ECON Report food and grocery price increases/shortages here - UPDATE, new runs on the stores

parsonswife said:

We have had a major flea problem at our house. Went to 5 stores to get hertz flea shampoo and finally found some for 9.90 a bottle.

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You can get a product called FleaGo to sprinkle on the carpets. I think it's like a boric acid product. It's safe to put on the carpet with pets. It kills the flea eggs to stop the cycle. If I remember correctly, you just take the pet out of the room, shake it into the carpet along baseboards, under furniture, etc., and brush it in. The dust settles and then you can take the pet back into the room. I've done this and it worked, but we didn't have a terrible problem.

Edited to add:
Oops. This is what happens when I don't keep up. The subject has already been covered.

Wow....Honeyville out of almost everything?????? I am SO thankful to have discovered them and got some of almost everything they sell, awhile ago! Spent quite a bundle on my HH orders, and feel very well supplied. Got their cookbook, too...it is on soups you can make with their freeze dried veggies and TVP. I wish they had one for entrees, too........did suggest that to them.

I originally was studying Amazon's pages and saw Harmony House foods...I like reading customer reviews and noticed that one person said she liked going to the source, Harmony House Foods. So, I checked them out and decided to just order from them....what a large variety!

I also appreciate learning that old beans can be saved by cooking them in slow cookers. Being alone, I don't always use up my packages of beans before they get old.

Dennis Olson said:

Wait, what?

I’ve never had ass meat.

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You've never had pork butt?

Dennis Olson said:

Wait, what?

I’ve never had ass meat.

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If you ever had a hot dog you sure have..

.

Perhaps we should pull the sidebar issues OFF THIS THREAD.

Barry Natchitoches said:

The secret to successful dry bean cooking in a crock pot is to NEVER ass meat or anything acidic (like tomatoes) until AFTER the beans are soft.

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I was also taught never to add salt until they’re done cooking, for the same reason.

Our Kroger (north central Indiana) was jammed full last night all except toilet paper and alcohol, peroxide)
I got buy one get one free chuck roast , beef is still * pricey)

Don't know about elsewhere. But here in Idaho, at fred Mayer/Kroger,canned green beans are in short supply. The whole area of the shelf was bare except for a new item. Giant cans of green beans, industrial size. Canned hams are gone. Guess I will have to learn to repackage what we can find.

Dennis Olson said:

Cary, dude. Breathe. Drink. Relax. (repeat)

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Cary, you may throw your shoes if it makes you feel better. Dennis is a transplant and has not learned how to have a proper hissy fit. I do, however, think that after your fit his advice is fine. lol. I yell at the news. I come by it honest. I have learned to leave the room when it comes on.

By the by, we did order and receive a can of Lysol from Walmart pick up the other day. However, I won’t let anyone spray it because it makes my lungs feel like they’ve been under chemical attack. Don’t think they had any wipes. We got it. You want it? lol (I would, but am positive I’d be shot for shipping to Tupelo.)

Just thought I'd mention I never go to the big stores like Walmart, Sam's, etc....just either of our two local stores, which are still fairly large....and well stocked. One of them had a few shelves of canned veggies with empty spaces, tho not totally empty.

Interestingly, the other large local store seems very well stocked with everything...maybe a little less well stocked with the TP and paper towels, but still has some. (I get my paper products at DG, anyhow...they always seem to have plenty.)

There are plenty of brand choices, no crowding. For awhile, there was a shortage of yeast, but they now have enough of that, too. Same with flour. The only limits I've seen might be on TP, and one store has a limit of 2 doz. eggs. No limits at the other store. Plenty of spuds and nice onions...all kinds.10# russets even on sale.

I think these local and somewhat smaller (tho not really small, at all) are better stocked than those big ones! (Whoops, maybe I shouldn't have let out our little secret.)

Oh and speaking of coke - wasn’t there some problem not too many months ago with pop top can lids? You would think that would be cleared up (unless I’m misremembering). But maybe they got that from the kingdom of ccp????

I believe that was canned fruit or vegetable "pop-top" lids, not soda.

