Things that seem disconnected but aren’t. The thirteen bullet points below are the issues we will first notice as the general food supply chain begins show signs of vulnerability. This outline explains why it is happening and how long it can be expected.
In the previous October, November and December warnings we emphasized preparation and counted down the 90-day window. Now, as we enter the final two weeks before mid/late January, the date of our original prediction, it appears that some media are starting to catch up and the larger public is starting to notice. [NOTE: We nailed the timeline almost to the week]
Feel free to note in the comments section what is happening in your area. Hopefully, most of us are much better positioned than the average person who has not been following this as closely over the past several months.
Initial food instability signs in the supply chain. Things to look for:
(1) A shortage of processed potatoes (frozen specifically).
And/Or a shortage of the ancillary products that are derivates of, or normally include, potatoes.
(2) A larger than usual footprint of turkey in the supermarket (last line of protein).
(3) A noticeable increase in the price of citrus products.
(4) A sparse distribution of foodstuffs that rely on flavorings.
(5) The absence of non-seasonal products.
(6) Little to no price difference on the organic comparable (diff supply chain)
(7) Unusual country of origin for fresh product type.
(8) Absence of large container products
(9) Shortage of any ordinary but specific grain derivative item (ex. wheat crackers)
(10) Big brand shortage.
(11) Shortage of wet pet foods
(12) Shortage of complex blended products with multiple ingredients (soups etc)
(13) A consistent shortage of milk products and/or ancillaries.
These notes above are all precursors that show significant stress in the supply chain. Once these issues are consistently visible, we are going to descend into food instability very quickly, sector by sector, category by category.
At first, each retail operation will show varying degrees of the supply chain stress according to their size, purchasing power, and/or private manufacturing, transportation and distribution capacity.
♦ BACKGROUND – Do you remember, the dairy farmers in 2020 dumping their milk because the commercial side of milk demand (schools, restaurants, bag milk purchasers) was forcibly locked down? Plastic jugs were in short supply, and the processing side of the equation has a limited amount of operational capacity.
Potato farmers and fresh food suppliers were also told to dump, blade or plough-over their crops due to lack of commercial side demand. These issues have longer term consequences than many would understand. These are fresh crops, replenishment crops, which require time before harvest and production.
The retail consumer supply chain for manufactured and processed food products includes bulk storage to compensate for seasonality. As Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue noted in 2020, “There are over 800 commercial and public warehouses in the continental 48 states that store frozen products.”
Here is a snapshot of the food we had in storage at the end of February 2020: over 302 million pounds of frozen butter; 1.36 billion pounds of frozen cheese; 925 million pounds of frozen chicken; over 1 billion pounds of frozen fruit; nearly 2.04 billion pounds of frozen vegetables; 491 million pounds of frozen beef; and nearly 662 million pounds of frozen pork.
This bulk food storage is how the total U.S. consumer food supply ensures consistent availability even with weather impacts. As a nation, we essentially stay one harvest ahead of demand by storing it and smoothing out any peak/valley shortfalls. There are a total of 175,642 commercial facilities involved in this supply chain across the country
The stored food supply is the originating resource for food manufacturers who process the ingredients into a variety of branded food products and distribute to your local supermarket. That bulk stored food, and the subsequent supply chain, is entirely separate from the fresh food supply chain used by restaurants, hotels, cafeterias etc.
Look carefully at the graphic. See the fork in the supply chain that separates “food at home (40%)” from “food away from home (60%)”?
Food ‘outside the home’ includes restaurants, fast food locales, schools, corporate cafeterias, university lunchrooms, manufacturing cafeterias, hotels, food trucks, park and amusement food sellers and many more. Many of those venues are not thought about when people evaluate the overall U.S. food delivery system; however, this network was approximately 60 percent of all food consumption on a daily basis.
The ‘food away from home‘ sector has its own supply chain. Very few restaurants and venues (cited above) purchase food products from retail grocery outlets. As a result of the coronavirus mitigation effort, the ‘food away from home’ sector was reduced by 75% of daily food delivery operations. However, people still needed to eat. That meant retail food outlets, grocers, saw sales increases of 25 to 50 percent, depending on the area.
Covid regulations destroyed this complex supply chain in 2020. It takes time to recover because the replenishment is based on harvest cycles. This stuff must be grown.
When the food at home sector was forced to take on the majority of food delivery, they immediately hit processing constraints. The processing side of the supply chain to funnel food into suppliers for the grocery store has “x” amount of capacity. That system cannot (not feasible) and did not expand to meet the 20 to 50% increase in demand.
Think about potatoes. A potato farmer sells into one of the two paths “food at home” (retail stores, or a processing supplier) or “food away from home” (commercial food or commercial food processors). Other than bulk raw potatoes, the harvest goes into: (1) processing or (2) storage.
(1a) processing for retail sales (40%), ex. Ore Ida frozen potatoes, canning, or any of the other thousand retail products that use potatoes, whole or mashed.
(1b) processing for commercial sales (60%), ex. McDonalds french fries, or any of the thousand restaurant, lunchroom and cafeteria needs that use potatoes, whole or mashed.
♦ Processing – When 1b was shut down in 2020, 1a quickly reached maximum retail processing capacity. Massive multi-million machines and food processing systems have a capacity. The supplies they use also have a capacity: plastic bags, cardboard, trays, bowls, etc. The 1a processing system can only generate “X” amount of retail product at maximum capacity.
The remaining 1b commercial product was shut down. A massive percentage of 1b (commercial) potatoes have nowhere to go, except waste.
♦ Storage – Each processor in 1a stores product (deep cold or frozen storage) for 365-day processing and distribution. Those storage facilities have a limited amount of capacity. The 1b customers need fresh product for the majority of their outlets. Ergo storing for 1b customers who might eventually be allowed to open later only works for a short period of time. The fresh potato sales missed by 1b outlets = the 1b discard by potato farmers.
When you restart 1b suddenly the 1b short-term (fresh) storage product is quickly depleted. Refilling that 2020 storage is dependent on a new 2021 harvest, which simultaneously has a greater immediate demand because the supply chain on the processing side was boxcar’d (over capacity) and then reset to a higher capacity playing catchup.
The amount missing from 2021 storage, because it was used instead of saved, is essentially equal to the amount that was wasted in 2020.
Now you end 2021 will less reserves because storage is depleted, because a greater percentage of the current harvest was immediately used. You enter into the beginning of 2022 (winter) in a race to try and spread out the stored potatoes as you cross your fingers and race against the clock for the next harvest before running out.
You probably noticed – but attached to this issue is yet another motive to keep people (employees) away from large industrial cafeterias and even students from school lunchrooms. The total food supply chain needs time, and harvests, to catch up.
In the example above you can replace *potato* with just about any row crop or retail/commercial food commodity like milk.
The reason I list the shortage of potatoes as the #1 precursor is because every food outlet sells a potato in some form. Every supermarket and every single restaurant (fancy, sit down or fast food) sells some form of potato. Potatoes are demanded by every single food outlet; therefore, a shortage of potatoes is the first noticeable issue.
The 2020 demand disruption problem now becomes a 2021/2022 supply chain problem on both the fresh and processing side (depleted inventories), with each vector now competing for the same raw material: wheat, soybeans, grains, beans and stored row crops.
Making matters worse, the protein suppliers also need grain as feed for cattle, pigs, cows, chickens, etc.
[Note: who gets the short straw? The pet food manufacturers]
That’s the nub of the background supply chain issue in the food sector. Additionally, recovery is not a single-issue problem.
The recovery price and shortages relate to everything from current oil and gas prices to diesel engine oil prices, to fertilizer and weed killer costs, to plastic costs and petroleum packing shortages (Styrofoam especially), to cardboard and sustainable packaging costs, to energy costs and transportation/delivery costs. All along this complex supply chain there’s also workers and higher payroll costs.
Thus, we get the double-edged sword of higher prices (inflation) and simultaneous shortages.
