What Shortages are You Seeing?

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I guess I am a weirdo prepper. I have 20 lbs each of cornstarch, arrow root starch, tarrow root starch and 40 lbs of potato starch. I use the potato starch to make wood pucks for my Bradley smoker.

I found that many years before the shortages started, basic building block items were disappearing from the stores due to people not cooking old school any more. Things like fish eyes (Pearl tapioca) are tough to find. I have just as much baking soda and cream of tartar. Bought them back when they also came in big bags.

Back in the bush, if you aren't sitting on a barrel of something, you don't have any. What you should be lacking is chairs.
 
A small one- Lidl here used to do a lovely garlic mayo, in a small square jar. It went during May 2020 because of Covid and hasn't reappeared. Eldest son loves it, despite not eating mayo :rolleyes: but the jars were great. Because they already smelled of garlic I used them for freezing garlic.
 
Magpie said:
A small one- Lidl here used to do a lovely garlic mayo, in a small square jar. It went during May 2020 because of Covid and hasn't reappeared. Eldest son loves it, despite not eating mayo :rolleyes: but the jars were great. Because they already smelled of garlic I used them for freezing garlic.
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That's how it goes, you find something you really like and then it's gone!!
 
went by local mill...thats closing...completely out of everything..no flour or cornmeal products. this place is huge. they said they are trying to find a buyer for it. they said hope to get grain in and have items next week.
 
Ran into WM last week for a quick few things while I was in town. I noticed the peanut butter isle was pretty bare. There were a few jars left but only a handful. You had a choice between Skippy and the store brand and that was it.

The lunch meat section had holes too, but there was still some, not like the pic Peanut posted. The freezer where they keep the chicken had big empty spots in it. I'm not sure exactly what was gone, but I think it was probably the store brand bags of chicken breast which they've been out of for a while.

It seemed like this time the isles were bigger too, like they've taken some shelving units out to make more room. Maybe it just felt that way to me, but I know this is definitely happening in some stores.
 
angie_nrs said:
I noticed the peanut butter isle was pretty bare.
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It has been bare here for weeks. I did notice yesterday they had a flat or two but that's it.
 
I am going to have to switch my preferred "top shelf tool" from a toilet plunger to something else. They are now putting product in glass jars up there. Glass doesn't work well with the plunger technique. BTW, that's not a young child at the end of the aisle. That a full sized adult.

GroceryShelves.jpg
 
Did a three store tour this week, Plenty of meat variety wise but not great quantity or price wise.
Peanut butter galore, the bread isle was a bit thin variety wise, the only sodas around are the basics made in Atlanta, cat food is up 50% from a couple of months ago, the cheap crap is 15$ a bag! goodys powders are back as are refried beans.potted meat and Vienna sausages are almost a buck a can in places! with the sausages being a buck and the potted meat 2 for a dollar. Texas Pete comes and goes it seems, I stocked up last time.

Ammunition is pretty much widely available, but in military calibers only, shot shells and reloading supplies, forget it! run of the mill Federal bird shot is almost fifteen dollars a box, BUT 22 is back to almost pre covid prices.
 
The last time I was in WM, that was months ago, the aisles were clogged with WM employees pushing huge rolling carts with shelves collecting on line shopping orders. That may have something to do with wider aisles.
I'm lucky, my wife does all the shopping. She knows I have a very low tolerance for idiots and I do not hesitate to let them know.
 
Curmudgeon said:
It has been bare here for weeks. I did notice yesterday they had a flat or two but that's it.
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It last for years & taste the same when open. Anyone worried about food line will stock up on peanut butter.
 
Went to the grocery store yesterday, veggies were just sad. I got 1 broccoli crown. The produce section is 40' wide by 60' long, they had 20 pounds of carrots (in 2# bags) in a 6 foot display, 1 case of broccoli (mostly black heads), 1 head of cauliflower it was black with mold, the bananas had half a display, they had displays of plumbs, peaches, and nectarines (each display was 9 sq feet) they had a number of displays of brussels sprouts, green beans, and squash. But I would have to say the department was about 25% empty (As in nothing there) and the prices for most items were between $2.00 and $6.00 per pound.

The meat department had a fare assortment. But, the chicken was still limited to 2 items per cart, the chicken took up about 8' of an 80' 4 shelf display. Sea food was poorly stocked, but they were not out, so from a Soviet Union Cold war shopping trip everything's fine...

I ended up buying 2 bags of grocery's and 2 12-packs of soda, $125. When they rang up my 6 nectarines it was over $10, I wanted to cry but was glad they had them.
 
