Resources for help getting food during quarantine and safe handling of food

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Yessica

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Hi! The past few days I've received some meetup notices about young, healthy people cause of the coronavirus forming meetup groups of volunteers to go the grocery store and run errands :thumbup: for those of us self-quarantined cause of age or health conditions.

There may be some in your area too. Just an idea, check out meetup.com in your area and search with the words that might have this.

There is also other kinds of volunteer groups on there. Perhaps someone from one of those would be of help.

And maybe nextdoor.com one can find some help too.

Times like this brings out the best in people yet be careful to screen with nextdoor and maybe meetup cause these times can bring out the worst in some people too.

Thinking also for us homebound or need help with ME possibly through this one can make some connections or friendships that would be of help after all this is over.

Please add other resources if you run across some that may help.

Take good care everyone, the best that you can. :hug::hug:
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Moderator note: Information specific for the UK has been moved to this thread.
 
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One of my local grocery stores (in the US) was only letting 10 people in the door every 10 minutes. I'm not sure if that was intended to promote "social distancing" or if it may have been a kind psychological strategy based on the assumption that large crowds promote panic buying. At any rate, I was able to find things - like bread, milk and chicken - that were cleaned out at other stores, but it may have just been a matter of luck (or, more likely, a matter of people being unwilling to stand in line).
 
I received an email from my supermarket informing us that they will be allowing only a certain amount of people at a time for busy stores for distancing, and to allow everyone to get their groceries without stress. They've reassured everyone that the stores are fully stocked up and nothing is running out.
 
Wonko said:
Empty shelves, huge gaps in orders for basic foodstuffs, and inability to even book a delivery, promote panic buying.

If when people go to a shop and see what they want is plentiful they will only buy what they need, in general, but if they see there is almost none of it left then they will buy what they can, even if it's more than they wanted (or o there was none last time they will buy more as soon as they see it, in case it's not there next time they need it)

It's pretty basic mammal.
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I think that's true. The store I mentioned above and some others have reduced their hours (basically closing at 8PM instead of midnight). The store said it gives them time to restock their shelves. When I heard that I thought that the idea might be to try to reduce panic buying by having full shelves.
 
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Right now my support worker is out buying groceries. I have enough for a couple of days. Its likely that many things, if not most, will not be available.

The good news in Australia with our Woolworths grocery chain is that pensioners, including disabled, can apply for priority home delivery of supplies. I might be doing that later today.
 
As I suspected a lot of things were not available to buy. The surprise was that even frozen vegetables are not available. Most basics like bread are limited to two loaves ... and it does not matter that I only get my groceries once every two weeks. I will have to look into priority home ordering, as I mentioned in my last post.
 
Wonko said:
Sainsburys has no meat, veg (including potatoes), flour, rice, noodles, soup, bin bags, bubble bath, sugar, sweeteners, tinned stuff, toilet rolls - all of any type (substitution were allowed) - and not a lot of bread - they do have crumpets tho.

My £100 order looks like it's been reduced down to about £25-30 based on what they've told me is unavailable (as a category - almost everything on my order allowed substitutions).

I ordered about £10-15 worth of fresh veg - I am going to receive 3 carrots (hand picked)

So I'm a 4-5 weeks short of what I need for 4 months isolation (I was already probably going to have to ration) - lets hope some delivery slots exist before I run out.
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Have you ever heard of Huel? They do meal replacement powdered drinks and granola. It has everything nutrient you need but it tastes like an oat milkshake. The granola is more palatable but a bit more expensive.

They are getting low on stock but there are still some available. It might not be something you’re interested in but it’s nutritious food that’s available and the powder has a 12 month shelf life.

edited to add - you can cook with the powder too which is something I’ve not tried but pancakes and such like can be made.
 
Moderator note: a large number of posts about safe food handling have been moved here from
Coronavirus - worldwide spread and control

Sean said:
Looks like a good and up-to-date summary of the situation.

https://theconversation.com/coronav...-what-cleaning-products-kill-the-virus-134945
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It says that any soap or detergent will kill the virus..... ??? is that accurate? I thought that soap was only effective at loosening the particles from skin/object so it could be rinsed under running water, I didn't think detergent killed it...
Wondering what the evidence is/if there has been any new evidence proving that soap will kill it.
@Jonathan Edwards
I'm still using alcohol/1:10 bleach solution, have I missed some new development or are you still using meths?
 
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JemPD said:
It says that any soap or detergent will kill the virus..... ??? is that accurate?
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Old fashioned soap is very good at killing micro-organisms through a combination of alkaline pH (which most cells hate) and detergent effect breaking down protein/lipid aggregates of membranes or other structures.

Viruses are different from cells as such but the delicate structure of the outer surface that is needed to infect cells is likely to be disrupted by soap. Other detergents will also disrupt but do not have the alkaline effect, which can also denature proteins.

So soap is good option but messy and impractical for some things.
 
JemPD said:
It says that any soap or detergent will kill the virus..... ??? is that accurate? I thought that soap was only effective at loosening the particles from skin/object so it could be rinsed under running water, I didn't think detergent killed it...
Wondering what the evidence is/if there has been any new evidence proving that soap will kill it.
@Jonathan Edwards
I'm still using alcohol/1:10 bleach solution, have I missed some new development or are you still using meths?
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Like Sasha said, the soap and water destroy it by dissolving the outer lipid layer and breaking the whole thing apart. The alcohols (ethanol or isopropyl) work the same way.

Still using meths, but that is for when I am out of the house and soap and water are not available, or if I am disinfecting something like the car door handle or car keys.

Need to be careful with (neat or diluted) meths on its own because frequent use will dry out your skin, and cracks in the skin can be entry points for microbes. If I am using meths then I also slap on some sorbelene moisturiser every so often to make sure that drying out doesn't happen.

The glycerine in commercial hand sanitisers is there as a moisturiser.

I am told you can mix meths and sorbolene, but not sure what ratio is best. Seems easier just to apply the moisturiser afterwards.
 
JemPD said:
@Sean @Sasha @Jonathan Edwards thanks for that very helpful. So does the soap need to be applied neat/in strong concentrations? or for example in a bowl of hot soapy water like you would wash your dishes in?
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Most detergent work at or below a 1% level, but stronger is likely to act quicker. I don't think I have a precise answer - maybe strong enough to get grease and egg off!
 
Jonathan Edwards said:
Most detergent work at or below a 1% level, but stronger is likely to act quicker. I don't think I have a precise answer - maybe strong enough to get grease and egg off!
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thanks that makes sense. Do you think strong washing up liquid is better than diluted 1:10 bleach then, or about the same?

Also does the 'detergent' action cover laundry detergent too? eg biological wash powder.... thus making it unnecessary to wash home made masks on a very hot wash cycle?
 
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