The Reality of Our Food Crisis

[Surveyor1]

I was at the grocery store today in my small little section of Georgia.  Today was By Far the worst that I have seen!  Twice as many bare spots as any of the worst of the previous days!  It’s getting kinda real my fellow preppers.  It’s not just here as this article will show!

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bare-shelvesbiden-trends-alarming-number-people-report-empty-shelves

[Ravenwood1950]

No chicken to be had at my local Kroger except a few packages of wings or chicken tenders. Scary!!
Ravenwood

[Abigayle]

Food Depot in our area was almost 1/4 empty last week.  Thor dropped me off there.  I told him that I would have to go somewhere for fresh vegetables in a few days, as they just didn't have much.  Their fruit was also poor and limited.  They had a few packages of chicken wings that you could not force feed me.  I think they died of natural causes over Christmas.
Seriously this is getting worse quickly.  It is also encouraging people to just grab when they see something, despite the  highest prices we have ever seen!

[Surveyor1]

No chicken to be had at my local Kroger except a few packages of wings or chicken tenders. Scary!!
Ravenwood

Damn it Ravenwood, I haven’t been able to find wings at our 3 stores for 2 weeks!!!  I did find a pack to cook for the Orange Bowl but had to pay $5.00/LB!  I was proud to have them🤦‍♂️😳🙄! 

[BennyMG1]

I didn’t really notice meat issues on my last shopping trip, but canned goods were still running low. I also noticed breakfast cereals and pastas were very low. Walmart was doing a very good job of keeping shelves fronted to give the illusion of full shelves. I read somewhere last week (and I have searched and searched for the source and can’t find it) that the military has declared commissaries to be mission critical. The concern was over maintaining adequate stocks in stores with “current supply chain issues”. Declaring something “Mission Critical” is pretty big deal. I’ll continue to search for my source on that.

[Surveyor1]

Remember last year when I shared the link to Target n the dried beans?  Will I went in there today and looked…. Most of those beans I bought for $.99 per pound are now $1.59 per pound!  My math is kinda fuzzy but that looks like 60% food inflation to me😳😳!  Just remember though, a lot of food items Today are cheaper than they will be in the foreseeable future!  Prep accordingly…

https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=dry+beans

[Starlady]

Just got back from Wally World, slim pickings on a lot of shelves, not a chicken wing to be found, little chicken overall but tons of salmon and $11.99lb steaks - probably because no one is buying the more expensive cuts.    They had SOME of every kind of the basics  (beans, paper goods, pasta, etc.) but again, only the higher priced brands, none of the store or less expensive brands.  Frozen/prepared section look seriously ill.

Bakery and fresh veggies completely stocked - bakery prices are normal, didn't check the veggies.   Not well stocked on eggs but the cheap brand is still $1.82/18.

[Abigayle]

I bought a flank steak at Food Depot and also one at Kroger.  They put them on sale.  I fed four people with two one inch slices left over.  Use 1/4 cup soy sauce, 4 Tlb spoons of vegetable oil, three cloves of sliced garlic and I/4 cup brown sugar.  Mix together and marinate the meat for a few hours or over night.  Grill around 7 minutes
on each side.  We keep ours medium rare in the middle, so the kids can have medium.There are other recipes on line.  I think we cup it again the grain, but check as it makes a difference.  This makes for a tender, good tasting streak meal that does not break the bank.  I used low sodium soy sauce.
I have been reading articles about expectations for food shortages to be worse next month.  With all time records of Covid and numbers to spike next week, this is a very believable prediction.  Laundry soap seems extra low right now and there is a prediction of shortages of dishwashing soap.  Not sure if they meant dishwasher, or washing by hand.

[Ravenwood1950]

Just got home from my local Food Depot. No pre-bagged lettuce mixes, low on tortillas, plenty of canned goods; rice/beans; good on frozen veggies, crackers nearly gone. A stocker was putting out 6 cases of chicken thighs and the rest of the meat department looked well stocked, frozen section was a little low on frozen dinners, no Marie Callendar's chicken pot pies
I even got two of the yummy frozen breakfast cheese danish that I adore. Still no Little Debbie Donut Sticks to be found. They had plenty of produce but I don't buy much produce there as they prepackage it and I like to pick out my own. I find that Food Depot is most always well stocked when Walmart and Kroger are low on things.
Ravenwood

[YellowRose]

Our local Food Lion only had a few empty shelves, but a lot of shelves where there was stuff at the front of the shelves but nothing behind it.  I haven't looked since the winter storm craze.  One of the benefits of prepping, not having to go to the food store when everyone else is in panic mode.  I found a local farmer and bought half a cow.  A lot of money up front but the price per pound almost reminded me of 2021. 

