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

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energy_wave

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Bought some corn on the cob today. Due to shortages of southern corn... a dollar an ear now. I bought half a dozen for $7.45. Boneless skinless chicken breast was on sale for $3.79 a lb. A while back, just as the pandemic hit I was able to buy the same for $1.69 a lb. Kielbasa was $5.99 a lb. Even cheap pork on sale was $2.69 a lb. I was able to get a small, I think a quart, like 5x5 inch container of strawberry's for $6.00. Good thing I was able to get my garden in. 20 wicking buckets on my garage roof and an 80 sf raised bed in the back yard. Had to hump wheelbarrows of rotted tree chips a qt mile to get my soil. No one would reply to my inquiries for compost or top soil. Everything you plant in a garden is sold out. Even online supplies.
 

Terrwyn

Veteran Member
Bought some corn on the cob today. Due to shortages of southern corn... a dollar an ear now. I bought half a dozen for $7.45. Boneless skinless chicken breast was on sale for $3.79 a lb. A while back, just as the pandemic hit I was able to buy the same for $1.69 a lb. Kielbasa was $5.99 a lb. Even cheap pork on sale was $2.69 a lb. I was able to get a small, I think a quart, like 5x5 inch container of strawberry's for $6.00. Good thing I was able to get my garden in. 20 wicking buckets on my garage roof and an 80 sf raised bed in the back yard. Had to hump wheelbarrows of rotted tree chips a qt mile to get my soil. No one would reply to my inquiries for compost or top soil. Everything you plant in a garden is sold out. Even online supplies.
Whew! Those are some prices! Garden sounds nice. Wish you success. The shortages are as crazy as the prices.
Some areas have one thing and another area is out. I'm kinda at a standstill really not knowing what to do. If any of you have any ideas I'm sorely in need of advice on what to do next and a guess as to where this is going.
 

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
_______________
In the Milwaukee Metro area, my Aldi home deliveries (via Insta Cart) continue to work out just fine. Same day delivery and very few of my regular items are out of stock. Prices are the same except for beef products which I already stocked up on last month when the good folks here alerted us to exploding beef prices.

For the first time in three months I actually bought some food at the local Mega-Mart, Woodman's.

Woodman's home delivery had been unavailable for months and curbside pickup had been cancelled. They have always been perennially short staffed at the checkout lanes and it just got worse and worse over the last few months. One single checkout line extending to the back of the store with the customers exhibiting no social distancing at all in line. Twice I dumped my Frozen Bags Of Loneliness into a cooler and left the store.

Went on a midweek afternoon recently and I think the ridiculous check out times have finally impacted their business. Hardly anyone was there. No waiting for handicapped parking and "normal" checkout lines have been reestablished. Still no sanitizing wipes, masks or hand sanitizer though. I think they are just inept and have given up having their Crack Purchasing Department trying to secure those type of supplies.

At least here, the panic may be subsiding. I think it could flare up at a moments notice however.

Get what you need now, you never know what can still develop.

Personally, I fully expect a Wuhan China Virus resurgence to occur soon. It will be exploited by our Pants Load MSM and we may wind up back at Square One again. Can't rule out episodes of major civil disobedience either, going into the November election, that would require one to stay at home for extended periods.
 
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Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Personally, I fully expect a Wuhan China Virus resurgence to occur soon.

I've been hearing that offline from various quarters. I may dig into my savings for new glasses and put that ahead of my teeth cleaning. Both are important but vision is a higher priority.
 

Cyclonemom

Veteran Member
For the first time in three months I actually bought some food at the local Mega-Mart, Woodman's.

Woodman's home delivery had been unavailable for months and curbside pickup had been cancelled. They have always been perennially short staffed at the checkout lanes and it just got worse and worse over the last few months. One single checkout line extending to the back of the store.

Red Baron,

I regularly shop Woodmans in NE WI. Stores are much emptier of shoppers for the most part, but some days are busy like before. Ours does have hand sanitizer, if you're willing to pay $40 for a 1 gal container. No thanks!

They have TP stacked deep to the ceiling. I'll have to take a picture the next time I'm there. Its almost comical.
 

thereisnofork

Veteran Member
At our Winco store in Kent, WA they are beginning to approach normal. Most canned goods are in stock (SPAM still being in short supply) and the shelves are mostly full. Toilet paper, paper towels and Kleenex in stock. Meat is still priced about 50% above normal. A few items missing like Dawn dish soap, bleach is still low. But they do have pallets of spare canned goods up on the overhead racks. I would say that a typical run is costing me about 25-30% more than in January.
 

energy_wave

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Whew! Those are some prices! Garden sounds nice. Wish you success. The shortages are as crazy as the prices.
Some areas have one thing and another area is out. I'm kinda at a standstill really not knowing what to do. If any of you have any ideas I'm sorely in need of advice on what to do next and a guess as to where this is going.

