Larger families.... shopping limits

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

Anyone else having issues in getting enough food to make a meal for their family? I can't afford (nor have time) to make seperate meals for everyone. But I can't get enough of the foods we eat as a family in some lines.

We use 4 packs of mushrooms and 5 packs of peppers per week. We are only allowed 3. Same for yogurts etc.

I am working, not from home. I don't have time for daily shopping as I finish at, rush back before after school club finishes and get the kids home for dinner which is already later than I'd like.

I have a delivery pass, but that appears to be totally useless at the minute. We are potentially to be isolating from today as one of the kids may possibly have a cough. Even if I could get a slot, I'd need several slots in the week and you can't even get half the stuff you need anyway.

We don't have anyone to bring us food either. 🤷

Is it worth approaching the supermarket manager to discuss individual requirements?

I saw a woman have 1 of her 4 muller bloody lights removed from her today. I mean I understand restrictions in some areas. But most people would not consider 4 yogurts excessive/panic buying.

Help!

Feeling grateful (and maybe a big smug) right now that we carried on with milkman deliveries.

BIT smug, not big!

As difficult as it is, you should not be approaching the already harassed supermarket manager. There won’t be anything they can do.

You chose to have a large family and this is your problem to solve; you need to change and adapt to the current climate.

I’m sure that since people managed throughout two world wars with much bigger families and strict food rationing you can manage through this.

Literally everyone is struggling. Family size or not. So t be honest if you have lots of kids, or certain needs it doesn't make you special or more in need right now.

I had to shop this morning for my own household, plus my parents. (Now having to isolate due to disability & cancer)

So I had to figure out in my head what I could go without so they could also have due to the buying limits.

This is life now. You're going to need to adapt. We're all going to have to eat/use/tolerate things we wouldn't normally.

Look, we are all going to have to make sacrifices to get through this. They are not going to make exceptions, because then everyone would want to be an exception. Think of ways round it. For example

I use 8 tins of tomatoes a week, wtf do I do with a limit of two??

Buy two tins of toms, two passatas and two tomato purees (the purees can be watered down instead of the tinned toms).

For example you could go shopping with your DH and buy double, going through checkouts as 2 individuals. If one of your children is older, send them through the checkout.

No, this a shitty thing to do as you are taking food from other people who need it as well.

Everyone has to make sacrifices. You're just going to have to make the most of it. Do not add to employees stressed with a stupid request like that.

At least you can go shopping. Plenty of us can't and are already relying on others. It's not just you up shit creek.

I must be super lucky - our local green grocer had full shelves of all the fruit and veg you could want plus pasta. Our small Tesco had tinned tomatoes, pulses and beans plus loads of veg, bread etc! It seems the smaller Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc stores have more in stock than the larger ones?

I think that the shops are desperately trying to to keep some stuff in the shops as too many people are not being reasonable and are just panic buying. It is really difficult and hits larger families hard.

Perhaps you could batch cook and freeze for your family members with dietary restrictions and make other meals so that you can use other veg for the rest. Look at stuff like frozen mushroom etc as well as the packs are bigger.

You will have to not eat as much. Add water to sauces to make them go further.
I’m dreading the kids being off - bored teenagers with hollow legs..not a great idea.
Another one who has no idea where people are storing this food, especially perishables.

IMO, allergies and intolerances aside dietary 'preferences' will need to be set aside as much as possible during this phase of the crisis. I'm Coeliac and an extremely picky eater, but when it comes down to it I'll force myself to choke down (for example) fish or beans if that's all there is.

We're all going to do the best we can with what we have and pool resources whenever possible.

At least you can go shopping. Plenty of us can't and are already relying on others. It's not just you up shit creek.

Yeah, exactly.

Maybe they will bring in rationing if this all goes on longer than a couple of months, at least that would be fair.

At this rate on our small panicking island with the rest of the world also in difficulties we will be on ration cards and so you need to start adjusting your expectations as to what will be available anyway. But everyone is in the same boat. You need to eat what is there and not what you would ideally like. Peppers are not a dietary requirement for anyone (and I would imagine will be one of the first fresh foods in short supply along with tomatoes since they come from overseas and have a short shelf life).

And if you are supposed to be in self isolation you are not supposed to go near a shop anyway!

The thing is life is all about choices. Some choices have a big impact, like the choice to have a big family, and you have to adapt to this yourself as these choices are your responsbility

I have baby twins who consume more formula per week than the rations allow and your comment is fucking insensitive I wouldn't change my babies for the world, but in no way was this situation "my choice". The babies came early and have both been hospitalised for breathing issues recently, so we've been self isolating for 2 weeks already and relying on online deliveries. There's no store manager to speak to, but if there were, I'd damn well be expecting them to make an exception to the rule. Instead, I'm having to try and get two online delivery slots (like hens teeth at the moment) per week instead of one - which doesn't help anyone.

" this a shitty thing to do as you are taking food from other people who need it as well."

So again I ask: are you suggesting that larger families make do with less food per person than smaller ones?! FFS if you have a large family you need more food. It's not taking it from other people who need it any more than you are taking stuff from people who need it every time you eat a meal As for taking responsibility for having a large family: which child do I get rid of so as to lower our food needs?