Michiana MaJo said:

I think these local and somewhat smaller (tho not really small, at all) are better stocked than those big ones! (Whoops, maybe I shouldn't have let out our little secret.)

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That has been the case with me. When Walmart and Sam's were almost empty, our locally owned grocery store had everything in stock. I even went there to find yeast, corn meal and flour. I do all of my grocery shopping there now.

On those "pop top" lids... I was very suspicious about them lasting when they came out. But Aldi switched to them early on, and their price differential made it worth trying them.

I have some canned peaches and pears we're using up dated 2011 (yeah, don't ask... they must have gotten pushed to the back of the shelves; we finally had the time to organize everything and keep up better after the dairy herd was sold). And they have stayed sealed just fine. Our basement isn't as dry as we'd like (we had an inch of water in it last night, after a tornado brought 5 inches of rain in less than an hour!), and the cans have some surface rust. But the seals are fine.
I do handle them more cautiously... not that I toss around any canned goods, but I try to not bang these cans around or drop them. But I'm no longer worried about them not holding up for reasonable long term storage in the preps...

Summerthyme

Thanks for sharing your experience, ST... I might breathe a bit easier about our new additions.

I went all over Oklahoma this week and found everything to be stocked. Stopped in to a Sav a lot and found ribeyes on sale for 5.89/pound LITERALLY right next to 80/20 hamburger at $5.99/lb...... I don't care how many times I see something like this it just makes me go 'hmmmmm......'......I will quit trying to figure it out. Glad I know how to cook. Thanks Mom!!

Went to the restaurant depot yesterday. Nothing seemed in short supply except one of the 20 brands of tomato sauce that they sell. (the one I wanted). I happened to ask a guy working if it was in the overhead, he said no but the were getting 20 pallets early next week if I wanted to come back for it.

Dozdoats said:

Thanks for sharing your experience, ST... I might breathe a bit easier about our new additions.

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Same here. I tend to shy away from anything with those pop top lids. It's good to know that I can let my guard down some with them.

Yes. Summerthyme....thanks from me, too!

summerthyme said:

On those "pop top" lids... I was very suspicious about them lasting when they came out. But Aldi switched to them early on, and their price differential made it worth trying them.

I have some canned peaches and pears we're using up dated 2011 (yeah, don't ask... they must have gotten pushed to the back of the shelves; we finally had the time to organize everything and keep up better after the dairy herd was sold). And they have stayed sealed just fine. Our basement isn't as dry as we'd like (we had an inch of water in it last night, after a tornado brought 5 inches of rain in less than an hour!), and the cans have some surface rust. But the seals are fine.

I do handle them more cautiously... not that I toss around any canned goods, but I try to not Banff these cans around or drop them. But I'm no longer worried about them not holding up for reasonable long term storage in the preps...

Summerthyme

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I've found that if I get one of the cardboard 'flats' the products with the pop tops come in and use those to contain/stack the product, there's no problem with them; they will last as long as the traditional kind. I snag at least one flat every time I can, whether it's at HEB or Aldi. Storing the cans this way also makes it easy with regular cans, as you can slide the entire flat out to see what you've got (if you've had to mix cans on the flat).

thompson said:

I've found that if I get one of the cardboard 'flats' the products with the pop tops come in and use those to contain/stack the product, there's no problem with them; they will last as long as the traditional kind. I snag at least one flat every time I can, whether it's at HEB or Aldi. Storing the cans this way also makes it easy with regular cans, as you can slide the entire flat out to see what you've got (if you've had to mix cans on the flat).

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I do that with all my canned goods. Buy by the flat and stack. I do the same when I buy cases of canned goods. When I use up a flat/case of something, I replace it. I keep a lot of empty cardboard flats to use to stack other items, too. Makes things more manageable.

Thanks to you as well for letting me know that the pop tops are safer than I thought.

packyderms_wife said:

I’m on my iPad so am not able to edit you’re post... for some reason canned peaches and apricots have helped a lot of cancer patients, as have stewed prunes.

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I believe Laiatryl (?) was made from apricot pits.

Just be VERY careful about storing anything in cardboard if you have *any* issues with dampness! The biggest mess I ever had was when I put a flat of 30 ounce cans of tomato puree (in their open "flat*) on a shelf in our root cellar. The cardboard was touching the cement block wall.

