Can we please stop all the bashing of “stockpilers”

[Notcontent]

Reading all the threads, it seems that anyone who has bought more than a week’s worth of food is being accused of being a selfish stockpiled responsible for all the food supply issues we have at the moment.

I think that’s slightly unfair. Yes, people who went out and bought 10 big packs of toilet paper in one go are probably responsible for the shortages. But many of us simply bought a few more things over a number of weeks.

I am one of those people. I have friends with families in Europe and I was closely following the progress of the situation since early January. Back in February, when lots of people I spoke to thought it was all an overblown drama, I started buying a few extra things every time I did a shop. Why? Because I don’t have any family nearby to help out and I usually rely on supermarket deliveries for most of my needs (no car). I would be really stuck now if I didn’t have some extra supplies as I am reliant on some small nearby shops.

If you bought a little extra, fine.
But I wish people would stop saying that everyone who didn't is jealous or unprepared.
I cannot afford to stock up, and I do not have transportation to a big shop. I have always relied on weekly online deliveries which now I cannot get.
People clearing out the shop are causing people like me to have to go hungry or scrape by with charity from family. And I dont care if you just bought a little extra or if you bought the whole shelf, at the moment the end result is the same for me.

The shops absolutely should have been more prepared for this, but I'm still allowed to be unhappy about people buying more than they need.

We bought the exact amount we need to be prepared for a two week isolation.

Which is what we are doing.

So we are buying nothing at all and haven’t been within sight of a ship for 10 days and won’t need to for another 10 days. As we are being frugal.

But if we don't buy more IStress then we will go hungry too. We are all in the house all the time, not having school or work lunches and breakfasts, that means buying more food. Everyone is in that boat, because nobody can eat out. The reason people are buying more is because they have no alternative. It's shit but it's nobody's fault either, it's the inevitable result of 30% of food supply having to switch from catering to home use.

I think we're talking about people who wiped the shelves clean and have 500 toilet rolls at home.
I live on my own so I need very little but I have enough staples like frozen veg, tinned fruit and so on for a month because I don't eat much.
Last time I went to Sainsburys for my monthly shop there was a limit to three items per person which is quite good because it encourages people to eat different things and keeps the shop stocked.
They told me people had been doing things like buying 20 boxes of cornflakes and they had to put a stop to it.
I think a monthly shop is ok because we are being asked not to go out too much.

There are a lot of people who bought food they have no intention of eating but ‘just in case’
See all the bread flour that has gone and now no one can get, I bet lots of it will be going off in cupboards by people who have no idea how to make bread.
I stopped using what we already had and bought on top instead. I wish I had gotten more. There’s lots I can’t get in my local shop and at some point will have to go to a big supermarket for these things.
DD is coeliac. I use 3 supermarkets to get everything usually. It’s a nightmare

I agree, I'm at breaking point right now, I'm a single parent working ft, two teens at home, fighting, hungry, eating, I have to get public transport to work. I have just spent 160 on a shop. But we're not to make unnecessary trips anymore.

@NoClarification
If you are buying enough to not go hungry I dont consider you to be buying too much. If your cupboards and freezers are stuffed and you keep adding to it, then I'm kinda pissed.

I realise there's nothing anyone can really do, but it slightly annoys me to see people moaning that they are feeling sad because they have more than they need and other people dont like that.
(And again, if you have just enough to not go hungry, I dont consider that more than you need).

Having enough for two weeks is reasonable, but not everyone has the luxury of being able to get that.

Apparently the average shopper has spent just £26 (or similar) extra this month

I saw something last year that the average household had spent £200 stockpiling for Brexit. Suspect the situation would be far worse now if it wasn't for the remains of those Brexit stockpiles.

The supermarkets are imposing limits now but they don't take account of household size. So 2 tins of beans is 4 servings, that's several meals for a single person household but less than 1 meal in our house (5 people). DH was told to put back some things last time he went shopping, he was just buying our normal weekly shop, no panic buying! I'm glad we've got full cupboards (I always have full cupboards) because otherwise it would be hard to buy enough. And we have got had veg box and milk deliveries for years so are in a good position.

@Haffiana I agree with you completely. I took this seriously on the 10th of January when I first heard about it. People who heard the facts don't deserve the anger of those who coasted in denial.

How can bread flour that has been panic bought in the last month have gone off? The packet in my cupboard has an expiry in August.

imo the government should have introduced rationing ages ago.

I was shopping normally for ages so as not to add to the shortages, however then it became difficult to feed my family so I got a couple of extra bits because I don't know when I'll find it again! It's a vicious cycle...

I didn't prep as I have a tiny flat so am storing the food in random places however would have done so If I could. What I have done to mitigate things is buy wholesale stuff and leave the supermarket stuff for those with no other option, e.g. a restaurant sold me a load of pasta so I have enough of that.

Additionally I now provide meals foe DH where he would previously eat 90% of his food at work, same with DS and nursery so my few bits extra are much needed.

“
“But you didn't need to buy a 'few extra bits"
YAB defensive. You know there was no need”

This is just plain funny. There was no need? THERE WAS NO NEED?! The country is on lockdown and there’s a limit on what you can buy. That was the anticipate “need” that made people put more stuff in their shopping baskets. What the hell do you think they were preparing for?