Grow potato's, onions, peas, beans and herbs. Survival food. Grows well with cheap top soil from Home Depot mixed with some bagged manure grown in 5 gal buckets. Lots of good videos online to learn from.

I have beets, bush peas, pole beans, broccoli, kale, variety of lettuce, brussel sprouts, onions, carrots, tomato's, potato's and green peppers. A few misc herbs like basil and thyme. I miss my HUGE garden where I had to use a Troy built tiller. Now I'm reduced to buckets and my back yard.
 

twobarkingdogs

Veteran Member
Grow potato's, onions, peas, beans and herbs. Survival food. Grows well with cheap top soil from Home Depot mixed with some bagged manure grown in 5 gal buckets. Lots of good videos online to learn from.

I have beets, bush peas, pole beans, broccoli, kale, variety of lettuce, brussel sprouts, onions, carrots, tomato's, potato's and green peppers. A few misc herbs like basil and thyme. I miss my HUGE garden where I had to use a Troy built tiller. Now I'm reduced to buckets and my back yard.

I grow veggies and things in a traditional garden, several raised beds, and in several barrels which I keep on my deck. Since energy_wave mentioned growing in buckets I figured I'd post since buckets are similar to barrels. In a previous thread I posted a picture of my barrels with onions growing in them, link below post # 77. I just harvested 25 onions from 2 of the barrels this morning. Since I'm in georgia I grow a short day onion, one of the texas grando varieties. The soil in the barrels is a mixture of 1 year old composted wood chips and the cheapest top soil that homedepot sells. Onions are heavy feeders so they get a handful of 10-10-10 every other week.

The problem I have with onions is storage. Texas grando's only store for a couple of months so it limits how many I can grow and use before they go bad. Thus I also grow a yellow sweet onion which is intermediate day variety which will ripen about a month or 2 later then the texas grandos and thus store and provide me with onions later into the year. But since my area is outside of the intermediate day onion variety zone I don't get the nice big bulbs I get from the short day varieties. They grow more like leeks or big green onions. Still good to eat though.

Potatos I started growing in raised beds a couple of years go. Below is a picture of one of the 2 potato beds I grow. This is a new bed added this year and has half sweet potato and the other half a russet type potato. Again since this is a newer bed the soil is nothing but 1 year old composted wood chips and the cheap homedepot top soil.

The trick to growing in buckets, barrels or raised beds it to keep the plants watered and fertilized as the less soil there is the faster it dries out and the faster it loses its nukes. In my barrels I replace the soil every year while in the raised beds I add to the existing soil and I also grow a bush bean on a rotation schedule as I have always heard that beans help improve the soil. So for today I have 2 raised beds currently growing bush beans and next year 2 other beds will have beans grown in them. I now with this newer bed have 6 raised beds in total so they will get beans every 3'rd year

I won't say that you can feed yourself growing in bucket, barrels or raised beds but you can make a dent in what you eat.

tbd

img_20200621_074529891.jpg



Link to barrel pictures in another thread

FOOD - Food Shortages | What You Can Do Before It’s Too Late
 

psychgirl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
North Central Indiana, Kroger has been stocked to normal for the last two weeks, all except beef.

Even toilet paper is almost full in a daily basis, but they still have purchase limits on most “high traffic” items.

Beef is still really pricey, and not a great selection.
But oddly enough, pork has been overflowing AND some really good sales!

But I’m hesitant to buy a lot since my half hog is coming due in August and I’m a little stressed on making enough room in the basement freezer. I’ve got some serious rearranging and thawing out to do before that.
 

straightstreet

Life is better in flip flops
DH and I shopped together at our small home town grocery yesterday. This was the first time in a couple months as there has been a one cart, one person per family rule in place in KY. We have been ordering online at Walmart and driving to pick up orders the last couple of months. That's not convenient for rural living as far as driving there and back but I did like letting someone else do the shopping for me lol
Our small grocery looked nearly like it did pre pandemic stock wise. The shelves were stocked but prices were higher on everything we purchased with the exception of milk which is still $2.98/gal. Gr chuck was 6.19 lb and the frozen chicken I had on my list was out of stock. Plenty of TP, water, eggs, milk, canned goods.
 