It "wicked" moisture from the wall, the cans sat on the soggy cardboard, and within 18 months (they weren't even out of date yet!) every can failed. Oh, what a mess!

I learned my lesson... I don't store cans in the root cellar anymore. In fact, I don't store them in cupboards at all (we have about 28 running feet of closed cabinets in the basement. I use those cabinets for all my home canned goods, plus stuff like pkastic or glass jars of condiments, etc. But I designed super heavy-duty shelf brackets and commissioned an Amish blacksmith to make them. We mounted 3/4" plywood shelves on them, and I keep all cans, plus stuff like laundry detergent, etc, on those shelves. I'm careful to not push cans against the block walls, but because they are in the open air, I have al most no problems with rust.

We installed extra shelves in the cabinets, so I don't have to either stack pint jars or waste space. But if I needed to stack jars, I'd use sheets of thin plywood or something like what they used to call masonite (I think they may call it "hardboard" now?) Stacking home canned jars is a bad idea... it can cause premature seal failure. But if you use a thin board between the layers, it spreads out the weight, and reduces the stress on the seals.

Summerthyme

summerthyme said:

Just be VERY careful about storing anything in cardboard if you have *any* issues with dampness! The biggest mess I ever had was when I put a flat of 30 ounce cans of tomato puree (in their open "flat*) on a shelf in our root cellar. The cardboard was touching the cement block wall.

It "wicked" moisture from the wall, the cans sat on the soggy cardboard, and within 18 months (they weren't even out of date yet!) every can failed. Oh, what a mess!

I learned my lesson... I don't store cans in the root cellar anymore. In fact, I don't store them in cupboards at all (we have about 28 running feet of closed cabinets in the basement. I use those cabinets for all my home canned goods, plus stuff like pkastic or glass jars of condiments, etc. But I designed super heavy-duty shelf brackets and commissioned an Amish blacksmith to make them. We mounted 3/4" plywood shelves on them, and I keep all cans, plus stuff like laundry detergent, etc, on those shelves. I'm careful to not push cans against the block walls, but because they are in the open air, I have al most no problems with rust.

We installed extra shelves in the cabinets, so I don't have to either stack pint jars or waste space. But if I needed to stack jars, I'd use sheets of thin plywood or something like what they used to call masonite (I think they may call it "hardboard" now?) Stacking home canned jars is a bad idea... it can cause premature seal failure. But if you use a thin board between the layers, it spreads out the weight, and reduces the stress on the seals.

Summerthyme

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We have wood shelving.

Barry Natchitoches said:

No, I never have bought strawberry milk before - in regular or powdered form. But thanks for the tip. Powdered strawberry milk flavoring sounds like it would be good to add to our food storage, while the fresh stuff would be good for right now. If/when we are forced to drink the powdered milk I have stored up, I could always add powdered strawberry flavoring to her powdered milk.

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Boost also comes in strawberry, my Dad loves it. The Dr. told him to drink it. Maybe your wife would like it as well.

The city target in downtown Portland has had issues for months now. Off and on. I shop maybe once a week consistently there. As Portland collapses into long term anarchy, I have hit Target 3 times this week, and Safeway once. Safeway had issues with cash and thin supply. Safeway also had bean shortage signs still up, bulk type. I also got the LAST BAG OF 5 POUND RICE THEY HAD BY SUPREME RICE FROM LOUISANA.
Finally, the Target did have a good selection of toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates etc
Target had ONE type of brown eggs, in dozen boxes and maybe 20 total. The meat section has been thin for Months. They still have hotdogs, but they no longer can fill up the same size display from two months ago. The REDUCED SUPPLY is pretty much store wide, everything from meat, eggs, etc
Of course, I haven't shopped there for 3 weeks before this week. I hadn't been to Safeway since May.
I think it is more a case of sustained shortage than not a single one left. Selection is bad. Price is up. I bought both of the one pound hamburger packages Target had. Yep, 2, count um, TWO, pounds of hamburger, and if they don't get a truck in this weekend, then NOBODY EATS A BURGER. Safeway might have some or whole foods or freddies, cept fred meyer doesn't use cash anymore.

