If you had to stay home for two weeks with only the food that's in your house and no new food obtained, would you be ok?

Yes, but only because I went to the grocery yesterday.

Oh, yeah, I could probably go a month before things got really weird. I have always been a bulk shopper, long before this, so I always have a bunch.

We could easily go 6 weeks, but Mrs Squeeky has always stocked a bit when there is a good sale on.
The only thing we would run out of would be some perishables.

No.

Family of 5 here, and it would be stretch to pull off even 1 week.

By the time I got around to getting some food, there was already a rush and hoarding. The markets around here have many empty shelves. Forget about milk (dairy). You’re lucky to find one or two almond milks. No bread. Certainly no toilet paper.

Nope.
Hardly one day.

One thing I do have plenty of is eggs. We have 6 chickens who are starting to ramp up their post-winter egg protest. We’re getting between 3 and 4 eggs per day.

Yes. I bought extra a month ago and added dog food and other items each week. Thank God for people having taxes back so they can stock up better.

Yes, we’d be fine.
I could always fish.

No. My refrigerator only has enough space for a week.

We could do it, but we wouldn’t be happy.
Of course, right now I’d like to try.

I think so, maybe closer to three weeks. Towards the end it would get to be slim pickings and not exciting food choices. If I knew I had to last for two weeks I would probably ration better, and maybe even lose weight, which would be a good thing actually. I stocked up a little more a few days ago, I would prefer to have a month of food ideally. My husband is coming home this week hopefully, so I will need more food in that case, I am not prepared for that.

I’m doing that now. I have lots of spaghetti.

I stocked up gradually over the last two weeks so that I have enough for a few weeks of quarantine. Didn’t hoard or panic buy but just got a little extra. I have a deep freezer downstairs which helps. I have some extras from meals I cooked in the freezer which is something I always do.

I am pretty much self-quarantining for a few weeks; will have to get groceries after that.

Not ideal. But pretty sure we have enough junk food so we wouldn’t exactly starve.

@raum You mean you haven’t gotten through all the junk food yet?

@janbb I could probably build a house out of all the junk food we have. Haha

I just looked online for powdered milk and I don’t know what it usually costs, but I see prices are really high now. I have a bunch of packets of it at work which I had stashed in case I ever have coffee and have no milk. I’m bringing the packets home so I have them there, so if worse comes to worse I have milk for the coffee.

I have a lot of cereal, and I have a lot in the freezer, plus I bought a bunch of canned soup at Costco. I really don’t eat canned soup, but it was so cheap I couldn’t resist it. If I get desperate, we can have that. My daughter doesn’t like it, but if she had to, she’d have to deal. It’s just Campbell’s but it’s a healthy (er) version.

I also have flour so I could make stuff if I had to (let them eat cake).

Easily. We’d run out of milk in a week but we can use evaporated milk if needed.
There is enough bread in the freezer, chicken and pork chops, lots of canned foods, soups, vegetables.
And about 20–30 bottles of wine and spirits.

I could, but it would not be pleasant. But I have enough soup and frozen foods to last a couple weeks. I had more before the power outages last fall.

I could last two weeks. I have a brand new 30 lb. of dog food, treats and Jessie’s medicine so that would last a month. I have frozen meats and fish, soups, water and Diet Pepsi.

Perishables, not so much. I will be out of milk in a few days. I have frozen chicken, a big bag of fish sticks, lots of canned beans and soups. I have a couple cans of tuna, and several canned roast beef. I have a shelf of cake mixes and a couple of pumpkin bread kits. My eggs are in great shape.
I am well stocked on various dry goods.
I too have a chest freezer in the basement.
I had an appointment earlier which my VA worker drove me to. I told her on the way back I would like to check Walgreens for tp. They sell individual rolls a ten for $5. She agreed to make the stop, but added she thought it would be a waste of time. Voila! I was right. Everyone thought grocery and Wal K and other marts, but not Walgreens. I got my ten rolls. There were two left. After, I saw a grocery parking packed, and a police cruiser was pulling in. Walmart was packed also.
So, aside from milk, I’m OK.

I’m set with coffee and tea, too. That’s important.

We don’t have much of a choice but too be ok, I’ve been stocking up on pretty the Necessities can goods toilet paper plenty of bottled water and medications just in case. It may be some time but I can’t wait till all this passes so we can get back to the normal life…

Hypothetically. I’d be in a tough situation. I have a “bug out bag.”

But. It only has enough food, for less than a week.

