[Tech1] Panic buying

[Alan Taylor]

My wife seems to believe that the sell by date on packages is there as a trigger so that she can buy that item at a reduced price once there is a yellow sticker on it. Our Waitrose often offers particularly generous reductions compared to other shops.  She is drawn towards things that she wouldn't normally buy, but might be interested in trying.  The supermarket deli counter stocks a changing range of cheeses and cold meats which eventually get sold off at reduced prices, giving us an excuse to try unfamiliar varieties without breaking the bank.  A few days after Valentines Day, our local M&S was trying to get rid of dozens of packs of Coquilles St Jacques at 90p for two.  She bought four packs.  We pigged out on them for lunch and dinner that day as two of them each seemed like a reasonable portion. 

Note that for factory produced products, the sell by date can be quite different from the best before or use by date, so there shouldn't be any food safety issues when buying on the final day of the sell by date if you use them promptly.

Alan Taylor



On 31 Mar 2020, at 31 Mar . 13:52, Mike Giles <mibridge at mac.com> wrote:

> I have long been of the opinion that the Best Before and Use By dates have two cynical purposes - one being to get you to eat more than you need, so as not to waste it, but requiring you to shop again to restock sooner than would have been necessary, whilst the other is to prevent any risk of prosecution if something does go off and causes a tummy bug. With the latter in mind, they must always choose a date which gives plenty of leeway for error on their part and my wife and I often ‘discuss’ the merits of consuming something which may have deteriorated in quality, but is still perfectly edible - she usually allows me to indulge in these delicacies, whilst choosing newer stuff for herself. I hasten to add that I don’t tend to suffer from tummy bugs (touch wood) but occasionally a good clear-out can be quite beneficial, and I’m not referring to the garage!
> 
> Mike G
> 
>> On 31 Mar 2020, at 11:52, Alan Taylor via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> Don't believe all you see, especially in Facebook groups.  I often see photographs which purport to be of shocking situations in local shops, but are clearly not from our local branch.  It was easy to dismiss the one claiming to show empty shelves in the Banbury Lidl ( Clue, there is no LIdl in Banbury ). There were photographs claiming to show empty shelves in our Aldi, but the picture showed a booze section behind it, while in our branch, the booze section is at the opposite end.  Similarly a picture of a tightly packed queue in our local Tesco looked convincing until somebody pointed out that the floor tiles were totally wrong for our branch and the balcony around the mezzanine floor should have been visible if that shot were taken in our branch.  Obviously there are real shortages and real concerns, but some photographs do tend to get used out of context in order to make a point.  If you do an image search on a Facebook picture, you might well find that it has been used in multiple places and possibly first published months ago.  I have no doubt that food is being wasted on a massive scale, but I wouldn't put much faith in a photograph on a Facebook group. 
>> 
>> I felt from the outset that panic buying was likely to be a temporary phenomenon for two reasons.  
>> 
>> One is that most homes only have a limited amount of storage for perishable goods.  The second reason being that by now, people will have received their credit card bills for all that panic buying and might be reluctant to do it again, especially if their future income is likely to diminish or dry up altogether.
>> 
>> My wife and I had been in Germany for the Cologne Carnival near the end of February and when we got back to the UK in March, panic buying was already happening on a huge scale, but we didn't need to go down that route.  My wife is originally from East Germany and has always insisted on keeping a well stocked larder, therefore our normal level of supplies has comfortably seen us through the recent shortages and we only need to routinely restock as stuff get used up. 
>> 
>> We always make our own bread and although flour is currently scarce in shops, our normal stock of flour is keeping us going and we don't need commercial yeast because we made our own sourdough starter and have been using it for years.  Part of the process of using sourdough is that you have to feed the starter each day with a little bit of flour and water.  If you don't use the starter to make bread, you have to throw some of it away because it keeps growing.  We've given surplus starter to neighbours so that they can make bread too and we still have enough left over starter to make sourdough waffles, pancakes and English muffins, which are delicious ways to use up what might otherwise be a waste product.
>> 
>> It's a shame that people don't seem to be either able or willing to make good use of stuff they buy and let it go to waste.  Even vegetables which look past their best and might have been destined for the compost heap can make a lovely soup. This is all the more sad when so many people are having to stay at home and they can't use their usual excuse of being too busy to have time to cook.
>> 
>> Alan Taylor
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 31 Mar 2020, at 31 Mar . 10:18, Nick Ware via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Interesting to note in the News this morning that Supermarkets recorded a best ever surge in sales of fruit and vegetables this month.
>>> Meanwhile, on the local Moan ‘n Groan Facebook group (you’d love it!) there are pictures posted by the local dustmen of dustbins overflowing with unopened loaves of bread and vegetables, mostly still perfectly good, but beyond their use-by date.
>>> It seems that lowlife exists at all levels of society.
>>> Nick.
>>> Sent from my iPad mini 5
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