Weird things you never thought would be scarce due to pandemic

[Mouse girl]

I live in los angeles. Harder and harder to get anything. I had water delivered in those reusable big bottles and now they will only give out two to last a month or two weeks? Changes everyday but they said they can deliver some bottled water, so yeah! I can't drink out of the pipes here, super rusty.

I saw that the cat treats and litter I get were no longer around online. And I was chatting to this lovely woman in Florida where they aren't sheltering in place yet and she said, she couldn't find a dog leash anywhere. Her dog leash broke and she couldn't get one online except perhaps in May. We were laughing at why exactly are dog leashes sold out? They didn't have them in the stores either.

I was surprised at the cat litter but I guess just everyone in the US is having deliveries so they can't handle all the requests. It does spike up my anxiety when I see that yet another thing is not available and we are only two weeks in, what's going to happen in two months? But, I guess we just adjust.

I do have a back yard that is a bit wild, so I thought, well, when I run out of cat litter, I will just gather up leaves and stuff and put it in the kitties boxes. hehe.....we have construction going on all around here so the cats don't feel that safe going outside with all the noise and strange voices in their yard.

 

[andyguitar]

Some of the things that dissapeared from the shops here in the UK are: Peanut butter, cat litter, peppers and blackcurrant jam.

 

[Seadragon]

Crisps and most cereals disappeared in our local supermarket a few weeks ago but now they are back, the shelves are crammed full of them and no-one is buying any

No bin bags or food caddy bags or food storage/sandwich bags in general.

 

[Zebra]

Hi, @Mouse girl

Thanks for starting a fun, non scary topic related to the pandemic.

The lack of dog leashes is a real head scratcher!

Grocery stores here are completely sold out of gluten-free pasta.

Meanwhile, the ENTIRE section of whole wheat pasta is fully stocked -- any cut of pasta you want.

I find this amusing, because I live in an area where it is en vogue to be gluten-free, (and preferably vegan, too) regardless if one actually has true gluten intolerance or not.

I realize this is not funny to people with actual celiac disease, like my sister, who would very much like to have gluten-free items in her cupboard again.

Look forward to hearing about other unusual items that are scarce!

Z

 

[Wally]

Where I live, yeast used for baking is as scarce as face masks and hand sanitizer.

Flour is still available, but no yeast.

I think an investigation needs to be undertaken to figure out where all the yeast has gone.

Has bread making become a new national past time or perhaps it is the brewing of liquid refreshment that has depleted the yeast supplies?

Just in case you don’t believe me that I really, really need to find some yeast to make some *%#! bread. Then you simply don’t understand what is the no. 1 stockpiled item here in the U.S. (not ) and why it is imperative that I find some yeast for my coronavirus baking projects.

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

I think an investigation needs to be undertaken to figure out where all the yeast has gone.

It's got to be imported.

Lesaffre

Lesaffre is a French yeast manufacturer, and the world's largest producer.

 

[Celandine]

Yeast is scarce here in the UK, as well. Luckily it only takes a few days to get a sourdough starter up and running.That's if you can find flour...

 

[ellie84]

In Italy: flour and yeast. Apparently everyone is baking at home now and you know how much we love our carbohydrates here. They don't know what to do at home I wish I had the energy to bake something.
About dog leashes: here there is a joke about people going out with dogs multiple times per day, just for the sake of going out. Maybe they want to do that and are concerned that the leashes will wear out.

 

[valentinelynx]

I've developed a thing for brown sugar cinnamon-flavor Kellog's Pop Tarts (real wholesome, I know). They're on backorder! I guess they're other people's favorite comfort food, too. Other flavors are readily available, but I don't want them!

 

[Wishful]

Last time I was shopping (weeks ago), I amused myself by noticing what items had been bought out. I could understand milk powder and rolled oats and pasta being bought up as emergency food. What surprised me was that the Jello pudding mixes were cleaned out. Is pudding such a big part of people's diets? Did they expect pudding mix to be unavailable, but fresh milk to remain available?

Bemused.

 

[andyguitar]

Is pudding such a big part of people's diets?

Comfort food I expect.

 

[Wishful]

Comfort food I expect.

I think it's more a case of herd panic. Someone saw someone else buying a bunch of boxes, thought "They must know something!" and grabbed a bunch for themselves, which panicked more people. I think that applies to most of the things cleared out.