Here’s what you can do to offset grocery store shortages (while possible):
(1) Buy the generic or store brand equivalent (sub-set inside retail supply chain)
(2) Purchase the organic version (another sub-set inside retail supply chain)
(3) Purchase the powered/dehydrated version (potatoes, milk, etc) and experiment (jazz it up).
Each retail operation, or chain of stores, will show varying degrees of the supply chain stress according to their size, purchasing power, and/or private manufacturing, transportation and distribution capacity.
This is where field to fork supplier relationships can make a big difference. However, every outlet regardless of their operational excellence, is going to have significant shortages in their inventory. It’s an unavoidable outcome of the previous chaos.
On average the retail shortages will last for about as long as one full harvest schedule (4 to 6 months) depending on the commodity. By September of 2022 the various sector should be relatively recovered.
However, government intervention could make the issues worse, or the recovery time take longer, depending on how they respond when people get seriously stressed in a few weeks. The densely populated urban areas are going to be making a lot of noise and demanding the government fix the crisis.
Final note on INFLATION – The short-term prices will go up again, another 10, 20 up to 50% should be expected depending on the item. Those prices will eventually level off, but it’s doubtful they will be able to come back down until supply and demand find some equilibrium again, if ever. Right now, predicting future retail prices is too far off to even fathom.
I hope this outline provides you with information to help you make decisions for your family.
Nailed it.
Another tool in the war chest is a vegetable garden. Easy crops are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchini. Sweet corn and green beans If you have the space. Once you pick,the corn, plant acorn squash and pumpkin. They can limit the damage to your food budget. Im planting potatoes this year. Yellow, baking and russet.
That is fine when your harvest is ready, about the time the rest of the crops come off, next summer and fall, however the problem is now!
As a farmer I would love to see people grow more of their own, might just teach appreciation of what us farmers do!
Good learning experience for many.
But you might get dirty.
as a PS, the organic dairy industry is mainly fluid milk and cheese for home consumption, hopefully we can meet demand as we really are not into the restaurant business much. The hard one to fill is butter for technical reasons that I won’t go into right now but fluid milk and cheese should be good.
I’ve read that a shortage of bees is a problem for some farmers. Does this shortage affect you, or perhaps fruit and vegetable farmers?
As an almond farmer in CA I have had no problem finding bees. The price quoted for this year is the same as the last two.
From my reading, self-pollinating almond trees were engineered due to the decline in bee populations.
Not true. They were designed to facilitate a single harvest by eliminating multi-variety plantings. You still need bees, I have a self pollinated orchard, the variety is able to pollinate it’s own kind without having multiple varieties in the orchard for cross-pollination.
Can milk and yogurt be frozen by the consumer?
Whole milk freezes well enough. Be sure to pour off a quart and leave the cap loose before you put the jug/carton into the freezer since the fluid portion of the milk will expand. You can tighten the cap after the milk is completely frozen. Of course, don’t use a glass container.
As for yogurt.
I have personal consumed yogurt that has been sitting in my refrigerator for up to eight months.
Seriously.
It keeps well past the consume data.
The active live cultures may have exhausted the food for the probiotic value of yogurt but it good, and the fruit flavor was more intense in my opinion.
Cheese and yogurt if look back to it ancient roots. It’s ability to be cold stored for many months was likely the most appealing value.
Adding a small amount of food grade hydrogen peroxide can greatly extend the “life” of milk, even stored at room temperature.
NOT indefinetly, but a great deal, as it “kills” the bacteria, that causes milk to “turn”.
The same bacteria that CAN turn milk into yogurt, “by accident”. I have accidentally made yogurt, by leaving a glass of milk, 1/2 full, out overnite.
We have 2 gallons of food grade hydrogen peroxide in our freezer. Read up on it, as there are use, storage and handling concerns you need to be familiar with, but it CAN be a very effective way to “preserve” food.
There is a website called gemcultures.com, where you can buy cultures for dairy, bread etc. I have used the Fresh Fil Mjolk (swedish), on milk right before it turned. Great yogurt alternative.
Anything with fat can be frozen.
Yes …milkshakes and frozen yogurt desserts prove it.
We freeze milk all the time, and it still tastes great.
Milk yes, don’t think so on the other.
The first time we froze milk, I thought we had “ruined it”, as it turns a definite yellow color.
However, as it thaws it turns back to the white we are all familiar with, so don’t let that throw you.
Thank you, David. Here in OK, there are local farmers who sell to individuals by the basket of whatever they’ve grown. You bring your own bags or transport. That helps farmers and people on a budget. You just buy the whole basket. If they harvested potatoes, eggplant or odd vegetable / fruit types, then that is what you get. A $50 basket has enough stuff for a family of 4 for a week or more.
I really like the idea of local organic dairy. We have Braums – local to OK but a very big operation. I buy as much from them as I can, but I would shift my dollars to a smaller farmer if I could find them.
We probably need a listing to get plugged into.
Joyce i live in north Texas where in OK might i find a local farmer to buy a basket of vegetable?
Anyone know about this? Sounds good to me
https://www.moinkbox.com/
Very expensive for what you get
Because of required processing getting really local is difficult at best, really expensive for a small producer and the “experts” make the hoops small high and on fire to jump through. Designed to keep the little independent producer out. I sell to Organic valley, we make an effort to keep our milk regional as we can however since we contract processing our options are limited and getting tighter. Where I am located is a milk area (west central Ohio) OV likes this area because of our centrality to several large markets and proximity to major highways. We also collect many Amish herds in Holmes county and surrounding areas including northern and central Ind and southern Ohio. Most processors are cutting off the Amish, they are over 60% + of our membership and not quite half our milk, our most loyal members. We are a good size coop made up of smaller dairy farmers.
Done blowing my horn, give us a try, we are proud of our cheeses and butter let along some great tasting fluid milk.
There area two packages of OV cheese in my refrigerator right now.
Never had any issues with quality or taste with OV,
Someday, I hope to visit Holmes County to chase down more of my Swiss Mennonite settler ancestors.
Why do I have such a hard time finding Half and Half in the dairy section. There are a hundred different types of Almond and Soy Milk but no Half and Half, David????
My wife and I like the Mini-Moos (those little creamers of half-n-half you see at restaurants) that Sam’s Club had available always in boxes that fit perfectly on a shelf in our kitchen. They’ve not had them now for weeks and weeks. So I asked her to just get some half-n-half in the refrigerated section. Aldi’s had it, but Wal-Mart was out yesterday.
They have been doing this for quite some time. Have always had an issue with the term “milk” being used on these products.
Haven’t researched, is it at all practical for a home consumer to make (churn) their own butter, from whole milk?
Yes – almost too easy. I once made butter on accident by whipping heavy cream too long. Got distracted and – oops – butter!
You do need to start with heavy cream.
I purchased 9 pkgs butter on sale in November to make kolaches near Christmas.
I forgot I purchased it, then in December purchased another 9. They are in my freezer LOL.
I have the utmost respect for farmers, and always have.
We thank you!!!
I had a small vegetable garden this past year. It was rewarding but also frustrating when some things didn’t come up/in as hoped. A learning experience, but I will keep at it.
I always think of Paul Harvey’s “God Made a Farmer”. God bless!
Been gettin dirty for a long while. Had a 15 year break, now 2 raised beds and 25 bean plants going in on my crepe myrtle flower bed side in between them. Hope to have enough for a few small canning sessions. Have to figure out something I can plant at base of myrtles as they will be cut back next week. We are mid Fl so learning this new time for growing stuff.
Collards grow well there. Vates or Georgia both do well. They like the winter weather.
Thanks, have collards, broccoli and romaine and leaf lettuce and 2 tomato plants in one of the raised beds have to go purchase material to fill the second one and it’s longer by a 2 feet.
And, like any new endeavor, mistakes will be made; there is a “learning curve”.
So, don’t get discouraged by mistakes, remind yourself that thats how we learn.
AND, start now, recognising you may well wipe out your first crop, with such a mistake, and if you are depending on THAT crop to survive, you are in trouble.
