because they forget about them. or pests get in...
My tinned tomatoes frequently get rats and mice inside them before their best before dates of 2021.
My pasta is ravaged by cochroaches before it gets eaten by 2022.
Best before not being a use by date either.
But yes I'm sure the majority of people who have taken government advice to shop as little as possible - particularly those who were worried enough to stockpile - are sitting at home thinking 'I better not eat my tinned tomatoes right now, as I can go to the shops and buy something else I fancy instead' rather than having numerous meals featuring pasta and tomatoes and baking their own bread so they don't have to leave the house.
As much as this 'selfish stockpiler' idea is a popular one - its merely an extension of the 'deserving or undeserving poor / immigrant' mentality to bash as many people as possible despite evidence to the contrary that you can't overlook the poor (cos they spread disease just as much as the rich - possibly more so) and the health and social care in this country relies disproportionately on immigrant labour.
The fact that our supply chains had so little slack in the system to cope with a crisis and that Just-In-Time is particularly problematic in cities (where warehousing and floor space is expensive) and in the areas furthest from warehouses (like Devon and Cornwall) has got fuck all to do with it. Nor has people planning to do exactly what they were told to do. Nor has the fact that the closure of cafes and restuarants where people bought nearly a third of their meals pre close down had any influence WHATSOEVER on purchasing patterns.
We are all supposed to eat a third less food, shop as often as we did before and to ignore the government advice if we are vulnerable (and couldn't get a delivery slot for weeks).
Yes BLAME THE SELFISH STOCKPILERS AND SAY THERE WILL BE LOTS OF WASTE rather than engaging your brain cells and thinking about reasons why there might be a legitimate reason for an uptick in purchases of certain products which will be consumed.
FWIW, I bought slightly extra in early Feb, well before there was a run on the supermarkets and there were any supply chain issues because I knew there would be an issue. Not only am I staying home more and shopping less, but I'm also wasting LESS (not more) food as I try to use what I do have more wisely priortising the precious tomatoes and pasta for my 5 year old (rather than eating them myself), precisely so I can follow the advice. Plus because I knew what was going to happen, anticipating the problem, I contributed less pressure at peak points. I very much doubt I'm alone.
But yes. I'm off message with my behaviour. I should be shouting:
"BURN THE STOCKPILERS AT THE STAKE"
Honestly, if people are just trying to get by rather than trying to sell on at hugely inflated prices, you can't really have a go at them. This is all about deflecting from failures in business and in government to plan for a a predictable pandemic which by the first week of February was clear there was a high chance would land on our shores. Instead they all waited until the problem hit before even thinking about how they would manage supply chain problems. They KNEW there was panic buying in China, Hong Kong and South Korea by this point, yet they DID NOTHING.
shrug
BURN THE STOCKPILERS