Food Supply Disruptions - Government Response

[Horatius]

As I said before, it isn't horrible. We aren't starving, but this is not normal, and it isn't due to consumer behavior. In this case, I don't know if there is anything the government can or should do about it. I just hope they are looking to the future and making sure that these inconveniences don't turn into crises.

At this point, I'm in full-on squirrel mode. I'm not panic buying or anything, but I did buy a freezer for the first time, and by now it's nearly full. Any time I see something on a good sale, I pick up a bit extra, and squirrel it away. Peanut butter and bacon seems to keep going on sale, so I've got lots of that. Buying some basic things like stewing beef, but also some decent prepared meals for when I'm not enthusiastic enough to make a big pot of something. I'm also experimenting with freezing portions of my stew. I can get 6 good meals out of one pot, if it keeps well.

I've also planted some potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic in the backyard.

 

[Meadmaker]

At this point, I'm in full-on squirrel mode. I'm not panic buying or anything, but I did buy a freezer for the first time, and by now it's nearly full. Any time I see something on a good sale, I pick up a bit extra, and squirrel it away. Peanut butter and bacon seems to keep going on sale, so I've got lots of that. Buying some basic things like stewing beef, but also some decent prepared meals for when I'm not enthusiastic enough to make a big pot of something. I'm also experimenting with freezing portions of my stew. I can get 6 good meals out of one pot, if it keeps well.

I've also planted some potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic in the backyard.

If everyone did that all it once, it would create shortages. We saw a bit of that at the beginning of the lockdowns. Suddenly, everyone was home, including the kids, so everyone went out and got Macaroni and Cheese, until it was all gone. People were eating 2-3 meals at home instead of 1-2, so supplies dried up. People didn't want to go to the grocery store, so they bought much more than normal all at once.

All that makes sense. That's consumer behavior, and it caused shortages at the beginning, but most of those shortages went away as the weeks rolled by.

When meat shortages were announced, at about the time I started this thread, there was another wave of panic buying/hoarding. This time, though, it was different. The stock wasn't replenished, because production really was down.

This also ought to be a lesson for observant protestors. Meat production did not drop off due to lockdown orders. The facilities were exempt. They didn't close due to government regulation. They closed because there were too many sick workers. This ought to be a lesson to those demanding a return to normalcy.

 

[quadraginta]

Two more tractor-trailer load chicken sales announced on the local news yesterday. Two different locations, two different days.

Our heroic chicken workers are still doing their share to save the country. One load of forty lb boxes of chicken at a time

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

When meat shortages were announced, at about the time I started this thread, there was another wave of panic buying/hoarding. This time, though, it was different. The stock wasn't replenished, because production really was down.

This also ought to be a lesson for observant protestors. Meat production did not drop off due to lockdown orders. The facilities were exempt. They didn't close due to government regulation. They closed because there were too many sick workers. This ought to be a lesson to those demanding a return to normalcy.

You'd think, but I overheard someone in the city with one of these meatpacking plants with hundreds of cases, say that they simply didn't *believe* that the plant could have had so many cases. The town itself only had a few, how could there possibly have been so many in one company? The workers just don't want to work.