Over watering, under watering, planting at wrong time, pest infestation and lack of mitigation are all common first timer mistakes.
Many can be avoided, by research, and fortunately, like cooking for those with no experience, there is a wealth of info, on the net on home gardening.
And once more a brief plug for “Aquaponics” which can be infinitly scaled, and yields both fresh produce AND fish.
Great idea Carlos! I recall my grandparents talking about the Great Depression a lot and how the Communists were then putting on a good assault to America. The gardens they raised were enormous and extremely vital to their survival and they called them VICTORY GARDENS. I think we should call them Victory Gardens too because those gardens will probably come to be vital to our existence before we ever see victory over this political insanity, virus terrorism and Communist assault. I recall gardens also being a means to reestablish with your God and Earth, a means to share, a place to toil while enjoying fellowship, a place to teach your children and function at long last as a family. I think we need gardens far more than we need this treasonous government or endless boosters.
I consider it a victory whenever a plant actually grows to the point it is harvestable…lol
and the fight between deer and my garden ..i threaten them , calling them meat on the hoof ..but they r nonplussed..and continue to munch ..
You need fencing! Hardware wire on posts 5’ tall. Then string strong plastic coated wire or thick gauge wire 1’ above that on finials or something like that, all around fence.
Tie on and let dangle 8-10” colored plastic strips (old bags work) or reflective tape on the 6’ tall wire at intervals. It scares deer and they will NOT jump a 6’ fence so it’s an illusion that works. Everything listed is still affordable.
Dig a trench alongside outside of fence, about 20” deep and attach chicken wire to bottom of posts and hardware wire. Wire goes straight down into trench about a foot then bend 8” away from fence (like an L) and cover with soil. This will keep out rabbits, woodchucks, and squirrels.
Live in the city and it’s not an option? Start collecting urine from men you know. store in glass jars (esp. young men – more testosterone)Mark territory by pouring along fence line or they can relieve themselves (have a beer party lol) Replenish often. This teaches animals that there is a predator in the area and they fear territory markings.
Sorry ladies, animals can detect M from F urine and they aren’t afraid of us. Fencing is a much better option though.
If you don’t color your hair, start saving it from your hairbrush/comb. Scatter around your house and garden in spring. Songbirds LOVE it for building nests!
Hope this helps 🙂
Hoping for a warm February in central TX so I can start a month early.
Also hoping supply disruption isn’t used as a pretext for greater government control over our food supply.
Peas are a must…dry yellow peas particularly.
I’m a home gardener, so I agree with your point. However, that doesn’t help the folks living in apartments or neighborhoods of row houses, etc. with no yard.
There’s only so much you can do in containers, water is rationed in many Western states, etc. There’s a reason we’re here, dependent on farmers.
“there’s only so much you can do in containers.” That is true. Living in the desert Southwest, I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of having a large garden like I had in Georgia. It requires too much water (dry air = fast evap.) and also is next to impossible to protect from our searing summer heat.
In a couple weeks I’ll start planting in containers. Container gardening has its own challenges.
I’m having to buy soil and amendments which are expensive. My property’s soil is terrible. I’m adding chicken manure to it but it will be a while before it is safe for plants. Hoping to find someone with horses, goats, or rabbits for fertilizer source.
Enjoying this thread very much! I’ve always admired farmers, to me they are the true artists, working in partnership with God.
I found that my local garden nursery sells huge bags of soil (they use it for their plants) then when mixed with coconut coir, makes a good soil for containers. I do all the moving of the containers so it is light enough for me to carry around short distances. Another place sells Oklahoma ready plants and seed, along with the fertilizer needed. I am on a very limited budget, but it is workable. ps…I also save seed.
Suggest researching AQUAPONICS;
No need for fertilisers or chemicals; the fish supply the fertiliser, and chemicals would kill the fish.
Very little water loss, as the water is recycled.
Can be sized small, so work even in apartments, AND you can start small to LEARN, before expanding.
And, it not only yields fresh produce, but FISH.
Once you expend your efforts and $ to set it up, the main input is fish food, which can be supplemented with BUGS.
Attempting to use a variety of methods, to eliminate having to buy fish food, and feed my fish totally with bugs.
After all, wish in the wild live almost entirely on bugs. Lights and traps, to lure bugs to “feed” the fish, and other creative means of “harvesting” bugs to feed my fish are “paying off”.
Look into dry farming. I think Ice Age Farmer has info on his website about that.
I grow all my veggies in containers and raised planters due to not being able to bend. It works. I usually get enough to share with others.
i never toss a bad tomato or onion .rather i plant them ( throw them into the garden) and am surprised each year by the lovely compari & lil tomatoes that appear .. the squirrels are happy too .
There are ways for those with a small footprint to garden.
AeroGarden: Indoor Gardens, Grow Lights, Seed Kits, & More
is one possibility.
Walmart had these at full price leading up to Christmas. They are now on sale at closeout prices. Found them in the garden center.
Every year I grow carrots, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, lettuces and herbs in 20” pots on my deck. Also grow 3 different kinds of potatoes in bushel baskets.
Live in zone 4 – 5 so short growing season the peppers go in the house before the first frost, and on dining room table (southern windows) and they are happy all winter. Back outdoors in late spring!
I live in apartment – have 6 aerogardens,which supply lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, eggplant. Also another system called gardyn, which I haven’t tried yet. Garden vertically. Lastly, Google Kratky method – if you have basic grow lights and some other very basic supplies you can grow a lot indoors.
How much room required for planting potatoes for two?
Grow them in 5 gallon buckets! Or, use 3 rubber tires. Plant potatoes in tire with earth, and as the green leaves grow add a tire and more earth so just a little green showing, and keep going. 3 tires will produce a big potato crop. Probably around 40 pound
Both buckets and tires are a great idea, Right to reply.
Moisture retention is good as well.
My father grew “taters in tires” back in the 60’s. My Uncle owned a “Service station” and picked the tires up cheap. (If not free)
One advantage of tires vs buckets is that tires “filled with dirt” are more difficult to carry off…
Buckets can placed on patios/decks and decorated or painted to be more esthetically pleasing.
Trailing flowers can be planted (in a pot) on the rim and be moved to the top tire when another is needed.
if you are not wanting to dig potatoes, then get the potato bags from amazon. they have the flap on the side to gather the potatoes. I use old tires lined with garden mesh and when the leaves die down I break down the tires and rake thru the dirt…easy peasy according to the g’kid…
You can grow them in a plastic trash can, bags of dirt just layout bags cut slits in place several eys and water, toss bag at end of season and fill in other spots that need dirt. A stack of tires add 1 at a time as they grow add more dirt repeat. Very little room if you think of ways to grow them.
A Rubbermaid 30 gal outdoor trash can works great….fill about 1/2 full of soil, plant your potato eyes, then when you see a green leaf add enough soil so that it almost entirely covers the leaf, then the next time you see another leaf, add a little more soil and so on and so forth….by the time your trash can is about 3/4 filled with soil, you can stop adding the soil and you will be amazed at the abundance of potatoes that you will pull up…..
I plant about 6 seed potatoes each in bushel baskets. Get about 20 potatoes per basket! Plant is early spring
and line baskets with 40 gallon black garbage bags. Tie around top with spring. Poke holes around bottom.
There are a lot of good gardening videos on Youtube. You can find ones on how to grow some kind of food almost year round in most zones. It is impressive how much one can grow in a small space.
Yup. I only had 12 square feet of raised bed gardens plus an 8 foot by 2 foot grow bag last year. I was new to Tennessee and wasn’t sure how my veges would do. Ha! I harvested 300 Roma tomatoes that are now canned and in the basement. In that grow bag I got 42 ears of delicious sweet corn. Add to that a lot of bell peppers, banana peppers, carrots herbs and pole beans, acorn squash.
I had no bugs at all. I built the soil from bags of topsoil,compost, and several organic amendments.
