I’m fairly pleased with myself.
Today I managed to go shopping at my local grocery store… to their CASE LOTS SALE! Now, I live four hours away from a Costco and Sam’s Club… so this is a Big Deal for me. This is how I’ve shopped for YEARS. Until this spring.
*For those of you who do NOT know what a case lots sale is… It is a drastically reduced price for a case of canned items. You buy 12 cans or 24 or whatever a case consists of… and it’s cheap!*
We all know what happened this spring. When people were saying “Why are people buying cases of toilet paper?”, I was saying, “Is there any other way to buy toilet paper?” It is just standard for me.
I live fifty miles from the large grocery store. I do buy fresh items and plenty of other food there. Ten Sleep, twenty miles away, provides me with milk, bread, snacks, or maybe some other dairy item in a pinch, but I’m getting the majority of my food from my basement. What is in my freezer, my canning jars, and whatever I get from the case lots sale is the basis for most of my meals.
When items were limited to two cans of each variety this spring, I was very happy I had trained myself to shop in bulk. Two cans of chili beans wouldn’t go far around here… then I’d have to drive back and get more the next day? Nope. That’s not happening. Their spring case lots sale was canceled.
I was nervous about this fall’s. But the ad came out and I was happy! Tomorrow I’ll spend organizing my larder… They did not have *everything* I wanted, but, my… I feel much better!
Now, I have some questions for YOU.
Have your shopping habits changed since this spring? Do you ever buy in bulk? Have you ever been nervous about the food chain? Has the food chain in your area changed?
If you had to eat what is locally grown/processed in your area only, what would it be? Here we would live on beef (or game meat), pinto beans, sugar, and barley (hopefully brewed into beer at the Ten Sleep Brewery!)
As a suburban dweller, I am close to stores (I can walk or ride my bike even!). I have an adequate pantry, and always have tuna fish, peanut butter, soup, cereal and rice on hand. What do I buy in lots: (don’t laugh) B and M Baked Beans because they are hard to find! During the quarantine, the only thing that was hard to get was toilet paper and paper towels. But if one plans ahead, things work out fine.
I’ve had definite concerns about the meat supply. I’m not able to stock up much. Fortunately the prices have stayed more reasonable here than in some other places I’ve seen.
This spring was scary! I would have been in much better shape had I not emptied the pantry in preparation for moving. It took many trips to local stores, including a Sam’s Club to get stocked up again.
I grew up country and know the importance of a stocked pantry and also how to make tasty meals from what is on hand. Thanks to my mother’s practice of growing big gardens, harvesting wild edibles and canning everything we managed on a subsistence farm.
We would have a varied diet of only locally sourced food from the North Shore of Lake Superior. Fisheries would provide fish, there are numerous small farms for produce and meat. Wild rice is harvested and available as well as pick your own apples, blueberries and apples. Almost every yard has a vegetable garden that grows squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and of course zucchini that many will pay you to take. 🙂 Many, even the city dwellers, harvest wild turkeys, ducks, pheasants, deer and bear.
Although that is no longer part of my lifestyle since moving to the apartment I do have family and friends to assist me if needed.
So I am stocked up on nonperishable foods, am dehydrating fruits and have started a small hydroponic garden for salad vegetables throughout the winter. I don’t want to experience another food uncertainty situation like this last spring.
Stay safe everyone!
Great post for these times! I’ve purchased in bulk for many years to save money. I run to the Costco in CO a few times a year to load up the car, as I am feeding 3 athletes, and boy, can they EAT! (Probably similar to feeding ranchers/cowboys!) I also study the weekly grocery sales here, and buy the max number of sale items allowed, if it is something we use. Though my food buying is driven by cost savings, having a full pantry is a great piece of security… to not be so immediately dependent on the food chain right now is a good thing. I am so glad for you and your family that your case sale is back! Going into winter with a full pantry is a great piece of security. If we had to eat “local” – here in the mountains of Wyoming, I guess that means wild game, fish and our freezer stocked with Big Trails beef! 🙂