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

I would not function well in that sort of environment.

I tend to follow rules, unless I deem the rules are absurd, in which case I break the rules in the most efficient way possible.

As I suspect my approach may go down even less well than usual ATM, even if I could manage the walk, and the queues, such an environment would not be 'safe' or a 'sensible' place for me to be in.

If people/shops want me to follow unusual rules then they should make these totally clear, that they are applicable to the real situation that exists, and that buying a cabbage is a possible thing to achieve, within the rules, within the shop - or I'm likely to get very goal focused, and I will obtain a cabbage using whatever means seem reasonable, to me (normally by what seems the most direct method/route, bearing in mind even under normal conditions my cognition is strained by the environment and normal challenges inside a shop), and any collateral damage is down to them, and any actions they have decided are appropriate to prevent me achieving such a simple task.

So the entire situation is best avoided, unless I get mildly peckish (they have to feed people in prison).

 

I got my Doves flour box today and was very pleased with it. It contained 6 different flours, including a rye and a malted one. My daughter also managed to pick me up a couple of white spelt flours when she was in Morrisons, so I'm now sorted for flour for the next few months.

I also found a government provided food parcel on my doorstep today, which was unexpected. It wasn't too bad for someone without dietary needs, but not good for a vegetarian as it contained 3 tins of Baxters game soup, tinned pork and a can of tuna in salt water. Fortunately my daughter will be able to 'recycle' the non-perishable food I don't need to the food bank in town, which will actually help a wider range of vulnerable people.

It did contain mandarins, apples, potatoes and carrots which will be useful to me, as well as some individually packed Clipper tea bags and individually packed instant coffee (but no sugar, so not so good for those who take this in their drinks). A lot of the items were in clear unbranded plastic, and the few branded items were mostly ones that I've not seen in supermarkets. This makes me think the food has been donated by companies, including hotels. It did contain 2 cartons of UHT milk, a box of Cherios (which I like), 2 cans of Heinz baked beans (useful) a packet of digestive biscuits, a carton of orange juice, a small packet of rice and a small packet of pasta, plus some jars of cheap pasta sauce, a tin of chopped tomatoes, an extra large tin of mushy peas (yuk...) and a loaf of cheap white bread. The box only contained 2 small toilet rolls to last a week - not enough if you have a bowel disorder like me - and some decent Dove shower gel plus a small bar of soap (hotel size). Fortunately I'm sorted with my bamboo toilet rolls so these will also go to the food bank. I'm sure all these unwanted items will make someone else in need happy though.

Overall, I'd rate the food parcel as a useful thing for a lot of people - the sort of items it contained would have been well received by my late dad and mum (the wartime generation, who liked a lot of tinned food items which I consider unhealthy and lacking in nutrition).

Edit: I see my parcel was very similar to the one that has been commissioned by the Scottish government:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-shielding/pages/food-and-essential-supplies/

 

If you've not used it before, it's worth buying 'filtered' milk, like Cravendale or a supermarket's own brand. It can usually be kept at least 10-14 days in the fridge and I think tastes better than 'normal' milk. My preferred milk is organic unfiltered milk but this often has only 5 days fridge life. So when I do my online supermarket shop I order 1 lot of organic and the rest Cravendale (which I personally find better than Tesco's own brand).

 

I found this site that offers whole grains and seeds, useful if you want to add these to plain white or wholemeal bread flour to make more interesting bread. They also sell other pulses and seeds:

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

 

I've just learned which company supply the 'extremely vulnerable' food parcels. They have nothing to do with food banks, so I'm very happy to be able to give a portion of my boxes to the local food bank and hence help other vulnerable local people who are in need mainly due to extreme poverty:

https://www.bidfood.co.uk/2020/03/2...orces-to-support-the-vulnerable-in-isolation/

 

@Simbindi you can ask for the food to be vegetarian. That’s what we did. (If you don’t eat meat).

 

Doves flour also do gluten free boxes
https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/products/freee/gluten-free-food-box
And gluten free flour " sacks"
https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/product...size_filter[]=16kg&sort=favourites ASC&page=1

 

Who did you contact?

 

Someone called from the council, after my mum send them an email (before all the food parcels started being sent out), asking what help they give to people on the “extremely vulnerable list”. She found the email address on the local council’s coronavirus support/info page.