This year I have expanded 10 fold, already have my seeds so I’m chomping at the bit to get my garden going again. Have to wait until near the end of may.
will have 5 laying hens in April. The coop and run are ready to go.
if you don’t have much room try a GreenStalk. Just search on the web. Great company.
Don’t forget MUSHROOMS,..there is a lot of info available on how to safely grow your own, good source of nutrition, and once set up, requires little effort.
good touch you mention “three sisters”…this ancient and proven method of farming vegetables is always a good start for the DIY grower.
also noting….if you are lacking bees in your area, YOU CAN BECOME THE BEE YOURSELF. it is not rocket science.
gardens also attract rabbits and deer..so you get the benefit of some protein if you are so inclined to DIY meat service.
I’ve seen folks with zero experience capable of growing a decent garden and produce quite a bit of food. For winter, make that green house…does not have to be expert level build. I’ve seen 10X10 plots produce many many pounds of great food.
Once you start, fair warning: you will get addicted to this fantastic tasting food you never knew existed.
it would be wise to have some kind of water sistern too, and that is as easy as setting up a barrel catchment from a roof.
simple works…don’t overthink it.
Boise/Meridian ID. 2nd grocery stockup trip today. Last week at Costco, masks on 5% of folks…today, @65% masked.
Prices shot through the roof over the past week. Today, got acetominophen, Vit C, Vit D3 and Zinc along with 3 large bottles of Zicam and nose spray(I use a cpap).
Stock up folks on dry goods and shelf stable stuff. Lot fewer options today than last week. Crazy how much meat has shot up. Only chicken we could find was organic like SD said, but we did find some alternative frozen chicken(not breasts) and got three freezer bags. Bread has shot up too.
Wife and I were very vocal about our disgust over the pricing and dropped about 15 Let’s Go Brandon’s out loud in the store. All positive responses. Had so much fun that I even rolled down the windows and was calling out Let’s Go Brandon’s in the parking lot. Passed a masker and said aloud, Dr. Fauci says three masks. That was the only dirty look of the day.
Tomorrow, going to source 6 5 gallon buckets with lids and fill them with Flour, Sugar, Etc.
Do not forget to stock up on pet food. high protein dry food can be mixed 50/50 with brown rice to stretch it. Got 4 x 50 lb bags at Tractor Supply last night for the pooch.
Spent over $1200 stocking the freezer and pantry over the past week. Not quite done but today at Costco, we really saw the reality of the phenomenon this article is outlining.
This is our whole budget all in and we really saw the truth of what SD has so brilliantly outlined on this Brandon Brilliance Build Back Better business.
Sh!t’s getting real folks. People are waking up! Never seen this Costco that packed, not even on the opening day/week when I visited 3x in 1 week last year when it opened.
🤣 🤣 🤣 I’m imagining you (your gravatar) shouting “Let’s go Brandon”. God bless the peeps in Idaho, ’cause nothing that good EVER happens in L.A. County….
I don’t know how you do it Ad Rem. Head on a swivel, cousin.
Ad rem, I’m sorry but I think I broke page 4 of the Triggered – Mass Formation Psychosis thread when I posted an Epoch Times Link. I tried to delete it but I was too late. Will you delete the link for me? please? Maybe that will fix it.
Brown rice unless husks ate fully removed aren’t good for dogs–they can’t digest it. Regular white rice is good to use as suggested though. If you cook some foul (if times get tough there are flocks of doves around my neighborhood), a little cooked skin and broth can stretch the dog or people food even further.
Our dog had difficulty digesting brown rice….brown jasmine rice worked but has become scarce on our grocery shelves…so now using white jasmine rice aling with her lamb dog food…with a bit of kibble….
At almost 17, she is doing great on that diet.
Pet store told me that they have not yet hit any supply chain issues…nonetheless I buy two to three cases of the canned food at a time…just in case…
I recall reading cooked carrots are great for dogs, and mine always loved them.
keep all bones and boil them down for broth. broth good for pets and people. I put chicken bones in the instant pot and pressure cook them after the boil down. they get very soft and the pets love it mixed in with their other foods. When I get a farmer’s chicken, every bit of it is used…feathers to feet. a pressure cooker can make the chicken parts you don’t want (except feathers) into food for the pets. Yes, learn how to prepare a chicken or two from start to finish. Beef and ham bones are treated the same way. Find a butcher or place that processes meat like beef, pork, venison. Cheaper to buy a 1/4 of a side then by bits and pieces. Get a freezer.
Chicken bone broth is the elixir of life!
Can toss veggies in as well.
Even the parts of the veggies you would normally toss.
Parts that are just a little too ripe, and you would normally trim (no mold tho, if coarse!)
And things like the stem or core of a cabbages, as an example.
Just like the bones, fat and skin of the meat, the ‘inedible’ parts of veggies get thrown into the stickpot, and strain out later.
I keep a gallon ziplock bag in my freezer and save the ends of celery, onions, carrots, peppers, cucumber etc to throw in the stockpot with a chicken carcass.
Good idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
Prior to WWII, everyone made their own pet food. Read up on it and freeze it rather than can it. I get ‘meat trimmings’ from butchers and hunters. About 60% protein and 40% carbs for dogs.
manafactured pet food started to get rid of the products humans didn’t want to eat. I grew up making pet food.
The mask increase is either they are scared of Omicron, or they have just gotten over it and are in the window were they feel the need to mask.
Either way, I agree more mask wearing this week then two weeks ago.
I know a bunch of people here in PA that have gotten it since right before Christmas.
Or they have an active case of omicron! The guy who works at the deli counter (who normally doesn’t mask) explained to me he “had a cold” but he had no intention of getting tested because if he was positive he’d have to miss a week of work. His manager was fine so long as he put a mask on.
Remember dry dog food goes rancid in just a short 3-4 weeks, it is best to divide the bag up once opened into other Zip-Loc bags, I know some people even put the smaller bags in their freezer. I simply don’t have freezer room to do that, but I do divide the bag up and seal it to help keep it fresh longer.
My wife and I went shopping today to our favorite Japanese supermarket. Compared to about just a month ago:
Top of the line sashimi… was $60, now $75. Mid grade, was $45, now $55…
Tuna cheeks, was $7, now $11. Ground pork, was $3, not $5….. and so on….
Green onions…….$1.99 for ONE!
California short grain rice, on sale, $15 for 15 lbs…. WTH?
Out of Meiji Tofu ( marked at $5 now… was $4 last month)… they usually ship on Thursday so on Saturday they have plenty. I will try to go in next Thursday or perhaps my wife can call the factory to find out if they’re having issues.
Everything has skyrocketed, and this is a chain store so they have good prices.
Interestingly, they have lots of Christmas cookies, which usually appear on October and are sold out in the first week of December… but I guess they might have found a few containers in LB/LA ports after Christmas…
Everything is expensive.
Wait.
When you say ONE green onion, do you mean ONE long , skinny, green onion w/ one little bulb on the end?
Serious question.
Hmm… I should have been a bit more specific: A bundle…. about 8 green onions.
Mind you, being a Japanese supermarket, those are gorgeous, healthy, big green onions.
But, usually in the winter, they sell them for 50 cents per bundle.
Oh Ok. Phew!
Wait till March…..
I understand Jersey City and Hoboken have similar issues…scarce produce and meat along with high prices….unbelievable
You should be able to grow the green onions in a small container almost year round. They are easy to grow, don’t need much space and adapt well to indoor growing as well as outdoor (except for extreme cold or heat). Container growing may not feed your entire family, but it should be able to help defray some costs.
And don’t forget SPROUTS.
ANYONE can grow sprouts, and ANY food you grow yourself, frees up $ for foods you purchase, AND fills in gaps for foods you can’t purchase at any price.
Nutritionally, sprouts can be a great source of vitamins, minerals, etc.
Require no fertiliser, and very little effort.
You can cut off about an inch above the white root part of the green onions you buy in the store. Place them in a little water and their roots will grow and they will start growing the green part. Then transfer to a pot of potting soil and then later to a bigger part…they are easy to grow year round this way.
