To ask exactly what is essential shopping?

[UnaCorda]

I'm not intending to be goady (although getting a bit tired of the shopping basket police) and clearly we shouldn't be popping to the shops every five minutes for a packet of crisps, but who gets to decide what counts as essential? Even with something like tea and coffee you could argue that it's perfectly possible to drink water instead (personally I don't drink either).

Fresh fruit and veg are important, but no individual fruit or vegetable is in itself essential - and you wouldn't die if you didn't eat any at all for a couple of weeks. You can manage without milk - you don't have to have cereal for breakfast, or drink tea of coffee (see above). You clearly don't need meat or fish - vegetarians manage without them all the time. By the same token, you don't need cheese or yoghurt or eggs - vegans don't eat them. You don't need loo roll - use a bidet or flannel. Etc., etc.

So all we can really conclude is that we need some sort of comestibles as fuel, but no one item in and of itself can be seen as essential.

Or AIBU?

One person's essential is another's 'can't be bothered with.'
I shop twice a week - for me it's essential to have a Saturday and Sunday newspaper (with TV magazine and supplements respectively) so I get these with my other essentials. These are fresh fruit and veg, milk, tea bags, eggs, cheese and dairy. I rarely buy bread, rice or pasta, I never get pulses, seeds or cola as they don't appeal to me.
Sometimes I buy pizza, cake or a posh pudding for a change - we all need pleasure in our lives, especially at the moment.

Anything sold by these types of businesses (they are exempt from having to close under the emergency legislation):

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Food retailers, including food markets, supermarkets, convenience stores and corner shops.

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Off licenses and licensed shops selling alcohol (including breweries).

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Pharmacies (including non-dispensing pharmacies) and chemists.

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Newsagents.

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Homeware, building supplies and hardware stores.

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Petrol stations.

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Car repair and MOT services.

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Bicycle shops.

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Taxi or vehicle hire businesses.

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Banks, building societies, credit unions, short term loan providers and cash points.

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Post offices.

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Funeral directors.

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Laundrettes and dry cleaners.

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Dental services, opticians, audiology services, chiropody, chiropractors, osteopaths and other medical or health services, including services relating to mental health.

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Veterinary surgeons and pet shops.

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Agricultural supplies shop.

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Storage and distribution facilities, including delivery drop off or collection points, where the facilities are in the premises of a business included in this Part.

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Car parks.

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Public toilets.

I am currently shopping for 4 households as well as my own. I go shopping twice a week. While at the shops I have bought wine, chocolate and non essential items.

Nobody said you should only get essential shopping.

Nobody in RL, maybe. It's been said more than once on MN which is what led to me starting the thread.

Personally I think if you want to eat nothing but Monster Munch, that's fine (inasmuch as it doesn't harm anyone else), so long as you aren't making separate trips to buy them every day. Grabbing a bar of chocolate as you pass the sweets aisle makes no discernable difference to your risk of catching or spreading coronavirus.

The one way system sounds quite a good idea as a lot of aisles are too small to be far enough apart.

You have to hope that the "driver" is pretty speedy though!

Family of 5 with 2 teens so food consumption at moment is more than usual with everyone being at home. Also eating cooked from scratch stuff every meal instead of takeaway/ McDonald’s Asda pizza etc.

Because of limits on items we can buy I'm still having to shop 1x week with a top up mid week - big shop Saturday but it's now weds and need fresh fruit and veg and more bread! We don't have a massive freezer to use due to lack of space.

We walked as a family to our small Tesco for our get out of house time. DH waited outside with kids whilst I went in on my own and bought what we needed.

Will do a big shop again Saturday

"Essential" depends on your circumstances and tastes. It's an individual judgement call.

All this talking about getting shopping home without being able to carry it reminded me of my system when I was younger, with small dc. I had very little money, single parent, income support, no car, there was no way of transporting the dc and the shopping by bus and couldn’t afford a taxi, nor secure kids in one safely.

I didn’t have a shopping trolley or even a backpack nor the money to buy either, plus I always just figured it would be fine and I’d get things home somehow. I did. My preferred method, which is batshit now I’m in the lucky position to be thinking back fondly, was to relay the bags.