I suppose, I could ration it. Maybe lower my activity…

I would have a tough time.

I’d have to get used to eating salmon, tuna, and nutria grain bars.

I usually shop for food, day to day. So. I don’t have much, in my cabinets.

I suppose I could hunt, or fish. I have some basic trapping methods.

They probably wouldn’t close essential businesses?

With what’s in my house, I’d gain a lot of weight

Yes, but it’d be a lot of canned food that we keep just in case. Not really very yummy, but we’d be alive.

I could pretty much make it to next winter without a re-up of any kind, but only because the veggies grow tall, the milk flows daily, and I’ve several beasts in the freezer.

Yeah. The human body can run a calorie deficit for a long time…

@gorillapaws Yep. Especially with the storage tank many of us haul around.

Yep. I could survive for about the next 2 or 3 months with just what we have on hand. Much of it is dried. Might not be the most diverse diet after a month or two, but it would keep us alive.

Three weeks of canned and dry goods. Eggs and milk gone by next Tuesday.

We would make it easily. There are at present only 4 of the eggs and half of the ½ gallon of milk in the fridge, but the freezer is stocked. The veggies are plentiful. God’s in His heaven…..

I could survive but not very comfortably toward the end!!! On Friday we had plenty of groceries on the shelves & I had meant to go on Saturday to pick up a few more items, but the shelves were bare by noon on Saturday. I have NO plan to go out in the near future.so I’ve been contemplating what I should do to remedy my problem. Fortunately for me, when I stay at home, I don’t get very hungry so skipping a meal or 2 shouldn’t be a problem!!! I’ve been planning on going on a diet & although this isn’t my preferred method, it should be effective,

@LadyMarissa I’ve noticed that, too. Nothing sounds good here for some reason, but at work, I’m like sure, let’s go there to eat. I’m going to save quite a bit of cash I think haha!

I’m very much an outdoors bloke & love my running, but I’d be fine.
Worse things happen at sea & all that bollocks.

I’d be okay for about a month, mostly because I have a full freezer.

It’s not as large as a standalone, but it’s about 12 cubic footsies.

Last night I bought 10 pounds of cheese and twenty pounds of chicken breasts. And Safeway had a banging deal on on jars of spaghetti sauce sauce a few months ago. So I bought a bunch back then. And we have tons of pasta, ramen, mac and cheese. And two freezers full of frozen goods.

And I have 100,000 calories of slurry. <- That is just part of my supply. More is in the garage. Each can is 500 calories.

Yes. I have a fishing tackle box and fishing pole and some great fishing just down the street. And I have pellets for my pellet rifle if I wanted to eat squirrel.

I think we could make it two weeks. I noticed a four year old package from the butcher in the back of the freezer today. This could be a good time to use the things like that. For dog food if nothing else.

I have about two dozen eggs right now. I figure they keep and they’re a good source of protein.

I was tempted to buy a freezer (chest freezer) about two weeks ago, right when the panic was starting. It was at Costco, about 159, but it was the last one and I felt like maybe I don’t need it. I saw a guy buying it about 15 minutes later. I was wistfully thinking maybe I should have gotten it, but it was too late by then. I never wanted one because I felt it would end up being a place where meat and other things go to die, but now it would come in handy.

Yes. I will be okay, provided I can avoid exposure. We’re under the next best thing to quarantine: my county has just called on all residents except essential services to shelter in place as of midnight tonight. I don’t have a large supply of perishables, but I do have canned and frozen things, plenty of staples such as rice and beans, and the makings of bread. If the power doesn’t go out and the water supply stays good, I think we’ll be fine—unless panic induces a spike in home-targeted criminal activity. We have no defense against that.

Unfortunately my fresh vegetables are low. All I really have is a cabbage, of all things. I was going to make colcannon for tomorrow. Now I think I’d better conserve a little. The stores were out of potatoes yesterday.

My husband and I are in a high-risk group (he is very high risk), so we’re taking what precautions we can with what we’ve got.

@janbb, just so you’ll know, you’re on my “notify” list.

As I mentioned in a previous question, I have enough supplies to last several months, as long as we have water, electricity and gas.

I could go three months easily. Just on starches. I have God knows how many pounds of grits, rice, and pasta. The pantry is full always. I keep a stocked kitchen in case of hurricanes.

As long as the power and water supply is fine, I think people will be fine. Neighbors who have plenty, like me, will share what they have if it comes to it.