I'm fed up with them, whatever you call it. I saw a woman on TV interviewed after carrying 2 huge packs of loo roll out of the supermarket - must have been 20-30 in each one. She said in a defensive way that she was buying them for herself and her elderly neighbour and 'anyway you are allowed to buy two packs - that's all I'm doing, buying two packs'. That's great then, 60 loo rolls for two people and shelves cleared or small packs left for anyone else .

We live rurally and ever since the fuel strikes at the start of the century, when we were stuck with tiny DC and no way of getting food, I have always ensured we have enough for 2 weeks. Last autumn, in preparation for a no-deal Brexit, I started buying a bit extra each week.

However, I obviously hadn't anticipated this scenario. I also hadnt anticipated having 5 adults in the household rather than the usual 3. DS2 is at uni and was only planning to come home for a quick visit at Easter. Instead, he and his girlfriend are now living here as well for the foreseeable future. I am conscious that our food supplies will only just stretch for 14 days should we have to completely self isolate.

Suddenly hoarding looks like planning ahead.

We have been buying one extra for a few weeks but we still nearly ran out of things.

I don't think it's preppers. I haven't seen anyone buying more than their fair share. It's the supply chain that's the issue, l think.

I think people are even stockpiling freezers now. My freezer broke a few weeks ago, I've had to wait until payday to order a cheap replacement but guess what - most websites are 'out of stock' of freezers - the message is 'unprecedented demand'. The models left are expensive or fridge/freezers.

Can I ask? Has anyone got a working freezer and then gone out and bought more ?

On another thread on here someone said they were a 'one adult, one child' household and had recently shopped to fill three freezers and a fridge in preparation for any need to self isolate. Most people have one freezer and one fridge - so families who can afford it must just be buying extra appliances and filling them to hoard food. Why - a normal fridge, freezer and storecupboard would keep a medium sized family going for two weeks - no need to triple capacity!

I'm a single parent, tight budget and cannot buy even the normal amount of frozen food we would use pre-pandemic. I don't mind that too much as I can get veg from our local shop and could batch cook - but no use as I can't freeze it. So I'm reduced to shopping every few days and raising our risk. We've got some dried pulses in for now but no other protein and meals are very limited.

Thanks then to stockpilers and whoever is buying the extra freezers - totally unselfish and give yourselves a big pat on the back. Here, go on, you must be peckish.... have a bit more......

If you are in this category, please use up some of the huge quantities you have stored before buying more. Please leave the fresh stock coming into the shops for people who need it more than you do.

You won't be able to 'win' on MN OP. If you buy a bit extra you're a selfish bastard killing people. If you don't and therefore have to go to the shops more frequently, you're a selfish bastard killing people.

Yup.

@CountFosco will be going off, not has. By the end of the year it will be binned.

Oh good lord.

1. we’re being told to go out as minimally as possible
2. were being told that the moment anyone in our household shows symptoms, we need to isolate for 14 days
3. if you tell people that, they will buy far more than they have previously bought in a shop/ shops. Because we have gotten into the habit of perhaps a weekly shop and knowing we can pop into a store to get bread/ milk/ fresh produce.

People can rant all they want on these threads. I have a full fridge. I make zero apologies. I also have a full household and will not need to go to a supermarket for 7 days. I’ve still had zero food wastage and am meticulously going through what needs eating by what date and that’s what we’re eating.

If I sat here and posted that I refused to stock up and insisted on my right to do a daily stock up shop, I’d be crucified. For compromising the elderly and not keeping key workers safe.

where I am supermarkets are fully restocked. People are queuing in an orderly fashion and busting sensibly. What exactly is the problem?

*buying sensibly

My dh at one point over last week said - I'll just pop to the supermarket to get some french bread and anti allergy tablets (we have a cat). I said don't be stupid, I have a breadmaker, supplies to make bread and a few packets of cheapo anti allergy tablets I bought with an Aldi shop last year that are stored in the garage.
And so we don't need to go to the shops. Which saves lives. Who's the fucking mental idiot now? I was called this on here recently.
The only reason he has to go out is to deliver food to his parents nearby. Although I stocked them up as best I could a few months ago.

As far as I can work out this has all been caused by people who “bought a few extra bits”; the people who normally do a big shop didn’t cause this but lots of people buying more than normal did as the shops weren’t prepared for it as you don’t normally buy that much: then people saw the shelves being empty and they too started buying more so it was caused by all the people who started buying more.
I’m not jealous but I am annoyed that I can’t get a single tin of tomatoes while other people have enough in their cupboard for several weeks: I also think it’s caused more of a risk as now rather than do our shop at one shop we have had to go to several which increases the risk of the virus being transmitted to more people if we had it

I haven't left my teeny studio flat so far for 10 days now to go shopping, because I haven't needed to.

I started prepping for myself before things got crazy, because I bought before I'm not affecting anyone now.

@user1493413286. Maybe you too should have prepared better. It was onvious whst way it was going late Feb/early March. Plenty of opportunity. I don't like the blame on people preparing with sane amounts (not tons) because others didn't take notice. If I need to be inside for 2 weeks I live alone so will struggle to buy food.

I find the whole thing suspicious.

A couple of weeks ago we were being told that there was plenty of food and other goods 'in the system' and it was just getting them to the supermarkets and on shelves quick enough that was causing 'temporary' empty shelves.

Two weeks later and the roads are clear of most traffic, people are shopping less often, most stores are closing extra hours to give time to restock and we STILL appear to have a supply problem.

This is not the fault of people buying a little bit more. This is exposing how desperately fragile our food supply is and I no longer believe this is just a logistics issue as we were told. This is inadequate supply chains.