 

My council don't even have an email address! They have a single point of contact telephone number for everything now (including the council housing and repairs) which I can't use. They've also put on their website that they won't be dealing with any mail enquiries as they've closed their offices! However, the letter that came with the food parcel stated they only provide a standard parcel and can't adjust it for dietary needs. It did contain a list of the items without food labels, stating allergy warnings and ingredients for them. Maybe your one is coming from your Local Authority, whereas mine is coming from a centralised supplier? I'll probably just leave it and save all the meat items for my local food bank.

 

I had an order from

https://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/

this week. They do wholefoods and environmentally friendly cleaning stuff and toilet roll and other things. Things do go in and out of stock so I waited until they had everything I wanted. Ordered on 20th April, delivered 27th April. Free delivery for orders over £50.

 

If anyone is struggling with the increased costs of getting food, they may wish to sign this petition, which seeks parity for claimants on the legacy benefits (e.g. ESA) with new claimants receiving the £20 weekly increase on their UC claim:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-leaving-disabled-people-behind

 

It appears the Scottish system is vastly superior to the English one.

I would have gone for a system which relied on texts to make changes, but when I was called and offered boxes of free food they said when I needed a box I had to call them - which simply isn't going to happen.

It seems that I now have absolutely no way of contacting them.

Yesterday I saw a couple of boxes being delivered and as these were partially assembled from the back of a van outside I could see some of what went in - looked okay.

Obviously there is little meat, and no eggs, inside but ATM I'm not having any issues getting meat, provided I'm not fussy as to what it is.

I am, before the first order is delivered, having issues with ASDA. I go to check out and items I have just put in the trolley say out of stock, so I accept the sub, and then it says that's out of stock, so I go back and check, and my original item is showing as in stock, so change it back - out of stock when I try and check out.

So far it's eggs, any type of eggs, and at least white bread - whatever I put in my cart is out of stock when I try and check out, and the sub is also 'going' out of stock in the few seconds it takes to sub it and accept. Leading to an endless loop unless I abandon the idea of buying eggs or bread.

I suspect their system is quite broken.

 

Mine just appeared without me telephoning or requesting it and came with a letter stating I will now get one on the same day every week unless I cancel it (by re-signing up to the national list ticking I have help to get food). I had signed up again on the national list after I received my NHS letter about 2 weeks' ago (it said to do that) making sure I left the telephone numbers blank. So that must be what triggered the food delivery.

If you haven't received the NHS letter, the telephone call may have come from your LA. People who signed up to the list early on had their details sent to their GP so they could check whether they met the extremely vulnerable criteria. It may even have been that your GP practice referred you to the LA for food support. Every LA seems to be doing different things. I think my LA is offering to deliver food parcels to vulnerable people not in the shielding group. but they have to pay £35 for them and order them via the central telephone number. They may or may not be better than the standard box (they probably cater for dietary needs in the local scheme).

 

Oh, and my letter also stated that if the driver were to find the box still outside the front door when they came back a week later, then they have a special number to call. Very reassuring to know the government is so concerned for its people's welfare...

 

I haven't received an NHS letter and I am not likely to.

Hence why I was quite surprised to be rung up and told I was being shielded, not that I was shielding but that I was being shielded, and that they had noticed that I hadn't been receiving the food boxes I should have been, and would I like them.

When I asked where they had got my number from she said that the NHS had supplied it, the only NHS source, that I am aware of, is my GP surgery (although I know they have shared it with the noreply NHS text service).

 

My partner managed to get a Doves Farm organic box, which has arrived! Haven’t opened it yet but we also got some white flour, caster sugar and eggs in the latest supermarket shop yesterday which means my mums making cookies today

 

And then I said to my mum I’ll find a recipe for bread and she said she will make bread too as we’ve got the yeast from the doves farm box!

This is what she’s going to make:
Finnish Pulla

It’s got cardamom, butter, caster sugar

It looks delicious! I haven’t had any bread except pitta bread for the past 2 months so really looking forward to it. I’ve actually never even tasted this before but saw it online and it looks incredible

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6310/finnish-pulla.aspx

 

And here’s the cookies! I had already started eating before I remembered to take a picture.

 

Yes, I usually find that Sainsbury's milk will still be drinkable up to its use-by date, even if the label tells you to use it within 3 days. The only time that regularly didn't work was in the horrendously hot periods over the summer.