Resources: Groceries

How I grocery shop now.

Well. Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser, don't they?

We're still under a shelter in place order here.  We can go out to buy groceries and pick up prescriptions, but my family is trying to keep that to curbside pickup and drive-throughs.  We're taking this order pretty seriously and want to do our part to "flatten the curve" (a phrase I had never heard before that's now become part of the national vernacular) as much as possible.  I keep sanitizer in my car and use it liberally whenever I touch anything, and we are putting dry goods in a bin for a couple of days before using them.  If we catch this thing, it certainly won't be because we weren't following instructions.

Speaking of, the hoarding has been vicious.  Before school was even cancelled, people spent the last part of Spring Break buying and hoarding as many supplies as possible, creating the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020.  I understand getting enough supplies for a couple of weeks, but the hoarding has contributed to a dearth of essentials and people are having to physically go into stores at odd hours (and, more often than not, without success) to find them.  Good luck getting toilet paper at your curbside pickup.  I was able to two days ago and it felt like winning the lottery.  But for next week's pickup (yes, we have to place curbside orders a week in advance now), no such luck.  One of my bigger concerns, as the daughter of elderly parents, is how that population will find supplies.  I learned that a lot of stores have instituted hours that are devoted to seniors alone; as a population that is more susceptible to the virus, this will hopefully mitigate crowds and shortages after overnight stocking so that senior citizens can get what they need.  These are the hours (in one place, so you don't have to hop all over the internet) for the stores that I've heard of to date:

• Albertson's: Tuesday and Thursday, 7-9 am
• Market Street: Monday and Thursday, 7-9 am
• Whole Foods: each day, 8-9 am
• Target: Wednesday, 8-9 am
• Publix: Tuesday and Wednesday, 7-8 am
• Walmart: Tuesday, first hour of business
• Winn-Dixie: Monday- Friday, 8-9 am
• Costco: Tuesday and Thursday, 9-10 am
• Dollar General: daily, first hour of business
• Big Lots: daily, first hour of business
• The Fresh Market: Monday-Friday, 8-9 am
• Sam's Club: Tuesday and Thursday, 7-9 am
• Tom Thumb: Tuesday and Thursday, 7-9 am
• Aldi: Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30-9:30
• Randall's: Tuesday and Thursday, 7-9 am
• Walgreen's: Tuesday, 8-9 am

Please note: there was some confusion that these would be the ONLY hours that seniors can shop.  Rest assured, you can shop any time you want; these hours are just reserved for only the elderly.  If you know of any additional hours and stores, please comment below.  We have to look out for our parents and grandparents during this.  

I would also encourage using delivery services such as Amazon Pantry, Walmart Grocery, Shipt, and Instacart.  It's also a great idea to call restaurants in your area; I know in ours, many are either doing curbside pickup or, in some instances, are selling raw ingredient packages for a flat fee- sometimes even with a roll of toilet paper included!  It's also a good way to support your local restaurants, as I have a feeling a lot of them are going to have a hard time bouncing back from this.  It's a tough, tough business in the best of times; something like this pandemic is positively crippling.

Finally- please, please stop panic-buying and hoarding.  There are still plenty of ways to buy what you need, and at this stage in the game we should all be at a point at which our inventory just needs a normal weekly shop to maintain.  We're all in this together, and we can get through it if everyone does their part and thinks of the big picture. 💖