During the holidays TJs staff told me no frozen mashed potatoes until 2022… I was so sad because it makes it so easy for T-day and Christmas but still to this day haven’t seen any… they did have the frozen mashed sweet potatoes.
Thanks for this Sundance. It helps to have a leftist source validating your research. Not all family members are awake.
Bloomberg perpetuating the lie. Shortages are not because of Convid omicron.
Make your own laundry detergent. Wife and I have been making our own for 12 years.
1 clean 5 gallon bucket (can be obtained in paint or hardware store)
1 bar of Fels Naptha
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of Arm & Hammer superwash
in a stockpot pour 1 gallons of water.
Grate the fels Naptha bar into the water. Stir.
When the water has boiled and the Fels Naptha has melted remove from heat.
Pour into 5 gallon bucket. add one cup of Borax and one cup of Superwash and stir.
Add 3-4 gallons of water to bucket and stir.
As mixture begins to cool stir occasionally.
the approximate cost is around .05 cents per load. Cost of the fels naptha, borax & superwash around $5
NOTE: Do not add superwash and Borax into the stockpot as it will boil over ( I learned this after 1 time). Only add in 5 gallon bucket
Do you use distilled water?
You should.
We use regular tap water
Thank you for the recipe. Much appreciated.
Your welcome
Thank you, I asked a way back if this could be posted again. I have it somewhere but last laptop died beofre I could transfer to drive.
Thank you, Rusty! Start to finish, about how long does one batch take to make?
By the way, did you used to be on Blogtalkradio.com back in the day?
Usually takes around 1 hour start to finish.
Sorry but no. I was never on Blogtalk Radio
Serious question Rusty…do you if this recipe is ok for a septic system?
Yes it is fine for septics..
WA North Olympic Peninsula QFC (Kroger) 1/8/2022 late morning: Everything on my list was available. I’m usually a perimeter shopper but today spent more time than usual in the shelf-stable areas. I rarely purchase anything made out of flour. I make my own bread, pizza, waffles, etc. I also don’t buy any of the brands pictured above at least under the brand name. I do purchase many Kroger Simple Truth Organic and Private Selection items.
The dairy case had a lot of empty spaces except for yogurt. The few containers of half & half available were house brands including Simple Truth Organic. The “good” 80 / 20 ground chuck was 7.49 / lb. Plenty of chicken both name and house brand, conventional and organic. Fresh fruits and veggies available. I make a huge effort to avoid frozen potatoes and treats. Can’t afford a new clothes.
I live in the most Covid oppressed area in Washington State. Not one employee said a word about my not wearing a mask. One customer got unglued but he was too terrified to get close enough for me to hear his rant.
One of my stores completely out of tomatoes in produce section and potatatoes in freezer section…frozen vegetables thin…lots of avocados and apples..potato and yam supply steady.
Suddenly one store had tons of low priced steaks…slowing down now but unbelievably low priced meat…tons of turkeys. Small sliced hams scarce.
Dairy section full….orange juice not so much.
Location: Fort Worth proper
Just thought of something I haven’t seen mentioned here that is a good source of crunchy/veggie type thing:
Seed Sprouts!
Easy to store, easy to sprout (and fun to watch if you’ve got kids), come in all sorts of flavors from radish to alfalfa, mung beans etc etc.
Soooo easy to store the seeds and they last forever.
A few weeks ago I dusted off my seed sprout trays and tested out my seed stash. When the passes and roads closed down last week, it was nice to know I could at least have some fresh sprouts.
For those who might think a seed sprout tray is necessary . . . . sprouting seeds is so easy you can do it by placing them in a damp, folded cheesecloth or dish towel.
If you live in the DFW area, you now can buy fresh raw milk from a dairy I like. Place your order and pay online. Pick up at a designated farmers market.
https://www.jerseygirlsmilk.com/
I’ve bought cans of cheddar cheese, and shaker jars of shredded parmesan cheese. Those last a long time, and they don’t have to be refrigerated until they’re opened.
You can do an internet search on “wholesale food stores”. Stores like that might have food that your regular grocery store doesn’t have.
I checked out one such store – “US Foods CHEF’STORE”. It sells food to restaurants, and also to people. Most things are sold in large containers – for example, a 5-pound bag of frozen vegetables.
Its prices are ok, but not extremely low. But if your store is out of something that you need, then you might try a wholesale food store.
Sorry, I meant to say “cheddar cheese soup”.
Excellent deals to be had at restaurant supply stores.
Went to the grocery store Friday.
Results:
• no family size bags of potato chips but had large bags of corn chips
• no wet cat food
• no dryer fabric softener sheets
• out of my brand of water crackers
And prices are skyrocketing. My husband thinks I’m nuts, but he’s going to be happy he married a mini prepper in a few weeks…
You can make your own dryer fabric softener that stretches liquid fabric softener further using sponges and water.
https://www.fox34.com/video/2022/01/07/could-more-food-shortages-be-looming/
I’ve been stocking up a little at a time since we are limited income. Didn’t go to the store this week but last week they were pretty well stocked in produce and meats. I buy off brand canned goods, mostly tomato products. I save 40 cents a can by not getting a name brand. The only thing I buy from Heinz are the 114 oz. containers of ketchup. I buy the 105 oz. containers of French’s yellow mustard. Pretty much everything else is store brand. Bread is still 99 cents a loaf for whole wheat. A gallon of 1% milk runs $4.39, skim is cheaper but they were out of that. Milk here is priced by fat content, higher fat, higher cost. Eighteen count carton of eggs is $3.29. I do need to stock up on pastas, bread and wheat flour. I already have powdered milk, powdered buttermilk, instant mashed potatoes. I cook mostly from scratch so boxed stuff is a minimum. I have a small freezer so have some large bags of veggies, chicken, pork, bacon, turkey and beef. Praying there isn’t a run on the stores here. Don’t get paid till the 19th.
Will be checking our dollar stores for soaps, dish and laundry. We have an organic farm over near Tupelo for fresh produce. I have to see how much their CSA prices are. We also have a good size Amish community nearby. Gas is under $3 for regular but diesel is over $3. I know that makes it extra hard on all the truckers in the area.
I’m trying to put up as much as I can without going broke. Things like generators, freeze dryers, and such are out of reach. I’m going to tell my husband to stock up on oil, filters and other fluids for the car and lawn mower. I may begin using our dining room for growing a garden in containers. Get a head start on spring.
I’m sorry, I know I am rambling. There are so many things to think about. I’m concerned but not worried, I have a God who is bigger and more powerful that all that is going on. “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT”!
On the subject of protecting the Dem voting base from feeling the pain:
Treasury Department to send $1B in pandemic rental assistance
They are going to raise the food stamp allotments too (beyond the 27%), just watch.
And what will there be to buy?
Yep Nimrodman, they think our money grows on trees.
Prepayment of vote harvesters.
I’m in down-state IL. Lots and lots of bare shelves here. Things you can’t find: toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, blackberry jelly, tomato sauce (not even store brand), tomato paste (not even store brand), ravioli, beefaroni, canned soup (especially tomato, bean with bacon, and vegetarian vegetable soup), A&W Cream Soda. Chicken, turkey, ground beef, pork/ham are pretty much available but the prices have skyrocketed. I used to be able to buy 1.05 lbs of stew meat for less than $6 and now it’s $18 for the same amount of stew meat, I kid you not. Milk is around $4 a gallon, depending on where you buy it at. Bread is almost $3 (depending on brand & store where purchased).
The Dollar General near my house has been picked clean for a while. There’s no toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, baby wipes, baby diapers, very few canned goods, cookie aisle is completely bare, soda coolers are next to empty, cold food coolers near empty, no pet food, no bottled water, no bread, and even the candy aisle is almost bare. It has been this way for months now. The store manager isn’t even sure when they’re going to be getting stock back into the store.
I’m downstate IL also, but not seeing what you are. Wet cat food, and things like processed foods are seeing shortages, but other foods and paper products are readily available. The biggest problem is price increases.