Husband wanted to get a haircut today at the Walmart hair place, so little granddaughter and I did the food shopping. Was getting a two pack of Tyson whole chicken 6 months ago...$1 a lb, then $1.12 lb, today $1.24 a lb. Prices on everything was high. No deals today. Did run into my favorite cousin and her daughter and granddaughters shopping, so that was fun. Her grandson and the girfriend are both Rumspringa, so they were able to drive them in their truck to Walmart. They are visiting from Ohio.
 
The small grocery here was fully stocked on everything but chicken bullion powder. Not one jar, but plenty of beef.

we came up here in May 2020 when the vid started. The grocers down home in NJ looked like the wreck o the Hesphus. Not up here. They had everything including disinfectant wipes.

Smaller stores are able to handle these situations better I think. They are not locked into existing contracts and change purchasing as they see fit.
 
Purchased from my local grocery store (outer Denver Metro area) meat department yesterday July 21:

Pork shoulder: $2.49/lb, but it was buy one get one free promo on top of that (I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 15lbs of pork shoulder now, but I'll figure out something)

Chicken drumsticks package of twelve: $0.97/lb on sale, normal price $1.99/lb

Pork bone-in country style ribs: $3.99/lb on sale, normal price $4.49/lb

Angus Beef Chuck Patties (prepackaged frozen hamburgers): $10.99 / 2 lbs on sale, normal price $12.99 / 2 lbs (these are permanently "on sale" it seems)

Salmon, no special kind - assumed to be generic farm raised: $10.99/lb, no sale or discounts (yikes! I about fainted, but bought it anyway)

Andouille sausage (prepackaged): $4.49 for 14 oz, no sale or discounts

p.s. - No shortages of anything really. I did buy near the last of the drumsticks, but that is not unusual to see them sold out at that sale price. Oddly enough, there weren't any chicken thighs except in the small expensive packs. Plenty of breasts and wings though.
 
Haertig said:
I am going to have to switch my preferred "top shelf tool" from a toilet plunger to something else. They are now putting product in glass jars up there. Glass doesn't work well with the plunger technique. BTW, that's not a young child at the end of the aisle. That a full sized adult.

View attachment 90935
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She looks about the size of my wife
 
Curmudgeon said:
It has been bare here for weeks. I did notice yesterday they had a flat or two but that's it.
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Huh. We've got crap tons of it around where I live. Certain brands might be out for a few days - Peter Pan might be empty but there's plenty of Jif and Skippy. Then a few weeks later one of the others will be out but Peter Pan is full.

I find it really weird how all this varies by place...
 
I think @Spikedriver has a point about being regional, I think if you look at things from the perspective of WHERE AM I and WHERE IS IT COMING FROM you will start to see patterns.

Most of the Veggies come from the West Coast or South, so if you are in the North or East you my have issues. There are a lot of things in the middle of the country so they may not see the same issues.

If you are in or very near the big cities then you have lots of consumption and very little production, the data I have seen would suggest that 2 days of panic buying is all it takes to completely deplete their reserves.

Two months ago I told a friend in TN that I expected meat to go on sale as ranchers and feedlots try to liquidate their stock as feed starts impacting their bottom line, but I also believe that it will be followed by massive shortages. He told me that last week he saw steak for the lowest price he has seen in years and @Haertig just reported meat on sale in the Denver Area, that all aligns with what I was expecting. Politically, I think that the establishment will encourage low meat prices until November and after that to heck with us.

Then again I hope that I am wrong and the big meat fairy in the sky will just keep raining cheap meat on us. In my mind now is a great time to have an extra freezer. ;)
 
I'm with Spike here, but the prices seem to vary weekly, I bought a nice roast I carved into steaks for a hair less then 10.00, yesterday the same roast was 14.00. Peanut butter here is cheap, being the land of the peanut, a quart of the store brand is under four bucks yet and its made by skippy.
 
well i been hesitant to post this..but last week on farm report.they interviewed grain dealer in arizona and he has that regions wheat crop bought and already sold and paid for by a buyer and train cars were to be there may 1st to haul it. as of last week the first cars finally arrived to start hauling. we as a society should be insulted by this. shortages all around and here that crop has sat for 2 and half months not in our food system.

there is something very wrong on so many levels in our society !
 
elkhound said:
well i been hesitant to post this..but last week on farm report.they interviewed grain dealer in arizona and he has that regions wheat crop bought and already sold and paid for by a buyer and train cars were to be there may 1st to haul it. as of last week the first cars finally arrived to start hauling. we as a society should be insulted by this. shortages all around and here that crop has sat for 2 and half months not in our food system.

there is something very wrong on so many levels in our society !
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The Princess cried while reading Atlas Shrugged when she got to the part where the harvest rotted waiting to be shipped to a starving nation due to government mismanagement
.

Ben
 
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