tiredude

Veteran Member
Bought some corn on the cob today. Due to shortages of southern corn... a dollar an ear now. I bought half a dozen for $7.45. Boneless skinless chicken breast was on sale for $3.79 a lb. A while back, just as the pandemic hit I was able to buy the same for $1.69 a lb. Kielbasa was $5.99 a lb. Even cheap pork on sale was $2.69 a lb. I was able to get a small, I think a quart, like 5x5 inch container of strawberry's for $6.00. Good thing I was able to get my garden in. 20 wicking buckets on my garage roof and an 80 sf raised bed in the back yard. Had to hump wheelbarrows of rotted tree chips a qt mile to get my soil. No one would reply to my inquiries for compost or top soil. Everything you plant in a garden is sold out. Even online supplies.
We get the corn here for .33.....want me to send you some?
 

straightstreet

Life is better in flip flops
I grow veggies and things in a traditional garden, several raised beds, and in several barrels which I keep on my deck. Since energy_wave mentioned growing in buckets I figured I'd post since buckets are similar to barrels. In a previous thread I posted a picture of my barrels with onions growing in them, link below post # 77. I just harvested 25 onions from 2 of the barrels this morning. Since I'm in georgia I grow a short day onion, one of the texas grando varieties. The soil in the barrels is a mixture of 1 year old composted wood chips and the cheapest top soil that homedepot sells. Onions are heavy feeders so they get a handful of 10-10-10 every other week.

The problem I have with onions is storage. Texas grando's only store for a couple of months so it limits how many I can grow and use before they go bad. Thus I also grow a yellow sweet onion which is intermediate day variety which will ripen about a month or 2 later then the texas grandos and thus store and provide me with onions later into the year. But since my area is outside of the intermediate day onion variety zone I don't get the nice big bulbs I get from the short day varieties. They grow more like leeks or big green onions. Still good to eat though.

Potatos I started growing in raised beds a couple of years go. Below is a picture of one of the 2 potato beds I grow. This is a new bed added this year and has half sweet potato and the other half a russet type potato. Again since this is a newer bed the soil is nothing but 1 year old composted wood chips and the cheap homedepot top soil.

The trick to growing in buckets, barrels or raised beds it to keep the plants watered and fertilized as the less soil there is the faster it dries out and the faster it loses its nukes. In my barrels I replace the soil every year while in the raised beds I add to the existing soil and I also grow a bush bean on a rotation schedule as I have always heard that beans help improve the soil. So for today I have 2 raised beds currently growing bush beans and next year 2 other beds will have beans grown in them. I now with this newer bed have 6 raised beds in total so they will get beans every 3'rd year

I won't say that you can feed yourself growing in bucket, barrels or raised beds but you can make a dent in what you eat.

tbd

View attachment 204635



Link to barrel pictures in another thread

FOOD - Food Shortages | What You Can Do Before It’s Too Late
In our raised beds this year we have potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, yellow crooked neck squash, zucchini, sweet onions, carrots.
In our greenhouse we have lettuce, spinach, green beans and yellow squash. DH and I fish a couple times a week so we could eat fish, veggies, maybe a little pasta or potatoes or homemade bread and come away from the dinner table full.
 

mikeabn

Finally not a lurker!
Had a case of sticker shock at the commissary- made worse by the fact that the meat I was pricing was in the BARGAIN section.
 

Red Baron

Paleo-Conservative
_______________
In our raised beds this year we have potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes, yellow crooked neck squash, zucchini, sweet onions, carrots.
In our greenhouse we have lettuce, spinach, green beans and yellow squash. DH and I fish a couple times a week so we could eat fish, veggies, maybe a little pasta or potatoes or homemade bread and come away from the dinner table full.

When I used to garden, I liked leaf lettuce versus regular head lettuce.

With leaf lettuce, one can pick a few leaves from a number of plants over a period of a week or so. A good way to reduce waste and to have lettuce at the very peak of freshness.

With staggered planting dates, one can have fresh leaf lettuce for over a month or so.
 
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straightstreet

Life is better in flip flops
When I used to garden, I liked leaf lettuce versus regular head lettuce.

With leaf lettuce, one can pick a few leaves from a number of plants over a period of a week or so. a good way to reduce waste and to have lettuce at the very peak of freshness.