There are a couple other reasons you may be seeing bare shelves, when product is available. Distribution and trucking are experiencing delays. Also, retail grocers are having a really hard time finding and keeping employees to do the work.
If you see a whole aisle empty in a particular store, go to another store or check back in a few days.
The shortages have been on-going since mid-October. The stores always have plenty of staff working so that doesn’t seem to be an issue. One of the managers at one of the stores I shop at (he talks to me all the time) told me that they’re having extreme supply chain issues and they’ve only been able to get in 4 or 5 shipments over the past 3½ months when they’re used to getting 2 shipments a week. I was over at the store today to pick up some items I was still looking for and he saw me and we chatted about the shortages. His explanation makes a lot of sense, but it seems all of our other stores here are in the same situation. I’m not sure if it’s just an issue with shipments into my city, or if it’s something more widespread. Time will tell.
You should come down to Paducah, KY if you’re not too far away. We have shortages, but not on that scale yet. The pet food is hard to come by, but the Rural King on exit 3 of I24 always seems to have the most! Walmart on exit 4 is usually the best selection as far as groceries goes. I hate to go there, but Banks and Kroger have been pretty sparse lately. Not so at Walmart. They usually have everything! Also Sams club is pretty stocked if you’re a member. You can get a 1 day membership if you wanted to really stock up!
I lived in KY as a child but have no plans to go back there. I am however, planning to leave this Democrat haven of a state and move to another state (more likely somewhere in the South). But, I don’t plan to go anywhere until there’s another Republican (hopefully, Trump) back in the WH. Things are just too unstable right now to go willy-nilly uprooting your entire life when the demonrats are in control of everything.
We in Germany are fortunate, that 1b only accounts for about 10% of the market, tendency rising prior to the release of Obama and Fauci’s bioweapon.
Thus the overflow was diverted within capacity. Of course, there was some egregious waste: beer was consumed at about 50% in 1a, leading to pouring away of vast amounts. Damn shame! Some brighter sparks turned beer into beer liqueur, actually quite palatable.
However, our shelves are running a little thin, leading to overly wide food displays, like in the good Ole GDR. And prices are creeping up. But this was the case before, due to those insatiable Chinese locusts buying up vast amounts of produce formerly destined to stay within the EU.
We now buy our potatoes is 50lb sacks from our neighbors, who sell them at 20 Euro cents per kilogramm.
Outlook gloomy, as the finely tuned machine has been damaged, and the efficiency loss is also making prices rise.
Currently eating home grown vegetables from my 4800 sq ft greenhouse and God willing will have a 10000 sq ft row crop garden this spring. Also, trying a 10000 sq ft “Milpa ” garden to share with the less advantaged neighbors in our community.
With God’s help will get through this abomination on humanity.
Don’t forget you may need to defend them! If not from city dwellers, from the govt who may seize it!
I think you might enjoy this presentation by Eliot Coleman. He offers insight into his greenhouse experiences. He has the creative nature of a farmer. Although he may not mention it in this video, he contends that when the length of days offers 10 hours of sunlight is the point at which a growing season starts and is as important in plant growth establishment as temperature.
I’ve been using Elliot’s methods for years up here in Maine. I have several of his tools. Even after 20 years of use he fixed one of them for free through Johnny’s. A good man. Good books too.
Wow Sherri. Thanks for posting this. I watched and bought one of his books. We have a greenhouse but are not using it to grow food throughout the winter Keeping some Meyer lemon trees in it and a hibiscus and some turmeric (turmeric not doing well)
This is great information!
I wonder how long before the garbage peeps decide they don’t want to do collections? They already cut our recycling collection 5 months ago. I noticed garbage bags are in short supply
1. Remember when buying dehydrated mashed potatoes to look for ones that work with water vs needing milk and butter.
2. For the first time ever I found huge 4 lb tubs of Jif peanut butter at my store this week. Reminded me of when we used to get the USDA tub o peanut butter with the government rations of butter, “Velveeta”, flour and sugar in the 70’s. I’m
I sure wish you guys would mention what part of the country you’re in when you do store reports. Thx
I can confirm wet dog food is now a problem . Just got a notice from Chewy, that they are not shipping my canned food , only the dry bags.
I had pushed my order forward hoping to slip in before it got real..too late..
Or as my idiot brother-in-law from NYC believes, store items like milk, steak, chicken, bread etc., all just come from the grocery store. He was absolutely amazed when he saw Angus cattle in a field when on a trip. He thought they were wild animals! I explained that those same cattle provided, milk, cheese, hamburger, etc. that he enjoys. He actually thought that was a “conspiracy theory”. How many people out there “believe” like my idiot brother-in-law and is completely unable to understand the supply chain as demonstrated here? Oh yea, by the way, they also “believe” that power to run the blender simply comes from the switch on the wall.
No, is this believable? Maybe he was just pulling your leg? No one could be the dumb.
There are people out there who think French fries come from McDonalds and surprised when they find out they come from potatoes.
Yes they can. I’ve similar stories like MO’s. Here is another doozy: Vegan relative is into ‘organic’. True Vegans don’t eat anything with a brain or that touches anything dead with a brain. Now wait for it… this person had no idea that ‘organic fertilizer‘ used to grow their vegs was from… chickens and cows!
Hahahahaa. The look on their face.
Not even Hank Johnson or AOC?
Thank you, Sundance. Very informative and helpful. I am sharing far and wide.
We have been experimenting with growing food in containers. I have carrots right now – not the beautiful ones in the store, but at least there’s enough to eat. Also grew sweet potatoes in a small 4×4 area and I still have some of those.
We are working toward growing enough to either supplement what we buy at the grocery store or farmers market. I try to shop at local farmers markets. There are a number of farmers around here (OK) who sell baskets of whatever they were able to harvest that week. Good for experimenting and it helps our local farmers.
Also, I shop at a employee-owned grocery and they sell local farmers produce as well. Highly recommended.
I live in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which grows food for most of the world. I listened to SD . Months ago, I started collecting food in 5 gallon buckets with food safe liners. Things like flour, rice,, beans, powdered milk. I also bought large cases of prepared things my family likes like RiceARoni, Mac and cheese, etc. Looks like they will become a delicacy lol. I’m blessed that my disabled Hubby can still fish I the Pacific with the help of his sons and grandsons. My freezer is chock full . We are full up with one entire deer , fish, chicken, pork, tai tip beef and anything else I can pack in. I’ve frozen all the wonderful stone fruit available to us here in the Valley.I have taken over one corner of the garage and my Hubby is looking at me like I’ve become a prepper. My daughter is coming next week and we are moving everything to stronger shelving taking up even more of his garage lol. I need to take inventory to see what I’m missing. Our cats are now almost completely on Iams dry cat food, with wet as a small treat at night. I’m 75 and I’m remembering all the times I questioned my grandparents about how they survived the depression in Oklahoma. The statement that stands out is when they said it didn’t affect them that much Because they didn’t have money I the bank. The parents of 9 boys, they had huge gardens, they had several milk cows, pigs, duck, goats, etc. They said the ‘government’ sent folks in to take their cows and pigs. They got wind of it and drove them into the woods. Christian resistance at it’s best. I’m blessed because I don’t think Americans will continue to bow down to this communist/socialist/ satanic government of ours. We will prevail but it will not be easy and some will fall. Hubby and I have many health problems, but we’ve managed to stay alive these past three years by God’s grace with no jabs. Prayers go out to all, remember to be joyful warriors. Thanks Sundance, this supply chain explanation is the best I’ve read so far. Remember Our Lord is Powerful
Hey VaVa get some linguesa and morecellos…stores well.
Hi Tulare Vava. Are you in the City of Tulare or elsewhere in the county? I’m over here about a mile or so south of Porterville.
Loved your comments. I, too, remember much of what my parents and grandparents taught us about living through the depression. I use a lot of that information now.
God bless you and keep you and yours safe!
Glad to see this one moved up, lots of good info from members.