For anyone involved with food banks, when the Covid panic is over, there's going to be a lot of food that people bought 'just in case' that they are unlikely to eat when their regular food is available again. It might as well be donated to the food bank rather than sit on shelves until mice eat them or they become inedible. A suitable PR campaign might get some donations of that.

I expect a big waste of food globally.

 

[Sarahloudobby]

Hair dye in U.K. I assume because people that normally go to the hairdressers are dyeing theirs at home now?

 

[maple]

I am so in need of a haircut that I feel like going to a pet groomer- but no, they are closed too!

 

[Sarahloudobby]

Lol! I cut my own fringe luckily. But I always dye my hair myself so I was slightly annoyed that everyone is now doing it but managed to buy some on eBay. Compared to everything that’s going on it’s not a big problem to have x

 

[Wishful]

You could consider this an opportunity to enjoy ignoring your appearance. Alternatively, it's an opportunity to experiment with appearance, knowing that no one will see your mistakes.

 

[Seadragon]

I am so in need of a haircut that I feel like going to a pet groomer- but no, they are closed too!

 

[Mouse girl]

Yeast? That is a weird one. I wouldn't even know where to find that in the store. Don't know of ANYONE who makes their own bread. Personally, I despise cooking. lol I really do. Can't stand it, can't stand to even make salad. Any food prep drives me nuts. I think it's a lucky thing to enjoy cooking. I enjoy eating yummy food, but not making it!

 

[Wally]

(See, Post/Reply No. 5.)

Apparently, Phoenix Rising posts are giving news outlets topics to write about. (Just kidding). This article was published today about all the missing “yeast”.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddr...l-the-yeast-is-sold-out-right-now/ar-BB11LnAn

Here's Why All the Yeast Is Sold Out Right Now​

Sarah James, Bon Appétit editor and former Food52 staff writer, tweeted earlier this week about a noticeable lack of yeast in stores, as did food writer Aaron Hutcherson, who also noted an absence of flour.

At the time of this article’s publication, the popular Northeast grocery delivery service FreshDirect was completely out of dry active and instant yeast, as well as all-purpose, whole-wheat, and bread flour.

After reaching out to friends in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Georgia, who noticed either a lack of or significantly reduced amounts of these items (the Connecticut store was limiting shoppers to two bags of flour), it’s clear that this is not just affecting New York City bakers. While Hutcherson did end up locating both yeast and flour later in the week, the mere fact that suppliers were even low is unprecedented. . . .

Though the New York Times reported last week that there has been no major disruptions to the American food supply chain, consumers have been stockpiling. This fear-induced behavior has created an environment where grocery stores—which are typically stocked with enough items for daily, not multi-weekly, need—cannot keep up with demand. . . .

While at this point we can hopefully assume that a couple weeks from now the stores will have restocked on these dry goods, one question consumers have been asking is: What do I do if I don't have any right now?

“There has honestly never been a better time to build your own sourdough starter,” NYC-based pastry chef Zoe Kanan told me in an email. Requiring just flour, water, and time, sourdough starter relies on wild yeast naturally present in flour and in the air of your home. As the starter ferments, it negates the need for a packet of yeast to make a loaf of bread. “I like thinking about the bacteria and yeast in my apartment's environment which colonize my starter's mixture,” added Kanan. “In this moment when the entire world is at war with something microscopic, lactobacillus are definitely the good guys.” . . ,

Guess all those bananas being stored in freezers all over the country will just need to be stored a little longer until yeast finally returns to grocery stores shelves and families will just have to tough it out and find other hiding places when playing “hide and seek”.

(Edit - since no Baker’s of banana bread have piped up yet, I thought I would just add that banana bread does not actually need “store bought yeast”. Most recipes for this type of bread are made with baking soda. But I could not find a nice comedy video about bread products and yeast, so I selected banana bread as my substitute for comedic relief. Sshh ... please keep this information to yourselves because I really am not in the mood to be baking up any banana bread right now - I am having too much fun watching mindless Youtube videos..)

 

[Mouse girl]

hehe......I think when this is over, hopefully at some point, many people will continue to shop like world ending preppers. And might cause more hoarding in general. I used to buy such a small amount of food since I was used to being so poor, I could only get what was needed for short times and the thought of wasted food was just horrible to me since I grew up hungry much of the time. I can see myself wanting to see loads of food in the fridge now.