With staggered planting dates, one can have fresh leaf lettuce for over a moth or so.
That's what we grow...leaf lettuce :) we share with others because there's just so much of it
 

twobarkingdogs

Veteran Member
That's what we grow...leaf lettuce :) we share with others because there's just so much of it

I also usually grow a barrel or 2 in waves of leaf lettuce. It grows easy and I usually get tired of eating it before it kind of stops growing as it get too hot. I think more of it gets put in the worm bins then I end up eating as it grows like a weed here in spring and early summer. I wish there was a way to preserve it and I would be open to ideas if anyone has figured a way out.

tbd
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Grocery store here is in good shape and seemingly back to normal, with flour (Bread, All Purpose and WW) even on special. Stock of all canned goods back to normal, with beans and canned vegetables at .77/can. Canned soup/chili, etc more than adequate. Frozen section good, as are paper products and cleaning supplies. Fresh fruit and veg hasn't stumbled at all during the past 3-4 months.

The meat store is definitely leading with pork, but selling their lean ground beef 10# burger bags for $3.69/lb. Chuck roasts $3.99/lb, Porketta steaks are $1.99/lb, pork butts $1.19/lb, bacon wrapped tenderloins at 5/$10. It will do.
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Good grief. Glad I've never been a "brand" person. With peanut butter? Good luck in the apocalypse. ;)

Have noticed over the past months that I can look at a "pandemically stressed" grocery store or meat counter and still see an infinite variety of meal options. A glass half-full thing thankfully learned from a lifetime of absorbing what the good cooks in my family taught me about working with what is on hand.
 
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abby normal

insert appropriate adjective here
Love this thread and have been following it from it's beginning, thanks to everybody for contributing. It's been most valuable to me for getting ahead of the shortages.

Was in need of straw for the garden so yesterday I went to rural king (central Ohio). We are new to this area and I was already making a grocery run, we always try to combine trips to town and RK was close.

Ten dollars for a bale of straw! This was my first time buying straw from them and it will be the last!
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Love this thread and have been following it from it's beginning, thanks to everybody for contributing. It's been most valuable to me for getting ahead of the shortages.

Was in need of straw for the garden so yesterday I went to rural king (central Ohio). We are new to this area and I was already making a grocery run, we always try to combine trips to town and RK was close.

Ten dollars for a bale of straw! This was my first time buying straw from them and it will be the last!
Go the "real" local feed store, (the one with the mill tower and grain bins). Even there, straw will be too expensive, but better.

Still, you ARE wise to get it before the fall decorating season. Then the prices go completely nuts. ;)
 

Tennessee gal

Veteran Member
Good grief. Glad I've never been a "brand" person. With peanut butter? Good luck in the apocalypse. ;)

Have noticed over the past months that I can look at a "pandemically stressed" grocery store or meat counter and still see an infinite variety of meal options. A glass half-full thing thankfully learned from a lifetime of absorbing what the good cooks in my family taught me about working with what is on hand.
WalknTrot, Jiff is my favorite peanut butter, but if I can't get it, I eat what is available.

I was reared by Depression Era parents. My parents were married for 20 years and had 3 teenagers when I came along. My dear mother could make a delicious meal on next to nothing.

As far as the apocalypse is concerned, don't underestimate this 70 year old pastor's wife. ;)
 
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lonestar09

Veteran Member
Well two counties here in South Texas made masks in businesses mandatory (Hidalgo and Cameron) last week. BAM all over again panic buying. TP and meat and diapers were selling out shortly. Things seems to have slowed down a bit again except for bottled water. Dollar General here has taken to putting empty large plastic storage bins in the empty paper product shelves. I have noticed a lot of new spray cleaners that have popped up in weird size bottles and fragrances that I don't remember seeing before. Still telling and reminding family members if you see lysol or clorox wipes buy it. They had the wipes at Sam's last week and two different family members with 2 different membership cards only bought one package. The other said they didn't need them so they didn't buy them. wish I had known when they went i would have gone and got a pack.
 

Terrwyn

Veteran Member
I had an order from Stater Bros, in S. CA. yesterday and they were out of reg. hamburger but had leanest which I buy. 8.00 lb. They were also out of Jimmy Dean Sausage biscuits and Stouffers macaroni and cheese. Didn't need any but also showed out of stock on bleach and paper towells,
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
More locations are now required masks to enter and leave. I went to the courthouse to renew my notary and they had a sign refusing entry to anyone without a mask.
 

annieosage

Inactive
I forgot to mention I got 2 tubs of disinfecting wipes online from Kroger! That was a find and they're delivering today. Very happy. None in store or online for pickup still that I can find anywhere.
 
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