Noticed the supermarket where I am is well-stocked with its own generic products, and the prices for those are more or less “normal”, but there may be a shortage of brand-name products.
Not quite sure, but I would expect food supplies to make a shift from globalized or nationalized to localized or regionalized. If your part of the United States produces a lot of a given food product prices shouldn’t rise too much, but you’ll likely be SOL if it’s not a local or regional product.
BTW, this exact sort of thing happened in Russia after the Soviet collapse — causing remote areas of Siberia to lose most of their populations, and the Russian population made a drastic shift toward their heartlands. In the United States, I expect the Northeast megalopolis, the desert Southwest, Alaska, and Hawaii to tank in population over the next decade.
Be careful about Alaska…very dependent on the lower-48 for food supply.
A friend who lives in Alaska told me yesterday that greenhouse growers are doing well in the coastal location where he lives. Cruise ships pull into port there. They buy lots and lots of fresh cut flowers. I would assume that they purchase grocery produce during the same port calls.
At least one cruise line has suspended operations for the next several months. The growers may be able to dedicate more greenhouse space to the edibles during that time. My friend told me that the the ambient light is beautiful and the local soil is volcanic and of high quality for using under cover. The growers wouldn’t have to wait for potting or growth media to be delivered.
—if I understood correctly.
I am surprised no one is talking about growing vegetables using Hydroponic technology? I have some friends who use Hydroponic systems and it woks out real well.
For those new to home gardening look up your agricultural zone for frost free dates. Also days to maturity for what you plant. Many vegetables listed in comments are susceptible to frost and could be killed if too early/late planting.
Rohrers Seeds is a good regional seed catalog for zone 6. It has a page of home garden information of seed spacing and row feet needed for family.
Thanks for joining the conversation! I’m here in Central Pa. Had a great garden last and plan to this year. What I can’t grow, I buy from the Amish markets and freeze to cover the winter. Also local farmers are great for getting 1/4 beef.
http://Www.rareseeds.com
Outstanding organic seeds.
There were no dangers what-so-ever of allowing the federalization of interstate commerce…
We’re nearly a 80 years into this slow motion train wreck so let’s not pretend that covid or “the Dems” did it. Our governments non-stop meddling and messing around, instituted and supported by BOTH parties all branches of the government and every president we’ve had.
You have to side, no team and not a single one of them cares about YOU.
Don’t forget the Central Banks and Fed Reserve meddling.
For those who like Rice a Roni, this is a really simple and tasty recipe. We make this often and only simple ingredients are needed. This is better than that boxed stuff too.
https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-chicken-rice-roni/
Nice! Would be even better if you use home made chicken stock instead of the powdered stuff. I make mine in the instant pot, and reduce the liquid to about 1/4 the original volume and freeze in cubes. Then you add the cube(s) and enough water to make up the needed amount in your dish. Use roasted chicken pieces (necks, wings and backs are fine) to make really tasty stock.
That sounds good. I would use Imagine Foods Organic chicken broth in place of some if not all of the water.
Oh, we’re stocked on the Rice-A-Roni!!! Zatarains Dirty Rice as well. Thanks for the Recipe!!
My Walmart has been short (none for long stretches of time) on distilled water (used for medical) and their gal jugs of reg water. Has not had any roast beef hash since just after 1st shutdown. Has corned beef hash. Last visit some items were up as much as 25%. Wet dog food has been scarce and none of the brand I buy except for a rare small can. The dogs eat mostly a special dry food (one has allergies) we get at Costco, which has been in supply so far.
Bacon…Oscar Mayer Center Cut…$10.52 yesterday in Dallas…I passed….and it was not because of money…it was because the price has almost tripled and i was not going along with it.
So the question is supply and demand…if I passed then most people with an economic hardship will pass as well.
Therefore…in usual times…the price will then go down to reach the point where people will buy. Is the usual economic model to be thrown out the window?
Curious to see going forward.
One thing that you can do (if you don’t live in the city) is find out where the closest farm is located and if they sell to the public. Do your research and find where you can buy meat, poultry, eggs and milk! Then support them with your business.
\
Support them now and develop a relationship. When the SHTF you will be grateful that they are in business and can supply you when the supermarkets go dry.
In McKinney, TX, KFC was OUT of Chicken last week (1/5/22)… but had plenty of food to support the Taco Bell portion of that store. However, the grocery store is well-stocked. And Texas Roadhouse restaurants appear well stocked enough to be VERY busy.
Over in Flower Mound, TX and Denton area stores are staying fairly well stocked. Sticker shock is setting in, I think, because I’m seeing fewer and fewer full baskets going out the door.
Prices are sky high at the woke grocery store, enough so that it’s sparking conversation. On the opposite side, Aldi, seems to be about half the price of the woke one. Believe me, shoppers know Aldi prices have risen on almost every item. Whole milk is still under 3 per gallon. No shortages as of Tues.
Here in CT at my local Stop n Shop our canned cat food area was
totally empty..I mean totally..Litter was sparce..not much of the
canned dog food brand I feed my dog.
Notice more empty shelves this week.. For quite a while now
our bottle/boxes juice isle has been pretty empty and same with
the applesauce cups and fruit cups area as well..
I may order more canned cat food from Petco while they have it.
Growing your own spuds is pretty straightforward. Check out the plethora of vids on growing spuds via the “bucket” method. For the average citizen, growing potatoes is probably the best way to garden raw numbers of calories. IDK how many home gardeners could grow & process wheat or cereal (dent) corn. Potatoes on the other hand…..and they can be done, as noted, via the bucket method, so that can be done where a person doesn’t have a lot of space, or even on a patio of an apartment.
Well I made a rare pilgrimage to my local Wallyworld yesterday- it seemed well stocked. But what struck me ..and I found appalling was the outright obesity of the shoppers. Even the kids. Glancing at shopping carts loaded with soda ( mountain dew,dr pepper, cola ) sugary cearal and snacks and processed junk. Its no wonder these people are the way they are. At 7 decades I still run two miles over rough terrain with a 30 pound ALICE pack everyday. I cant see how people let themselves go like this. Maybe a forced diet is what they need. Last time I go there on a Saturday- I was getting road rage pushing a shopping cart around.
Sadly, in our society, it’s a lot cheaper for a lot of families to buy the processed stuff over healthy choices. Once you get hooked on the junk, it’s a very hard habit to break.
That and many cannot afford to eat better, or do not have the means to prepare it.
….so they show-up at my friends local donut-shop and can barely get through the door.
Sugar addiction is just like every other addiction. It is a high, until you crash. Coffee and sugar.
Agree! The additives are addicting by design, just like the Big Pharma people.
Sugar and sex trafficking are the two major money industries in the world.
Dr. Sten Eckberg on YouTube has some great videos on sugar. Very informative man when it comes to health.
All part of the plan. There is definitely a difference between Wal-Mart fat and normal fat people, they just look different. As a side bar many are low-income and buying fresh and organic etc. doesn’t do well w/their finances, and as well as education. They simply don’t know or understand diet and nutrition.
Personally, I blame the food pyramid. Seven years ago I stopped thinking fats were my enemy and realized carbs were. I dropped sixty pounds and I’ve never gone back. Sugar is an addiction.
I noticed something that seemed odd today. I have been reading CTH and especially following these particular articles. I asked my husband (who is in the supply chain and was considered “essential” during the Lockdown) if he is noticing anything and he said Yes, the Vendors who rely solely on China were still having issues. We are having a Pool installed. When we originally began talking to the company late Spring ’21, we were told we could have it installed in March ’22. We accepted it because of the Lockdown, etc.
We just had the Owner come to look at our yard and do the final planning/contract. He now says due to employee shortages and the supply chain (they actually manufacture the inground Pools here) it will be August. This far long, we really want a Pool so we had to take that date.
