UK - Resources for help getting food during quarantine and other supermarket related problems

I was thinking of keeping tins in a lower cupboard, then i realised in my tiny kitchen i don't actually have any lower cupboards lol apart from under the sink, and that houses the bin and the gas meter.

 

My food cupboard seems full of sweet stuff - jam, honey, maple syrup, baking ingredients (for cakes, biscuits, shortbread, fudge and jam tarts), chocolate, flapjack ingredients (the only use for the porridge oats I bought today), dried fruit, nuts...So if the virus doesn't kill me, I may die of a diabetic coma. I'm not diabetic that I know of, but I'm not sure how I'd be able to tell with all my other symptoms and no blood test. I up for testing it experimentally though.

Edit: I seem to remember Jonathan Edwards writing a list of essential groceries, I'm sure I've got them right...

 

I have heard the bamboo toilet paper clogs the toilet. Or at least that’s what the reviews on Amazon (I think) said.

 

I tried to look that up on Google, but couldn't find anything that said it couldn't be used like ordinary toilet paper. I did find some info that stated that the process by which it is manufactured is very different to bamboo textiles and other materials.

 

God dammit, my toilet rolls that were supposed to be arriving this weekend have been postponed till after March 29th grrrr.

 

I think it could have been Cheeky panda but might have been another one too. And I also remember some of the reviews saying how it was the 3 ply (or 4 ply?) that was causing it to get clogged - it was thicker than other tissues. I’m sorry I can’t actually remember very well, I just remember looking when I heard about eco friendly toilet tissues!

 

I just bought this version (48 extra long rolls for £40), but I purchased it off Ebay (as you get buyer protection). It actually looks like proper toilet paper as well as being ethical and supporting people in need of sanitation:

https://pottyaboutmyplanet.com/

So, I've moved my online shopping slot forward from Saturday for 3 weeks (I have one in 2 weeks' already booked). I have at least 2 weeks' worth of soap. Now the schools are being shut, I won't feel bad in asking my daughter to collect any desperately needed items (although as a single healthy person she has volunteered to go in at least half the days to teach the kids who will still be in school). Someone's going to be very happy to find a Tesco slot available this weekend!

 

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.

 

It might improve with time, as supermarkets start restricting more and more items and prioritising deliveries for the elderly and vulnerable (who are supposedly being 'cocooned'). I'm sure a photo of evidence showing your ESA support group status would be accepted as proof you are in the vulnerable category.

 

Might be relevant to this thread:
Our greengrocer literally has food coming out the door and piled on the pavement and across the street there's 30 people fighting over the last carrots and lettuces at M&S.

 

When my mum tried to place a sainsburys order, for some cleaning things, It came with at least half the things missing.

luckily, we have food still in the cupboard (we generally try to keep it quite well stocked because if my boyfriend doesn’t come some weeks due to other caring duties, then because my mum can’t go out at that time, we always have food), and we had done a shopping of cupboard foods just before the panic buying starting kicking off. And we don’t eat a lot. And we get our milk and yoghurt from Abel and Cole every week, have done for a long time.

But I feel really sad for all the people who are unable to get food now because of the panic buyers. I don’t understand how the Uk could have run out of food to this extent? Or why all the slots are filled up - I mean there’s only so much food you can buy? I don’t understand how much people are buying?

 

I don't think it has. I think that supermarkets and shops have been caught on the hop by a massive surge in demand.

Likewise, people just go for deliveries because it's most convenient to them and don't stop to think that others might be more in need of delivery.

 

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.

 

When people start seeing that their delivery is missing half the items they ordered (and especially those items they may most need) they may go back to physically going into the store (if not in self-isolation) or using 'click and collect'. I hope so anyway.

 

I'm seriously impressed by some of our little local village shops. They've come together as a group and set up an ordering system using one of their websites, selling most of the essentials without markups on their usual prices and are delivering locally.

One of the group is a deli with a restaurant attached and they're doing reheatable meals.

Hats off to them!

Sadly, in other reports staff at local /nearest Tesco's & Sainsbury's have had a pretty horrible time with customers becoming abusive and aggressive. How does that help?

 

A relatively has a gigantic Tesco near him in the outskirts of London and decided to pop in at about 9.30am to get no more than a basketful of essentials.

He reckoned he spent 5 minutes shopping and then 55 minutes queuing to pay. The queues were 20 people deep.

Out for a walk later he passed a well stocked and empty corner shop. He reckons he might just go there next time.

 

As I predicted from my visit to Sainsbury's on Wednesday morning, their 'dedicated shopping hour' today had the reverse effect for many stores (there may have been exceptions in some parts of the country). I'm so glad now that I ignored the email and kept to my original plan. At least I got everything I really needed except soap (which I have 2 weeks' worth at present) and toilet rolls (I've ordered bamboo ones off Ebay, which are now in the post to me).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...our-for-vulnerable-people-chaotic-and-crowded

For most of my shopping I can use the village shops (still a 2 and 10 mile drive) and the local farmer's shop/deli in the future. Yes, it will probably cost me a third more when my only income is my sickness benefits, but it will be worth it.

 

Someone posted this on neighbourhood app yesterday

 

I'm running low on food - my husband and I have never been people who kept enormous amounts of food and other household supplies in stock because we don't have much storage space. Are we going to be forced to go out several times a day to every supermarket and small shop in the area, exposing ourselves to infection all the time so we can constantly check where we can find food? How is everyone else getting food?

 

@Arnie Pye

Amazon has a few bits of food still available. We’ve been getting bits and pieces from there.
There are some online ready meal delivery shops still available - like Cook Food. However these are far too expensive for every day food, more for entertaining. Did a quick google search and there’s a few others as well.

We are lucky as we had a standing order with Abel and Cole from before, just milk and yoghurt every week. It was important for us because me and my mum often didn’t leave the house For a while anyway esp if my boyfriend couldn’t come round that week. And no order needed to be placed, it just came every week at the same time and day. And now we’ve managed to add extra food bits to that Abel and Cole order.

Sorry things are so hard Have you joined your local Covid mutual aid group? On mine; there are people getting groceries for others and sharing details of which shops have stock.

https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/