My husband and I live pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I’m worried we won’t have availability of nutritious food until our next pay date because people are hoarding. Both of us are paid every other week. We have 11 days until we’re paid again and about 4–5 days of food supplies.

I know this is a hypothetical question, but the idea of stocking up food for a supposed “apocalypse” was actually a real thing in my country. As soon as the first news about the outbreak came, everyone flocked the supermarket to buy as much food as they could. It caused a massive shortage of food supply, to the point that the government had to repeatedly tell people to stop panicking because they got everything under control. The panic kind of died down then came back again right after the news about Korea. The government once again had to tell people to stop.

My family kind of went for it the first time it happened. My parents jokingly said we were going shopping to stuff food for the apocalypse. Right now we have enough food for two months, but we still go shopping frequently because eating the same kind of food is tiring, and we no longer believe in the apocalypse.

You may hear news about my country being praised by WHO for containing the virus or inventing a new test kit, but in reality the common people are just as clueless as the rest of the world. It’s just that our government tried hard to keep people in line…

@Jonsblond The nutritious food part is very tricky even with money available. I bought some extra frozen and canned vegetables, and I have some fruits that last a while like clementines and apples. I was thinking I should buy carrots, they last a long time too. Walmart had some deals when I was there, I don’t know if you have one near you.

^I was just at Walmart. The Chip/Cookie/ Candy aisles are well stocked. It’s a dream for snack lovers.

I’m worried we won’t have the availability of nutritious food until our next pay date because people are hoarding.

Vegetables and fruit can’t be hoarded well. My hope is those keep flowing. Though the general shutdown is going to slow deliveries.

I’m hoping that bulk stable foods like rice, dry beans, oatmeal and the like don’t get depleted. Those are long-lasting and cheap.

The wife is worried that the produce stands will shut down.

@Jonsblond Interesting. For hurricanes the chip aisle is empty. Of course for hurricanes people are preparing for no electricity possibilities. I was in a neighborhood Walmart three days ago, and I didn’t walk down the chip aisle, so I don’t know if it is the same here. The Easter candy display was well stocked, but I don’t know how the candy aisle was either.

I’m worried about food. As I said I have 4–5 days of supplies and no more money for 11 days. It doesn’t have to be nutritious. I now understand the value of a Twinkie.

@Jonsblond LOL. I’m thinking people will help deliver food to people if there is no service for that. I can’t imagine we will actually run so low on food that people won’t be able to buy some. I was talking to my MIL tonight, and she makes everything from scratch. She was asking what to buy, she was completely clueless. I figured if she actually ran out of food her daughter or grandchildren could bring food over, even if they just dropped it in front of her door. Assuming they were healthy.

My issue is not having much money until payday and the only food available is expensive. I don’t find it funny.

I was just laughing at your Twinkie example. I didn’t think your situation is funny.

I know. I’m sensitive right now. It’s all good. :)

@Jonsblond Understandable. If you’re very frightened is there any chance you can work away from customers? My FIL is 80, and he works in a supermarket. We asked them (him and my MIL) if he is afraid and wants to stop working, and they say no he wants more hours. I just most of all didn’t want them in a state of constant worry. Obviously, I am concerned he and my MIL are in a high risk group.

They don’t even make it check to check most months. They have a small savings that is dwindling down. I didn’t want him to keep working just for the money with his risk, but he seems ok with it. The saving grace is he works in the back usually preparing the pre-made salads and catering trays away from the customers.

@Jonsblond: If you have flour and butter and some other ingredients, you can make bread (Irish soda bread can be made with buttermilk) or if you have oatmeal, you can use it for breakfast and you can make cookies with it, if you have butter.

Nope. If I can slip off in the dead of night and snare a rabbit or two we can make it. Go to the river and do some late night fishing. Hunt down a bear, and steal their toilet paper.

Like Mrs Squeeky, I buy extra during a sale, so my cupboard and freezer are well stocked. We won’t have many fresh veggies for a while and my meals might not be as healthy as I would prefer, but we can survive for a while without being overly concerned

Yes, but it would mean lots of rice and beans. Probably even plain Rice Krispies for some “meals”.

Good for three months here

My kids are struggling for some supplies where they are…the stores are picked clean. We have enough here we just sent them 6 boxes of supplies and we still have enough for a couple months.

As someone who can’t get out even when everyone else can, now I can’t even get stuff online.
Thanks, panic hoarders.