I imagine the Walmarts are going to get hit hard over the next several days before the mandatory mask policy goes into effect on Monday.

As far as lack of potatoes.... I did get a big carton of dehydrated hash browns at Sam's yesterday. I hadn't seen them for a while.

rafter said:

I imagine the Walmarts are going to get hit hard over the next several days before the mandatory mask policy goes into effect on Monday.

As far as lack of potatoes.... I did get a big carton of dehydrated hash browns at Sam's yesterday. I hadn't seen them for a while.

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I put a large pick up order in online yesterday at Walmart. First available pick up is tomorrow morning. I guess we'll see how good the stock is/what all is substituted.

The system is failing on all levels. It will take some time before it totally falls apart. We have, at most, till September 30th. Once the evictions start, maybe to October, November 30th, it will be hordes of homeless, hungary, violent, despairing, desperate people
12-31-2020 time frame. I sense the so called "fat times," compared to a year or two out, are NOW!
The Safeway peaches weren't very big, and they cost $1.99 a pound, but 2 years from now they won't be in the store at all. We are now living through the collapse of our civilization. WHAT PORTLAND HAS BEEN DEALING WITH THE LAST 3 MONTHS IS YOUR FUTURE.

Doomer Doug said:

The system is failing on all levels. It will take some time before it totally falls apart. We have, at most, till September 30th. Once the evictions start, maybe to October, November 30th, it will be hordes of homeless, hungary, violent, despairing, desperate people
12-31-2020 time frame. I sense the so called "fat times," compared to a year or two out, are NOW!
The Safeway peaches weren't very big, and they cost $1.99 a pound, but 2 years from now they won't be in the store at all. We are now living through the collapse of our civilization. WHAT PORTLAND HAS BEEN DEALING WITH THE LAST 3 MONTHS IS YOUR FUTURE.

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DD, the evictions/ new homeless hordes of desperate folks is something I had never considered to be a part of our Covid-19 journey. I need to be more aware. The last 4 months for me has been work (hospital)/home/work/home, rinse repeat. With my only concern being for my immediate family and my amazing hospital staff.

Will be doing much more prepping. ( I admit to feeling smug during the first toilet paper "run"!)

Safeway So Oregon had commercial Corn/green bean on the clearance table. Paid 2.25 for the big cans. I will dehydrate them for soups

I have been seeing reports that I call precursors to eviction, then homeless, then anarchy. I have seen the numbers of no pay rent, and no pay mortgage go up month by month, starting in April. The most recent no pay rent was 30 PERCENT for June I think. Come September 30th we are going to have 20 MILLION renters, etc that owe back, can't pay and will be put on the street, cept they will delay it till November or dec

After our stores seemed to be back to normal, they are suddenly thin again. Walmart and Stop and Shop had empty shelves. Especially frozen foods. Wiped out. No paper towels and a few packages of store brand TP. Lots of empty shelves in the housewares section of Walmart. Canning supplies are all gone. Small appliances had only the store sample on the shelf. The supply chain is obviously feeling the strain again with Corona in the rest of the country so bad right now.

The water has been turned off at the faucet, and the hose is draining. Get what you can, while you can.

Walmart is getting weird again! Made a trip to neighboring county (1 corona death in this county)for a grocery run yesterday, oh man.

It was very busy, the busiest I'd seen it for several months. I figured people were trying to work in one last trip before the mandatory mask rules kick in, myself included.

As I approach the entrance I see about a dozen people clustered by the far end of the barrier leading to the door. There's an employee talking with the group, couldn't hear all of the conversation but one man said "but that isn't until Monday". Apparently this Walmart decided to start enforcing masks early... and people were NOT happy. Something else was said by the employee I couldn't hear, and the man replied loudly "then I'm going to take my money elsewhere"

So I dug my little mask out of the bottom of my purse and put it on. I asked the group if they were waiting in line, they said they were waiting to be given masks... so I went past and entered the store. As soon as I got inside I pulled the thing down to expose my nose. Masks and eyeglasses don't work well together.

