How Is Covid-19 Impacting Life in Your City?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by eschaton

You still grocery shop on a daily basis? We've been trying to get to the store only once every two weeks or so.

I don't know why anyone would be going everyday in this current environment.

[homebucket]

In an ideal environment you would grocery shop daily so you can get the freshest meat and produce available, but in this day and age, I would recommend reducing it to every other, or every few days.

[10023]

Originally Posted by eschaton

You still grocery shop on a daily basis? We've been trying to get to the store only once every two weeks or so.

How? Food doesn’t stay fresh that long and I’m not going to live on canned goods. I also have a tiny European fridge that doesn’t hold much.

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I don't know why anyone would be going everyday in this current environment.

Well for starters I am not remotely concerned about catching this. I’ve also probably already had it.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by 10023

Well for starters I am not remotely concerned about catching this. I’ve also probably already had it.

But... you waste an hour standing in line everyday. Why not just buy enough so that you don't have to waste an hour standing in line everyday?

[10023]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

But... you waste an hour standing in line everyday. Why not just buy enough so that you don't have to waste an hour standing in line everyday?

So every other day then? I don’t have an American fridge. There simply isn’t any space if one is making 2-3 meals a day for two people at home. And that’s with cooking things like beans in bulk (which of course then need to be refrigerated).

I’m also adamant about supporting local business during this time, so I’ve tried to stop going to Whole Foods (the typical UK high street grocery stores suck), and instead go to the greengrocers, a bakery, a butcher, a fishmonger, etc.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by 10023

How? Food doesn’t stay fresh that long and I’m not going to live on canned goods. I also have a tiny European fridge that doesn’t hold much.

Provided you're single and living alone, fridge size shouldn't matter that much. I'm married with two kids and we've managed to work things out, more or less.

As to the how we've done it, off the top of my head:

1. Personally drink a powdered meal replacement (Huel) for breakfast every day, and for lunch except when there's leftovers to work through.

2. We've been eating a lot of pasta (and the kids have been eating mac and cheese).

3. Produce has been burned through pretty quickly, but I still have some tomatoes and Brussels sprouts which are still good from two weeks ago. Plus lots of onions and potatoes which could go several more weeks without refrigeration.

4. Bread is the hardest thing, given my wife/kids love it, and a loaf often goes stale/moldy before the week is done. I had to break down and start freezing loafs, even though I hate it when people do that.

5. Dairy products last for two weeks no problem. Sometimes longer for cheese or yogurt.

[niwell]

The big grocery stores are a nightmare but local ones near me have little to no lineups - most butchers and seafood places also do delivery or curbside pickup. We order most of our vegetables from a restaurant supplier that's doing weekly deliveries. I can get good sourdough bread at a local brewery, which kills two birds with one stone (also getting beer deliveries on top of that...).

[montréaliste]

We have had all our grocery deliveries done by a local IGA, Costco and we have also found a local artisan group that teamed in mid crisis to deliver their goods. My wife ordered sausages, couscous meals, and a bunch of other stuff. Looking at their website, I noticed a couple of additional businesses that joined their group in the past couple of days. Some of them used to cater to major hotels and fine restaurants in the Montreal region, their clientele was therefore out of commission and they are trying to go to homebound consumers.

[10023]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Provided you're single and living alone, fridge size shouldn't matter that much. I'm married with two kids and we've managed to work things out, more or less.

As to the how we've done it, off the top of my head:

1. Personally drink a powdered meal replacement (Huel) for breakfast every day, and for lunch except when there's leftovers to work through.

2. We've been eating a lot of pasta (and the kids have been eating mac and cheese).

3. Produce has been burned through pretty quickly, but I still have some tomatoes and Brussels sprouts which are still good from two weeks ago. Plus lots of onions and potatoes which could go several more weeks without refrigeration.

4. Bread is the hardest thing, given my wife/kids love it, and a loaf often goes stale/moldy before the week is done. I had to break down and start freezing loafs, even though I hate it when people do that.

5. Dairy products last for two weeks no problem. Sometimes longer for cheese or yogurt.

I’m not single, there are two of us.

I drink protein shakes as a supplement anyway, but meal replacement drinks are anathema to me. Food is very important to me and I love to cook.

Pasta and potatoes are far too carb heavy unless I’m doing a lot of cardio, and my wife especially considers both “special occasion” foods. And bread, well, sourdough might last a few days at a push but a baguette needs to be eaten the day it’s made. Packaged sliced white bread is not something that we buy.

I don’t know what milk you’re buying that lasts two weeks! Or even cheese.

Basically, I’m not going to compromise how I cook or eat because of this lockdown nonsense.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by 10023

So every other day then? I don’t have an American fridge. There simply isn’t any space if one is making 2-3 meals a day for two people at home. And that’s with cooking things like beans in bulk (which of course then need to be refrigerated).

