Who hoards food?

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I don't "hoard" out of any necessity like the rurals. I have Ralphs, Von's, Albertson's, Walmart, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market within short driving distance (all but the last two within 5 minutes drive).

I just like hanging around home. I see no reason to have to dress up and go out in public (even for 20 minutes) just to buy food. If I see a good buy on something I stock up. If it's something I use often I stock up. (If there was a shortage of toilet paper I'm good until at least mid October.)

I figure if it's something you use all the time, buy a bunch and put it on the shelf or in the pantry, so that you don't have to keep putting it on the shopping list and buying it again and again and over and over.

If it adds 1 minute to my shopping trip to buy 1 package of toilet paper, it takes 1 minute to buy 10 packages of toilet paper. Multiply that over all the repeat stuff you buy and I spend a whole lot less time in the supermarket than ordinary people.

Who likes shopping in supermarkets? My goal is to minimize my time spent buying food. Plus it's convenient and allows a lot of flexibility if you can just cook dinners out of your stores rather than having to drive to the store.


Most of the time I don't "dress up" to go shopping, but I do hide when I see someone I know.
 
One person's hoarding is another persons being prepared.

I keep a supply of foodstuffs on hand that will take me through power outages and heavy snows where getting out and about is impracticable.

Being prepared for disruption of our normal lifestyles isn't hoarding.

Now those who stock supplies for years on end is another story.

To each his own as they say. :rolleyes:
 
Sanitized sounds so unwelcome.

I'm glad I'm not a germ. ;)

:LOL:

Back on topic------I antisepticize the shelves/cabinets where I store the foods that I 'hoard' or keep for preparedness on a regular basis. I use Lysol or weak bleach to do that.
 
. I see no reason to have to dress up and go out in public.... just to buy food.buying food.
And there I was, imagining you in the loo roll aisle in top hat, white tie and tails! ;)

My local store is used to seeing me in muddy boots and jodhpurs and the check out lady expresses surprise when I haven't got straw in my hair - "Haven't you been to see your horse, dear?".

Living on a "Small Island" as Bill Bryson put it, with a fairly temperate climate, we tend to forget that there are people elsewhere in the world who can't just nip out to the corner shop for a bottle of milk (in fact we can still have it delivered to the door!) due to the distance from "civilisation". I have a penfriend who's married to a sheep farmer in Australia. For her a trip to the shops involves a small aeroplane and until a few years ago they had a house cow for milk. Her food store room is phenomenal - like a small Sainsbury's!

The winter climate in parts of the US must make a good store of food and essentials vital.
 
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My DIL does not bake bread. In fact, she gets home so late from work that my step-son actually does the cooking. I grew up in the city, but my mother made everything home made since she was a stay at home Mom. My father was sick and was on disability so our income was just a once-a-month check. She bought all the groceries at the beginning of the month to make sure we had food all month. We didn't even buy milk. She got powdered milk from the government program for low income families, so that is all the milk we ever had. So she stocked up every month like you do, even though the store was in our town. I can relate to what you do.
Shopping once a month makes sense in that there is less opportunity for impulse buying but it can be a bit of a shock when you get to the check out and you do tend to miss bargains on things you use regularly.

Which reminds me I must stock up on the dried fruit and rum and whisky for the Christmas puddings and cake before the seasonal price hike.
 
Shopping once a month makes sense in that there is less opportunity for impulse buying but it can be a bit of a shock when you get to the check out and you do tend to miss bargains on things you use regularly.

Which reminds me I must stock up on the dried fruit and rum and whisky for the Christmas puddings and cake before the seasonal price hike.


That is why I read the circulars every week and make sure I at least buy the items on special. Then while I'm there I get the bread, milk, eggs, that I buy every week. It is what works for me. My mother had to shop once a month because she only got money once a month. Also, we did not have a car and she had to get the bus to the market. When it was time for her to come home, we would meet her at the bus stop to carry the bags home. Sometimes she would get a taxi home.
 
Well, it seems everyplace in the world is having some natural disaster. I'm originally from Southern California (earthquakes, fires) to here in the Northeast, where there are blizzards, floods, and ice storms. 1991 Rochester Ice Storm drive - YouTube

People were out of electricity and heat for weeks and months!
 