Of course we all need to adapt, whatever our family size. But equally we all still need to be able to buy enough food. I actually don't think that'll be a problem, so the question is moot, but I really take issue with idiots suggesting that a family of 5 buying 10 pints of milk a week are somehow being more selfish than a family of 2 buying 4 pints.

I own a nursery with 200 children. I use Tescos delivery and they’ve said I can only order 2 of each item. No exceptions.
The earliest Bookers delivery is 1st April.

It’s ludicrous.

OP as far as I can tell there are 4 of you in your household, at least one of whom is old enough to get the food shopping in himself.

I appreciate that you are a busy, hard-pressed working single mum but how do you qualify as a larger family?

A pal of mine is telling me of the appalling treatment staff at his supermarket are having to put up with.

Yes I saw a notice in our local little Tesco about not abusing the staff. Terrible times.

One of the porters here was saying in his local supermarket, one woman had FOUR trolleys full of stuff!

I can remember when there was a bread strike on (well flour shortage/whatever) it was amazing how many people insisted they needed a loaf each for them, Grannie Smith, Grannie Jones etc etc. I know some people have big families/shop for Grannie but not everyone.

People who always buy 5 packs a week of something trying to buy those 5 packs aren't the problem. Their 5 packs will be in the supermarkets regular figures.

It's the people who usually buy 1 pack who've suddenly started buying 5 packs that are the cause of the issue

It's funny how any sort of prepping is seen as something stupid or ridiculous to do, yet when it comes to big families shopping it's "Well you should have thought of that before you had a big family"

Also we're supposed to be helping out where we can. When the schools close my SIL's kids will be coming to stay with us so that she can keep working in ICU. That is going to add another 3 people to the household. Two tins of beans isn't going to feed them, and mine, let alone me as well.

I got caught out with the limits today. I was shopping for two family homes at once. Yet wasn't allowed to have more than the limit of 3 milk items, yet our normal shop uses more than that, we use 4 and I had Mums shopping needing another 1 pint. I had to put two back. So we are low on milk and Mum go none. I ended up calling in her papershop for her pint.
This now means I have to shop more frequently. I'm trying not to go anywhere but home and work. Dh is compromised as is Mum and her partner both over 80.
I was so stressed trying to get the stuff this morning I gave up and bought what was in the basket and checked out. I don't usually stress out at all, so god help those with anxiety they must be in bits trying to cope.
Next weeks list is already getting written and I'll need to do it on Monday at this rate.

I'm starting to think and awful lot of people didn't do much shopping for food on a normal week and ate out a lot, and are now not eating out and need to buy food.

And if you are supposed to be in self isolation you are not supposed to go near a shop anyway!

I will still be going out, since we can’t stock up as we are only allowed 2 items at a time, no delivery slots, no one to help, not sure how people are even going to help anyway if you can only buy 2 of each items, can’t see someone going out for the same family daily which is what would need to happen in larger families, luckily I don’t have any symptoms so don’t need to self isolate but I would have no choice but to go out.

Shopping every few days IS ideal. From the perspective of local, fresh produce, small businesses, and for health. This supermarket created the idea of the “weekly” shop where you get everything in one go, they killed the high street by doing this, and they forced everyone to sacrifice a lot in terms of freshness and seasonality for the convenience and choice. Not to mention the air miles.

When things are “normal” I shop at least once every two days, often daily. Fresh bread, fresh fish, fresh vegetables and produce. I shop depending on what is there, and not what I have on my list. The idea of meal planning is backwards. We should look at the shops, the season, the produce, and what is available, and make the plan from there. Not make a meal plan for several people for a week plus, and go to a single shop and expect every item to be in stock, in the quantities you require, with a choice of several brands or types.

Go to the shop. See what there is, what there is available, what is nice, what is on offer, what you can get. Create a menu from there. There will be compromises and some things won’t be available, this happens every single day in local shops. The bakery runs out of tea loaves in the afternoon or marks down the cream cakes at 3pm. The butchers is waiting for a bacon delivery but has an offer on chicken skewers. The DIY shop has got the bulbs I needed but needs to order in the paint. The greengrocer has a veg box scheme and you get a certain weight of vegetables- sometimes it’s potato heavy, full of sprout stalks and dubious turnips and sometimes it’s a gorgeous, multicoloured thing with cauliflower, runner beans, mushrooms, shiny courgettes.

I’m currently shopping for six at home and two households in isolation (one in one house, two in another). I’m investing a lot of time into feeding everyone, because it is necessary right now.

OP we are in an unprecedented situation, the PM has made it clear we will all have to make changes. Our weekly shops is one of them. We are extremely lucky to live in the era of the Internet, where there are millions of recipes online. Even with your dietary restrictions, there are plenty of simple dishes you can make with limited ingredients. As a PP said you can use many different foods to pad out meals, where items are missing. We need to start a new normal and stop thinking 'but we always...'. In WW2 they ate potato peel pie and the like. We will be fine.

Shopping every few days IS ideal.

For the shops. Not for containing the spread of a virus