Looking at the 'stockpiling' threads..

[EinsteinaGogo]

Is there genuinely ANYONE who could afford to get a couple of weeks shopping into the house, who hasn't?

And if so, WHY?

We can afford it but haven’t. I was humbled by a few elderly shoppers last big lock down who were struggling to get bits.

I have bought an extra item or two each week in order that i am unlikely to run out if Brexit/Covid/Winter are really bad. Cannot see why anyone would object. I am shielding and live on my own and this seemed sensible. I never panic buy.

Einsteiner - how so?

But doesnt it get boring shopping all the time?

I was really surprised due to just not thinking about it before that when people at work said they didn’t have food if we locked down, they meant they literally had nothing in the house. Some ate out a lot, others picked up a day or two’s food at a time.

I could have probably eaten for a month on what I had - I was stressing about getting the fresh parts of what I wanted to eat not actually running out of food entirely. I spent a fair part of March obsessing about where I could get fresh milk and tinned fruit which looking back I think was displacement worry, i.e. worrying about a small thing I might be able to fix not the overall situation.

I think I have slightly more food than in March but as I had a full fridge freezer, stand alone freezer and cupboards then, I don’t have space for much extra.

I could buy in any amount of shopping I wanted to but why would I? Even at the peak of lockdown I could still go to the shops and get groceries. Yes there were some things in short supply but if everyone just bought normally there would be no shortages. Panic buying and stockpiling is just daft in my opinion. The supermarkets won't be closed.

Also - not lazy or disorganised. I have what I need for my family - as I always do and mutual aid is in practice in my neighbourhood so we can buy for anyone who needs to isolate.

I do, we have a pantry and it is always full of food and always has been since we moved in 10 years ago, freezer is full of meat and veg except for bottom drawer which contains essential ice cream.

The biggest benefit of keeping the cupboards and freezer full has been back in March when stores got empty we didnt have to visit them, we were not contributing to the shortages and we were able to help out some friends and family who had to self isolate.

It isn't selfish to have full cupboards, it is selfish in the middle of shortages to go out and deliberately clear shelves, depriving other people of supplies just because you haven't prepped.

I know that while it wouldn't be exciting I could feed my family from what I have in the freezer and pantry for about 6 weeks.

I always do a major shop at a time...I then stop at the farmers market once a week for fruits and perishables

‘We can afford it but haven’t. I was humbled by a few elderly shoppers last big lock down who were struggling to get bits.‘

That is exactly why you should prep- to avoid taking food the vulnerable need during a crisis.

Can afford to but im not the type of person that follows like sheep.
The shops are still there. All the idiots last time who stockpiled things like Calpol, utter selfishness.
Maybe the people that do this should have a think about the elderly of this country who dont have the luxury of driving and buying 20 packs of toilet roll as they have to get on a bus home. People suffer for this behaviour.

@cologne4711

Most people on this thread don't understand the difference between stockpiling and panic buying it seems.

Buying a few things as you go along does not mess it up for anyone else, because the shops just order more.

So it seems...

Buying a couple weeks worth of shopping isn't adding a few extra items as you go along.

I could afford to but haven't purposely stocked up. I probably could cobble meals together for a week. No issues with stocks around here and I have lots of lovely neighbours. We have all picked up things for households who were isolating at some point and would do so as required.
The supermarket is literally a few minutes walk from house. I like fresh food and quite like walking down there to shop every couple of days. Escaping the house and kids is the closest thing I get to a holiday these days.

Are you always so neurotic OP?

Sounds exhausting

I have not specifically done extra shopping now but I always keep a stock as we are a family of 6. So I always have things in my "larder" aka cellar. I always have spare toiletries, washing powder, water, toilet paper. tins of stuff, potatoes & apples etc from the garden, copious amounts of wine, pasta, pesto that kind of rained in day stuff, plus a breadmaker & associated flour and long life milk because I sometimes run out anyway and cannot be bothered to go to the shop on a lazy Sunday morning. We are not the minimalist types who throw everything away, still have Granny's old furniture and I suppose her war/rainy days mentality.

We are a family of six, two kids have disabilities. I shop once a week but you bet I have enough food in to cover at least two weeks of isolation.

I have no one else to depend on to do my shopping for me. It's hardly unlikely that anyone might have to self isolate in a pandemic. I personally can afford to so I think its irresponsible not to look after my kids interests in this way.

Anyway I dont want to go to the shops and have lots of judging arseholes making snarky comments if i have three packs of pasta and the live alone and can make one bag of 500g of pasta last ten months. Well done, we cant.

I prefer to live my life and not judge others. I fear that's not the case for others

@hamstersarse

Are you always so neurotic OP?

Sounds exhausting

The opposite, actually 😂

I have a good buffer. But I always do, COVID or no COVID.

We have what I pretentiously call a 'larder" (it's accessed from the kitchen and runs under stairs coming from the first floor, so it's basically 'outside' and therefore quite cold). In the larder we always have 8 or so tins toms, 10-15 tins of various beans and pulses, nut butters, jams, pickles, tomato puree, premade sauces etc. We buy 2x9 loo roll every fortnight, we don't use 18 rolls a fortnight, so we have amassed a fair bit of loo roll, but we never go wild and buy more than a standard family might.

@EinsteinaGogo

Is there genuinely ANYONE who could afford to get a couple of weeks shopping into the house, who hasn't?

And if so, WHY?

I will counter that with - why do you need to?

I have a delivery slot once a week (I gave it up through the worst of lockdown)

I get the weeks shopping in.
My cupboards always have some extra dried goods. I buy rice from the Indian shop in 5 kg packs, so always plenty of that, and a few extra tins, some extra pasta. Not because I have stockpiled, but because I have a couple of extra in case the shop is out.

Why do I need more? What are you expecting to happen? Even at the worst of the shelp clearing, I managed perfectly well to shop for my family. i sometimes had to change a few things, we didn't eat pasta for a few weeks, but there were plenty of other things.

I simply do not understand why you would stockpile and think stockpiling leads to unecessary empty shelves

Because I’m not an arsehole and I remember the first round of “stockpiling” where people on a budget were forced to buy branded pasta at more than double the price of the own brand range because selfish, short sighted idiots who “could afford it” decided it would be a good idea to hoard supplies .

I can absolutely afford it but I don't because it will strip the shelves and there are elderly / vulnerable people who rely on shops to have produce on the shelves. It amazes me that people stockpile with no consideration for the vulnerable.

Nope, you have it the wrong way round. If you have a good store of supplies that you have built up gradually you won't need to go and wipe the shelves clean and there will be enough for everyone. But since nobody, apparently, thought about that pre-lockdown, we had the ridiculous no-pasta, no-rice, no-tins, no-loo roll fiasco.

Wrong question OP. It should be, "Is there genuinely ANYONE who understands the difference between panic buying and prepping?"

@pilotsprincess

Can afford to but im not the type of person that follows like sheep. The shops are still there. All the idiots last time who stockpiled things like Calpol, utter selfishness. Maybe the people that do this should have a think about the elderly of this country who dont have the luxury of driving and buying 20 packs of toilet roll as they have to get on a bus home. People suffer for this behaviour.

Hmmmm ... are you sure you understand the difference between being prepared, and stockpiling,
@pilotsprincess ?

I’ve been adding a few extra things to a few shopping trips since there was no extension to Brexit. I never buy more than three extra items and I put as much in the food bank as I save.
I don’t think that makes me a dick.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

Wrong question OP. It should be, "Is there genuinely ANYONE who understands the difference between panic buying and prepping?"

Good pony, @JesusInTheCabbageVan (great name, by the way).

Many of the responses on this thread have reinforced that.