[coastiemike]

We went to Costco yesterday.  They had a lot of everything except ground beef.  They did have some organic ground beef but I’m not paying $7/pound.  We bought one of the last two six pound packs they had of 80/20. Also picked up some ground turkey.  Plenty of chicken so we picked up a few more packs just to continue stocking. Same with beef roasts.  Luckily, we are just filling holes and stocking up a little more than normal just in case.

The Kroger was down to about 30% in their meat department.  If you aren’t a member of Sam’s or Costco, I recommend it.  They will get wiped out far slower than the grocery stores out there due to the $60/year membership fee.

[Surveyor1]

Just got back from our grocery trip….

Harvey’s- very scary!  Overall I would guesstimate 40-50% bare shelves!  Frozen foods section (excluding ice cream section) over 90% empty!  Ice cream 50% empty.  No shelf stable juices at all.  They had hundreds of yellow stickers on various aisles stating “out of stock due to manufacturers shortages.”  Dairy 75% bare shelves.  Meat was not too bad but prices were still steep except for the 80/20 they had on sale for $3.48lb.  Produce was not bad.

IGA - overall good stocks but prices very high for example regular bag chili cheese Fritos $4.49…. Meat section cleaned out except for a few rump roast at $7.79lb.  Produce was sad but probably caused by lack of foot traffic in store (bad management)

Walmart - overall I would say the worst I’ve seen it.  Lots of empty shelves and very low stocks.  Of note - milk section looked pretty empty but looking behind the display racks the had plenty of product🤔.  Meat …. No chicken, no steaks (2 packs), plenty of ribs if you want to,pay $5.18 per LB…. Produce 50% empty.  Bread gone!  No cold juice and no shelf stable juice.  Crackers and cookies 75% empty.  First time ever seeing this one, they had 1 - 4 lb bag of sugar and that was it!  No other but specialty stock…. Plenty of candy though🙄😳🤔…

It’s going to get worse before it gets much worse.  One of my onion suppliers told me he paid $20,000 for a truck to haul a load of onions from Washington state to Rhode Island that is a $25.00 per bag charge!  Normal rates 1-1/2 years ago was about $8,000 or $10.00 per bag. 

[Abigayle]

Thanks for the update in your area.  While I was reading your experience at Walmart, I could not help but wonder, if it is due to be closed and deep cleaned.  The one in our town, and the town a  half hour from here, were both done last week.  The stores were closed for up to two days.  If they kept their inventory low, the job would be easier.
That having been said, both Kroger and Publics in the town near us, were as low on goods as I have seen.  Chicken was the big high, in that it was very fresh and did not look like it died of natural causes.  I did get wings, a whole chicken and thighs, but it was highway robbery.  I told myself as I slapped the three packages into my cart, that the prices may look like a bargain next month.  We are trying to work our way through the freezers, clean them out and start over.  These came right into the house freezer and will be used last.  Usually, this time of year, I would be doing some different canning of meat meals in a jar.  That is not going to happen unless I find a great deal like our new preppier friends on here, we find a great deal.

[Starlady]

I think the snowpocalypse we were supposed to have last weekend probably contributed to some of it, too.

[Abigayle]

Last week, I asked if I could get some gallons of milk that was sitting behind the cooler.  The young man working back there told me he was not allowed to put more milk out, until the cooler shelf of that item was empty.  The remaining milk was going to expire in four days!  I pointed this out to the lad who just gave me a blank look.... Expiration dates on many items seem to be shrinking in time...
If any of you get a chance to read some of the articles by The Organic Preppier (Daisy Luther), that came out today.  They are worth the read.  I  really likes the humorous one.  She is the site of the moment right now, on top ten prepper blogs, just google.