This morning we went to our local Waffle House. I order Tea as always and the Server put down a straw. I opened the straw and it seemed thin. I put it in the glass, took a sip and realized I had to “suck” (for lack of better word) much harder to get the liquid thru the straw. This straw was so thin! I asked my husband to unwrap his straw and try to drink from it. He agreed this was a very different kind of straw from the usual ones. I have a few of the usual ones at home so I got a to go cup and used the same straw. When we got home, I compared the old, still wrapped straws to the new one and the new one is about half the size. I wondered if this was a cost decision or very possibly a supply chain resulting in a shortage of materials to make straws. Just throwing this out there as it is perplexing to me.
We go to this WF usually every weekend so next week I will see if I get another super skinny straw. If so, I will ask the Server or the Mgr on Duty about it.
Sundance started the 2 week/end of Jan countdown, is this it?
During the shutdowns in 2020 in PA egg prices soared and availability was tough.
I was at a discount/salvage grocery and they had flats of 30 mediums for just around the price of a dozen large!
I didn’t hesitate, I bought 2 for five dozen. Yup, awkward packaging, but I just switched them when I got home to some empty cartons.
Think outside the box.
Haven’t noticed much in shortage in SE Michigan. Seafood prices have EXPLODED. Crab up 300%. Tuna, double per can.
Hello, Neighbor. MI “Downriver” resident here. I noticed shrimp is a better value this week, if I buy a big bag. Our local Gordon (GFS) has supplies of things the Kroger or Walmart or Meijer does not . A vacuum packed pork tenderloin was VERY reasonable per pound. One tenderloin makes 3 meals for our two-person household. I also like their jars of chicken or beef or vegetable “stock”, because it’s so much heartier than bullion. I use it to substitute for canned or cardboard cartons of chicken broth. Those are mostly water and take a lot of shelf space in the pantry. The shelf life is long on the small jars, until the jar is opened, then refrigerate it.
Could someone who saved the homeade laundry soap please post it again. My laptop died before I got some stuff off.
Here is the article on CTH that had the recipe. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/11/09/producer-prices-rose-8-6-percent-in-october-massive-inflation-continues-with-no-signs-of-slowing-down/comment-page-1/#comments
Scroll down for step-by-step.
Please get in the habit of bookmarking.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/11/09/producer-prices-rose-8-6-percent-in-october-massive-inflation-continues-with-no-signs-of-slowing-down/
Taking screenshots is another way to preserve info.
Doesn’t matter if the computer dies can’t transfer what I cannot open. The black screen of death appeared out of the blue. Thanks for reposting to all who did.
After reading this before food shopping set out to my local (New England) Stop and Shop and found the dehydrated instant potato flakes shelves empty. Same for the brand and store brand of powdered milk, sugar, flour and pasta (the most surprising). The fresh chicken case was picked over and the ground beef on sale hadn’t arrived yet by truck so that case was empty too. Orange juice shelves 3/4 empty with only store and brand full pulp versions available. Frozen vegetable case was about 1/2 full.
The only thing I think you’re missing is the increased demand of items due to illegal immigration. This increased demand can never be accounted for in inventory planning.
Speaking of illegal immigrants. Some will be going back to Mexico to get something to eat. There will be reverse migration. Gringo’s will be paying coyotes to get them across the border for a taco,
I recently joined a garden group on the next door app. Yesterday I traded lemons for 2 dozen fresh eggs. I have lots of fruit and citrus on my land. Some berries and olives as well. Maybe I should be planting some veggies next….
This could be helpful for those looking to plant food for the first time. I saw it online today.
Thanks, Sundance, for the prescient heads up. Based on your sage advice, last week I stocked up on pet food and paper products. There was no more jasmine rice at my grocery store, pork, my favorite sausage or chicken legs–all gone–but there were still drumsticks, which I bought in extra supply, portioned into single servings and froze. Luckily there was still salmon available. But they were out of my brand of bar soap and shampoo/conditioner, so I ordered those from Walmart, which still had a reasonable price (Amazon was way too expensive for the soap). My advice is to comparison shop and stock up now. Buy extra and freeze what you can. Canned goods are always practical but jumped in price (almost double) during the pandemic, so buy now or you might find it prohibitively expensive in a little while. And that is just the food products.
Staples such as printer cartridges and printer paper are quickly rising in price, if you can even find them in the stores. Also, things you assumed will always be there may not, so put on your thinking cap and try to visualize all the things you will need if not now, then in the near future. For example, my local post office has been out of stamps for weeks now. No kidding. The last time I checked they did get a few stamps, but they were printed with the greeting, “Happy Birthday.” Desperate to send out my after-holiday thank-you notes, I bought them anyway. Probably will confuse more than a few of my friends/family.
Years ago, SurvivalBlog author said to stock up on USPS Forever Stamps as a hedge on inflation. He was so right!
I’d just like to add that Farm Equipment may also be an issue……Last spring the Equipment salesmen came out and stated that if we were looking at buying new equipment,[tractors, combines, sprayers, etc….] then was the time to order, because it might be 2 years before the equipment orders could be filled.
Prices are jumping, but I’ve always had a deep pantry and freezer because I’m frugal.
I’m stocked at higher levels then ever before. I don’t really like canned soup, but they were on sale at a great price and I stocked up.
I watch waste like a hawk and use everything I can. Sales are fewer but I’m still adding to my pantry.
Less beef, more chicken and turkey. Much more turkey since I got several for 29¢ a pound after Thanksgiving!
I’m shopping more at off the beaten track and ethnic stores for better selection and prices.
Thought of getting 1/4 cow but I don’t have room in the freezer!
If you do buy a 1/4 cow make sure and buy the hind-quarter. That way you will have milk too.
We went to Publix grocery story yesterday (FL) and they were totally out of every brand of cream cheese. Now that not coming off the boats, whats up
The vast majority of cream cheese is made in WI. I would say it is a trucking problem
Cream cheese has been scare since Thanksgiving
Fortified City: Must be a guar gum shortage. Not much actual cream in cream cheese any more.
Stock up when its available. It can be frozen. I have made my own in the past. You can find out how to make it on youtube
Ellie, I think a lot of us will be looking to cook more outside and using basic camping skills and also RE-LEARNING HOW TO MAKE OUR OWN FOOD!!!! WOWZA…
I live in a rural area of Hardee County, FL. No cream cheese at WinDixey nor Wal Mart. Those are the two closest stores to me.
Okeechobee Fla had plenty last I looked (about a week or so). Not noticing any shortages like there was around Thanksgiving and Christmas here in Fla. GO DESANTIS
(Atlanta) Aldi’s is now running low on cream cheese, which they had plenty the week before Christmas when Publix had now with a note posted saying they weren’t getting any until March 2022.
Aldi’s (2 locations) had none of their usual wheat crackers except a few boxes of Wheat Thins.
Sprouts (Smyrna, a suburb of Atlanta) just opened 2 wks ago and is fully stocked. Prices weren’t exorbitant (yet) – above Aldi’s, but less than Whole Foods.
I read an article that the cream cheese shortage is primarily a plastic up supply shortage. Not so much trucking. No containers for the cheese.
Cream Cheese Is the Latest Casualty of Cyberattacks
December 10, 2021
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-12-10/supply-chain-latest-cream-cheese-is-the-latest-casualty-of-cyberattacks
A cream cheese shortage has been sending bagel shops and bakeries scrambling for supplies, and it’s due in part to a cyberattack on the biggest U.S. cheese manufacturer.
Schreiber Foods in Wisconsin, a top maker of cream cheese, closed for days in October after hackers compromised plants and distribution centers. The company is big enough that the lost production shook U.S. markets.
The attack took place during the peak season for cream cheese demand. Americans are doing more holiday baking and buying more cakes, and cream cheese is a common dessert ingredient. Add to that all the labor constraints and logistics headaches caused by the pandemic.
Tons of it past few days at a midlands South Carolina Walmart.
We have a lot of cream cheese here in the stores in Wisconsin 🙂 …..I could probably ship some if anyone is desperate??? 😉
I found there was plenty at Walmart (GA) yesterday, but completely out of stock at LIDL (all forms and flavors:)
Read before Christmas that Philadelphia Cream Cheese suffered a cyber attack.