routine!