So I’d pack it all into, say, eight carrier bags. Move four bags twenty feet and put them down, then return for the next four, move forward forty feet, and put them down, and repeat. I’d relay the bags home, usually with a toddler or a baby in a sling or some combination of kids. I must have looked ridiculous. I haven’t remembered that in years.

Some really stupid comments

Surely it’s essential as in you only go to the shops when you need to - and not as you say, to buy a Twix and a newspaper every morning.

I don’t think it means you can’t pick up your luxuries and have to live on gruel and sardines.
I.e. if you’re doing your essential shop for your family once a week / fortnight and the supermarket has an offer on nice bubble bath or paperbacks you can chuck it in the trolley!

I take it to mean you only leave your house WHEN it is essential - not that you can only eat essentials

I just a meal plan for two weeks at a time and shop according to that.

For this household, gin, cigarettes, chocolate and dog food.

The actual legislation regarding one of the many 'reasonable excuses' (nope, not just four!) to be out of your home is:

"To obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2;

Nothing about essential foods or non-essential foods. Just 'food' as a basic necessity. It could be a trip to the chip shop, they're permitted to still be open so long as people take away and preferably call their order in first so as to maintain social distancing.

I do one shop a week that's slightly bigger to reduce my need to do smaller shops mid-way through.

I also shop for another family as they're immunosuppressed so shouldn't leave the house. At our local supermarket this week I was told I'd bought too much and was being greedy - I'd got two 4 pint milks, two loaves, essentially all the things for two families. It doesn't help when people are so quick to be rude in situations like this.

There’s lots of self appointed shopping bag police around here. Shop workers are posting huge rants all over Facebook groups about people buying a bunch of flowers with their weekly food shop

I’ve bought non essentials when I’ve been in a shop buying essentials (although depends on your definition of essential I guess) but not making a special trip out for them

Our local police released a statement yesterday which said we should only be shopping for “essential items” and compost and plants weren’t essential

Today they’ve changed their minds and announced that buying other stuff when shopping for essential items is fine

I have just been to a supermarket (to get something essential!). And the woman serving me said there are loads of people still going in everyday for a look around.
I saw a woman coming out with a single small french stick. Sure that could have waited.

I think the frequency of trips is more important than what you're actually buying. Everyone needs to maintain a balanced diet for their physical and mental health AND I would never begrudge anyone wanting a treat during this difficult time.

I think the key is to avoid going out more than once a week, and buy essential and non-essential items at the same time, preferably from the same shop.

People popping into co-op to buy a packet of crisps.

You do your weekly shop and then you don't go back until you run out of everything. A shame as it seems like the government has to spell it out to a lot of people.

Essential items to me are bread, milk, fruit, veg and anything else that provides three meals a day. Also, pet food (vets are open, so pets are allowed to be feed) and anything you need to keep yourself and your house clean. Those are the priority, but if you're doing a main shop and can manage more - then Boris isn't going to deny you a packet of crisps, some chocolate or a bottle of wine, in fact, I suspect he'd endorse the odd treat as he likes red wine himself!!

Please when you are citing only needing to shop fortnightly remember that some of us do not have freezers, some of us have tiny fridges, some of us shop on foot/by bike .... some of us all 3! Salad needs to be bought at least every other day too, no idea how anyone is able to store fresh food for longer than 5 days, are you living on cans?

I think the advice should be to shop as infrequently as possible rather than just for essentials because that's a matter of opinion really. I could drink my coffee black and not buy some chocolate for the kids but I don't think I'm doing anything wrong by picking them up while I shop for fruit and veg.
Stuff for pets (like pet food) and babies (nappies, formula..) are obviously essentials

Who came up with this essential shopping anyway? We’re advised to shop as infrequently as possible. Today, I needed milk, so I stopped at a small local shop and shoved a few things in along with milk-fruit etc. I haven’t been in a shop for almost 2 weeks otherwise. I think that’s pretty good.

I’m getting rapidly bored of the virtue signallers who haven’t darkened the doors of any shop in months and then only to buy bare essentials.

It doesn't matter one jot what people think are essential foods or not.

The legislation says " basic necessities, including food" not basic food or essential food only.

I just bought jam donuts and chocolate fingers. Bugger any rules !

If the food shop is selling other items why not buy those too? Went to the supermarket for weekly shop today and also bought masses of plants to put in garden. What would be the point in leaving them to rot?