As I start into the aisles I begin to notice several people not wearing masks. There were also many Amish there that day, I have never seen Amish or Menonites wearing masks and yesterday was no different.

As I go along I overheard an unmasked woman talking with a masked woman, "it's not the masks that bother me, it's being told I HAVE to wear one". I looked at her and said, "amen sister", taking off my mask and flinging it into my cart. Ahhh, better. Ohioans do NOT like being told what to do. If there are Karens here they just stick to dirty looks and keep to themselves.

Over to the dairy case, milk section has doors taped off and a handwritten sign saying "milk not available sorry". Shelves are full, nothing appears wrong... so I gently pry open the door where the tape is loose and grab a couple gallons. Lady standing nearby watching me, asks "is it cold?" I said "yes, and I didn't drive 40 miles to not get any milk for my kid. Looks like it's available after all" She thanked me and explained she needed almond milk for her little boy who couldn't drink cows milk.

As I continue shopping I notice one aisle with a big sign "do not shop this way" with an arrow. Odd because it was the only aisle with this sign. Of course I ignored it.

Nobody was trying to enforce masks or one way shopping as I went through the store. No employees said anything after I broke the milk barricade. I decided that today I was going to identify as a non English speaking Hispanic, just in case someone called me out... but no one did. I saw several employees without masks (medical exemption?) and as usual they were not socially distancing.

The only thing I noticed out of stock was my baked Lays, which were also missing at Kroger last week. I told myself to quit being a baby and just buy the damned baked Ruffles.

So that was the weirdest shopping trip I've had since March. It took me the rest of the afternoon for my brain to process, lol. Next week should be fun!

Everyone is giving some great reports. Thank You it is very helpful. I have to say I don't fully understand what is going on with the stores. I am finding just about anything I want to stock online. I just had a shipment from Walmart that had Lipton chicken Noodle soup in it along with Ice Tea Mix which I havn't been able to find in the stores. Also had canned peas preordered on Amazon and received those. Have to pay attention though as the price gougers are going strong.

rafter said:

I imagine the Walmarts are going to get hit hard over the next several days before the mandatory mask policy goes into effect on Monday.

As far as lack of potatoes.... I did get a big carton of dehydrated hash browns at Sam's yesterday. I hadn't seen them for a while.

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I made sure that all my shopping was done this week, before the madness begins. Not just Walmart, but all businesses in my shopping town is making it mandatory to weak masks. Some already have been doing so.

Speaking of being out of potatoes. I can't find canned diced potatoes anywhere! I've been looking for weeks. Or Bacon Spam!

I like using canned diced potatoes to make hash browns, instead of dehydrated potatoes. I just open the can, drain, and pour them into an oiled skillet, and brown.

SouthernBreeze said:

I made sure that all my shopping was done this week, before the madness begins. Not just Walmart, but all businesses in my shopping town is making it mandatory to weak masks. Some already have been doing so.

Speaking of being out of potatoes. I can't find canned diced potatoes anywhere! I've been looking for weeks. Or Bacon Spam!

I like using canned diced potatoes to make hash browns, instead of dehydrated potatoes. I just open the can, drain, and pour them into an oiled skillet, and brown.

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Web Restaurant store had #10 cans for 3.79. Their shipping gets steep though. If it is something I really want I will pay it.
I have a question for you guys. Probably stupid but I was wondering if you can freeze those when you open the can? That is a lot of potatoes.

Terrwyn said:

Web Restaurant store had #10 cans for 3.79. Their shipping gets steep though. If it is something I really want I will pay it.
I have a question for you guys. Probably stupid but I was wondering if you can freeze those when you open the can? That is a lot of potatoes.

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I'd drain and dry them really well first before freezing. In fact, dehydrating would be a good avenue to explore.

Terrwyn said:

Web Restaurant store had #10 cans for 3.79. Their shipping gets steep though. If it is something I really want I will pay it.
I have a question for you guys. Probably stupid but I was wondering if you can freeze those when you open the can? That is a lot of potatoes.

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Sure, you can freeze them. I do it with canned items all the time if I don't need the whole can. I measure out what I need according to the recipe being used, and freeze the rest.