The schools here are providing free food for kids, so we drive over every day for their bags of breakfast and lunch. I also discovered a fresh produce give away, so I picked up boxes for the grandparents that live nearby and for us.

^It’s going to take everything we can do, to get us all out of this.

I’ve seen videos, on YouTube, of people letting venimous snakes drink from bottles of water, during droughts…
The snakes drink, and do not display hostility.

If we all work together, we will be mostly okay…

Maybe. Just maybe. This virus, will make the world a better place…

Imagine…

@Patty_Melt Don’t look at me…I was prepping long before anyone heard of Covid-19. I’ve been at it for about 8 years now. No last minute dashes to the grocery store to buy up non-perishables that I could have had stored long ago. My wife did buy into the TP fad, though, and I had to reel her in.

Today is my first day of working from home and I’m going to run to Costco.

It feels weird not having anywhere to go.

I don’t really need anything major except maybe fruit but I’m sure I’ll see some stuff when I’m there. Plus, toilet paper. I have a lot of it in the basement but if the virus gets really bad I want to have a good supply without having to go out.

@jca2 I’ll be interested to know if the stores near you are calming down a little.

I filled the gas tank at Costco this past weekend and even though it was about 9:30 in the morning when I was there, the parking lot was full to every last spot. It will be interesting to see how that compares to today, Thursday 3/19, at around the same time (because I’ll be there around 9 or 9:30). Will let you know.

I have a friend who works at Shop Rite and she reports that it’s crazy every day.

The mass shopping here probably spread the virus more. Stores were loaded with people.

I went in the evening usually. Less on the shelves, but much fewer people. Everything had been touched though by then. You can’t win.

The local market was picked clean on Sunday and Monday afternoon. But by Tuesday afternoon there was bread and milk left, and plenty of meat and produce.

Much of the panic buying had to do with people realizing everyone would be home for all meals for the foreseeable future. No stepping out for a burger or a pizza spur of the moment.

A lot of our restaurants are doing regular take-out service, an idea I am thrilled by. Keeps some of them working, and there’s a big push here to do takeout from the individually owned places. I plan to order on my birthday this weekend and go a little nuts.

@wulfie, I didn’t aim my comment to anyone. It was aimed at all the people losing their freaking minds.

Know who we aren’t seeing overloading shopping carts?
The so called nutjobs who’ve built their own personal bomb/storm shelters.

^ Do you think so? Over here, it seemed like people who already were well-prepared still bought more stuff. I’ve been wondering if the “preppers” in the US are those buying more guns now, and I’m glad panicked crowds won’t get weapons anywhere around me.

@Patty_Melt I know, dear, you weren’t directing your comment at anyone in particular. I’m closer to the nutjob description you just gave. And no, I didn’t feel that was directed at me either. It’s funny though…the preppers were always sort of branded as being nutjobs. But by who? And why? I mean, what were they doing other than preparing for just this sort of eventuality? It could be a pandemic, a major storm that knocks out power for an extended period, civil unrest…any number of things. When did we exactly start looking at being prepared as being indicative of being a nutjob?

@longgone there are some that use any excuse to buy more guns. Personally I have a couple, but I figure if I need more than my family can use, it’s just a waste.

We don’t keep much in the house. We went to LA last Friday to visit the grand kids and thought we’d buy dinner and make for them. When I went to the store it was virtually out of everything. We eventually bought hotdogs and chile because it was then only thing we could find. That was my first experience with the shortages but it really opened my eyes. Nothing was on the shelf that would last more than a day or two. No canned goods, no frozen foods, no rice or noodles, no bread or milk. We decided to cut our visit short because we knew we had little to nothing at home and needed to stock up at least a little if at all possible. As it turned out we couldn’t. The store at home were in just as bad shape as they were down in LA. Dinner at home consisted of potato chips and cookies.
So to answer the question, No we are not prepared for a two week ‘Shelter in place’ or quarantine. Dog food is sounding pretty good at this point.

@Jaxk: I was in a local supermarket this morning and I heard the workers saying that the past two days (so Tues and Wed) were crazy but now it’s calmer (Thursday). There were no lines in that store. Hopefully the majority of shoppers have their stash and are going to start hunkering down.

Hubs and I aren’t supposed to leave the house. He is working from home, has done many times before.
I tried sending delivery orders to four different stores for bread, milk and eggs. Nobody could accept my order.
I have enough storable food to last months, so I will have to do without some things.

That’s shame @YARNLADY we have local restaurants offering delivery and there are couple of delivery services for food stores.