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Well, it seems everyplace in the world is having some natural disaster. I'm originally from Southern California (earthquakes, fires) to here in the Northeast, where there are blizzards, floods, and ice storms. 1991 Rochester Ice Storm drive - YouTube

People were out of electricity and heat for weeks and months!


In cases like this, hoarding food does not help unless you have food that can be eaten "as is" and doesn't need to be cooked. What would you stock up on in that instance? You could buy canned meats that are already cooked, you would just have to eat them at room temp. What else is there?
 
I have plenty of precooked rice and pasta in the freezer, they just need warming up and I have a propane camp stove that can do that. If I still had my Weber it would be kept going for heating up food and water, too.
 
I have plenty of precooked rice and pasta in the freezer, they just need warming up and I have a propane camp stove that can do that. If I still had my Weber it would be kept going for heating up food and water, too.


That's a good idea. Do you freeze rice and pasta on a regular basis? How long does it keep in the freezer? Even for someone who doesn't normally do this, it's a good idea to think about when you hear from the weather forcast that a storm might cause a long power outage.
 
In cases like this, hoarding food does not help unless you have food that can be eaten "as is" and doesn't need to be cooked. What would you stock up on in that instance? You could buy canned meats that are already cooked, you would just have to eat them at room temp. What else is there?

Although I (a rural resident) never had to go weeks with no electricity ---- four days was the max-----we had propane for the stove. If only an electric stove, (as happened another place/time) we drug out the camp stove and the propane canisters and were able to cook very simple meals and boil water for coffee.

We placed it on the useless stove but always made sure there was good ventilation.

Having a camp stove and a supply of canisters would probably be a good idea to have around even if a person never went camping----- in case of any emergency.
 
We've been weeks without power.

Cooking the food isn't usually a problem. :chef:

There is always the charcoal grill and in the winter the woodstove is usually fired up.

Keeping the frozen stuff frozen is the hardest part.

The generator works but it's an annoyance and the expense adds up.

Guess I need to look into canning. :rolleyes:

Hoarding is buying more then you'll use or need.

(Well except for toilet paper that is.) ;)

Being prepared for the unexpected and taking advantage of sales is just common sense and the way I was raised.
 
In cases like this, hoarding food does not help unless you have food that can be eaten "as is" and doesn't need to be cooked. What would you stock up on in that instance? You could buy canned meats that are already cooked, you would just have to eat them at room temp. What else is there?

Gas stove burners would still work. Ovens would not.

Gas and charcoal grills also can provide cooking options.
 
That's a good idea. Do you freeze rice and pasta on a regular basis? How long does it keep in the freezer? Even for someone who doesn't normally do this, it's a good idea to think about when you hear from the weather forcast that a storm might cause a long power outage.

Only when I have extra. It goes into the regular rotation with meals since I don't cook on days I work. I do make extra going into winter since it's possible to be snowed in for a few days. But we've never lost power here for more than a few hours.
 
Only when I have extra. It goes into the regular rotation with meals since I don't cook on days I work. I do make extra going into winter since it's possible to be snowed in for a few days. But we've never lost power here for more than a few hours.


We haven't either. About 10 years we saw a good price on a generator and we bought it. DH has it hooked up so it's wired directly to our furnace, with a heavy duty extension cord going upstairs. Don't you know we haven't had a power outage of more than 1 hour since then? LOL The same with the snow blower. We never get more snow that a couple inches anymore.
 
We haven't either. About 10 years we saw a good price on a generator and we bought it. DH has it hooked up so it's wired directly to our furnace, with a heavy duty extension cord going upstairs. Don't you know we haven't had a power outage of more than 1 hour since then? LOL The same with the snow blower. We never get more snow that a couple inches anymore.

Yeah, I put the snow shovel in storage, a broken old broom takes care of the steps.
 
We haven't either. About 10 years we saw a good price on a generator and we bought it. DH has it hooked up so it's wired directly to our furnace, with a heavy duty extension cord going upstairs. Don't you know we haven't had a power outage of more than 1 hour since then? LOL The same with the snow blower. We never get more snow that a couple inches anymore.
So it isn't global warming that's affecting the weather after all;)
 
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