I’m also adamant about supporting local business during this time, so I’ve tried to stop going to Whole Foods (the typical UK high street grocery stores suck), and instead go to the greengrocers, a bakery, a butcher, a fishmonger, etc.

So you don't actually have to stand in line everyday for an hour. You're just a masochist.

[10023]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

So you don't actually have to stand in line everyday for an hour. You're just a masochist.

The lines are longer at grocery stores. There are just more stops to make this way. But that’s how I prefer to shop, the old fashioned way.

[homebucket]

I imagine this is happening in all the other cities as well.

Google Streetview:
https://goo.gl/maps/3upr9utrhGHziBaPA

'Business has been incredible': Inside one of the few SF businesses thriving during the pandemic
Noe Valley's Baron's Meat & Poultry has seen foot traffic triple
By Amy Graff, SFGATE Updated 3:03 pm PDT, Wednesday, April 8, 2020

As people's daily meal routines have been impacted by restaurant closures and long grocery store lines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, one place they're turning is small local food shops. Baron's, located in a space that has housed a meat shop for more than 100 years, sits in a mostly residential area of the city and is within walking distance of hundreds of homes.

"Business has been incredible," says store manager Matt Ebling, who has worked 10 years as a butcher and another 10 as a restaurant chef. "It has been so busy since this all started. We’re all just grinding. With all the restaurants closed, people are eating at home. We have a good supply of everything, meat, liquor and a grocery section."

It's Wednesday at 1 p.m. when Ebling says he's embarrassed a rush of 60 people in the last two hours has drained the shop's inventory. But, honestly, Baron's offerings look plentiful compared to plenty of shelves at larger grocery stores in the area. The meat case is a carnivore lover's dream come true with brisket, flank steak, Denver steak, baseball steak, chuck roast, lamb racks, cured bacon, smoked beer sausages — all of it mostly from California farmers. Slabs of fish — wild caught rock cod, steelhead trout, filet of sole — glisten on the far end of the case.

...

"We are a very neighborhood butcher shop. I know the majority of customers by first name, and it’s nice to get community support," he says. "We're seeing lots of new faces too."

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...s-15182837.php

[hauntedheadnc]

A neighbor stopped by randomly today with packets of seeds that he was offering for free to anyone who wanted to start a garden. We ended up with kale, cucumbers, and squash.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

A neighbor stopped by randomly today with packets of seeds that he was offering for free to anyone who wanted to start a garden. We ended up with kale, cucumbers, and squash.

People are definitely upping their home gardening game around here too.

[mhays]

Buying groceries every day adds too much risk for other people, plus yourself.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mhays

Buying groceries every day adds too much risk for other people, plus yourself.

Yes, exactly. He could be an asymptomatic spreader and might be prolonging the social distancing period for everybody because he likes to shop everyday.

[10023]

Originally Posted by mhays

Buying groceries every day adds too much risk for other people, plus yourself.

I would be harming my health by living on packaged food, not buying fresh vegetables. And everyone is “distancing” in these shops.

And if you need something to make a recipe, you need it.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by awholeparade

I'm not considering selling my condo, but I do think that I would be handling this period much better if I had a yard and a driveway. I'm a big mountain biker and I could be screwing around in those areas on my bike, if I had them. Instead, I have to pass through common areas and multiple doors just to get outside. I bought my place specifically to be right by a great urban park, but because I'm in a dense area (for Denver), my street has the same amount of activity as ever (going to/from the park), and I don't feel comfortable going to the park because it's so packed. Again, I'm not considering selling and moving, but these are thoughts that I've had.

Well, I've made this clear before, I think, but I have exactly the same thoughts. Fortunately for me, I have both options: The condo in SF in a large multifamily building and the single family home with enclosed patios in Arizona. And while this is the time of year I'd normally be returning to SF, the dreary rainy season being over. this year I'm delaying it. I've changed my plans twice so far, pushing back the trip by first a week, then a month. I'm not the biking sort or any of that, but the thought of using elevators with other people, shared laundry rooms, getting my packages from the building concierge downstairs (via another elevator trip) rather than just outside the front door, and all the rest is daunting.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by 10023

So every other day then? I don’t have an American fridge. There simply isn’t any space if one is making 2-3 meals a day for two people at home. And that’s with cooking things like beans in bulk (which of course then need to be refrigerated).

I’m also adamant about supporting local business during this time, so I’ve tried to stop going to Whole Foods (the typical UK high street grocery stores suck), and instead go to the greengrocers, a bakery, a butcher, a fishmonger, etc.

you can always raid your mom's fridge upstairs from the basement.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by 10023

I would be harming my health by living on packaged food, not buying fresh vegetables. And everyone is “distancing” in these shops.

And if you need something to make a recipe, you need it.

Oh, please. Have you heard of those various containers that actually do keep vegetables fresh for at least several days if not the 9 days they claim?