We almost got stuck on vacation in Hawaii, no foodstuffs stored at the timeshare.

There are locals we know because we’ve been before but would put a great burden on them and their families for food.

I ordered Meals on wheels. So I am ok. I have pizza hut for off times.

@jca2 I haven’t seen that yet but the store keeps telling us they will be restocking. Unfortunately they implemented a state wide ‘shelter in place’ order which makes me wonder how much is being made (and shipped). I’m not a picky eater so I can make a dinner out of a can of corn. I just need to find a can of corn.

@Jaxk The way I understand it, shelter in place should not affect grocery shipments and not affect being able to go to the store. Is that what you have heard?

^There are SO many people involved, in how an item gets to the shelves.
Dozens of people, could be needed, to get that “can of corn,” and then you have to hope nobody bought ALL the corn…

The government can preech all day, that supplies will keep flowing. If the virus infects enough people, there won’t be enough to make the supply chain work…

Let’s stick with corn.
Someone has to harvest it, process it, can it, package it, get it to a distributor, load it up, take it to it’s other distributor, drive it to the store, unload it, get it stocked on shelves, have someone to check it out, have someone to order restocking, and someone who will buy it…

So.
It moves through many people’s hands, AND people need money to buy it. Then. It has to make it to the table, without infecting others…

With people sick/laid off/shut down, or other variables, this process becomes more difficult.

It’s easy to see problems, with supply…

@MrGrimms888 I agree with all you said, but I guess I meant there is no government order to stop food from being brought in or sold. Hopefully, even if the corn supply chain has a huge breakdown another product will be ok.

I wish they had better information for immunity after infection. Anyone sick today quite possibly becomes the safest person in a month. They can go anywhere if this virus is is like the childhood diseases that you get it once and that it.

Grimmy, corn harvesting is done until summer is over. Everything is canned or frozen now. Distribution is the only hold up at this point.

@Jaxk, it sounds like you are in quite a spot. It sounds like time for you to check food pantries and see if any of them have supplies.
Also, check with local growers, and see if any can be persuaded to sell you some produce.

I remember recently we had a question posted about whether eating pigeons could be an option during some sort of crisis.
I would lean more towards squirrels.
Are geese protected everywhere, or is that state by state?

I see a possible trend of micro ag gaining popularity in cities.

Couldn’t edit. Sorry.

@Jaxk You might try Amazon…have them send you food. Or you might try calling Walmart to have them shop for you…just go pick it up. Walmart does a lot of their personal shopping early in the morning, before the store opens, when things are possibly a little more stocked.

@Jaxk: It might be a good time to join a store like Costco or Sam’s or BJ’s Wholesale. That would give you another option for food and supplies. I was in Costco yesterday and I got lots of food, and rubbing alcohol and Lysol spray. Also toilet paper and paper towels are there, too.

@jca2 That might have been a fluke. We have been to Costco and Sam’s a couple times in the past couple weeks and the story was far different. No hand sanitizer, no disinfecting wipes, no TP, no Water, and my wife got the very last of the meat at Sam’s. Costco wasn’t much better.

There was an interview with a national grocery expert on PBS Newshour and he said there is plenty of food available; it will just take longer to get to stores. They will be restocked. I’m not sure about all the disinfectant supplies.

Thanks for all the helpful hints. I’ve found a store with some canned goods. seems like green beans are more available than anything else. We’ll all get through this but not without a bit of aggravation. I have high hopes for this chloroquine drug, they have been touting. I should be good for disinfectants as I have plenty of alcohol, mostly bourbon. Enough of that and I won’t care about dinner.

@Jaxk I prefer the barley and hops liquid salads.

@seawulf575: I’ve been to my Costco a bunch of times over the past two weeks and every time they are fully stocked with meat, cheese, frozen food, prepared food, produce, baked goods, staples like eggs and milk. Yesterday they only had one type of egg (brown organic) but they’re eggs.

2 supermarkets I have been to, were out of soap. Still plenty of shampoo, though, which works just as well.

@ragingloli: I always figure dish detergent can double for hand soap, too, and is usually cheaper than shampoo.

@jca2 Just don’t put dish soap in a dishwasher. I found out the hard way.

Our local grocery stores are now limiting how much you can buy of any item. Now you’re only allowed to buy 1 pack of TP, 1 carton of eggs, 1 loaf of bread, etc. I think they will still allow you to buy more than 1 bottle of the sodas. Not sure what else as that’s all I’ve heard through the grapevine