Meat Shortages and Grocery Delivery
Meat Shortages and Grocery Delivery
Choices will change due to meat shortages, Improved time frames for food delivery
Whole Chicken, Split Chicken, Any Chicken! Meat shortages during COVID-19
Considering the bariatric diet prioritizes lean protein sources, the reality of meat options changing can certainly prove to be a conundrum.
Certainly every area will be impacted differently and what I see in my store may differ, for better or worse, compared to your options. Feel free to comment on this blog post with what you are seeing in your area!
What I have read to date (because these things change fast) is that the supply of the food itself is not impacted as much as the options we will have in the cuts and packages of meat. It’s certainly a time for flexibility in our meal planning.
I have already noticed packages of split chicken breasts that have not been there before. As packing plants work with fewer workers or have shut down temporarily altogether and reopened with social distancing slowing down their usual production, they will being to offer meat will less prep when it comes to cutting.
We will likely start seeing more whole chicken breast or split chicken instead of separated breast, thighs, wings and so forth.
Update: Last week there was plenty of split chicken breasts at Aldi, this week there is none but plenty of whole chickens.
By the way, here is a great video tutorial for cutting apart a whole chicken breast.
Another update: my local grocery store was fully stocked on meat products and had no limits on purchases but my sister said the same chain of grocery store in here area did have limits. Ask around to see if other locations seem to be better options for your shopping.
What are you seeing?? Feel free to share in the comments what is going on in your area.
Grocery Delivery Adapting to the Times
I have been a long-time InstaCart shopper. Since they came around I asked for the gift of membership for Christmas because shopping with young kids is just not my favorite!
Before it became a very in-demand service I would tell people Aldi being delivered to my door step was my love language. Ha! As things unfolded in front of us and the delivery times were pushed out for days I decided to wear my mask and do my grocery shopping for my family so I could leave InstaCart for high risk families.
As the weeks have gone on, I started to notice InstaCart getting faster and faster. I imagine those in need of work signed up to become shoppers and instead my tune has changed to wanting to support them.
Now my InstaCart deliveries are within 2 hours of my order.
Honestly, it’s only become faster. Perhaps InstaCart wasn’t prepared for this (who was??) but they have recovered very much so.
I know the delivery zones don’t get out to everyone but I also know families who have the groceries delivered to one household and then they split it up from there.
My biggest tip for online shopping is to keep your phone on hand for the real time chat in case the shopper is letting you know something is out and asking what you would like instead. Especially during this time of unknown with meat shortages and changes in availability.
I’ve also had a 4 year old tell me she wants apples and I can send a message to have them add it while they are there. I do like to tip our shopper well because it is no longer just about the convenience, it’s now about the risk they are taking on to get food for my family. Bless them.
Things are changing again and again
There are so many things changing and food and groceries are just one of the many things. It helps to talk it out (I think) to hear what others are doing, saying and thinking when it comes to getting food, eating healthy and staying safe.
We have a local sandwich shop that is selling meat by the pound that you can order online and have a curbside pickup. Our local library is going to start allowing you to place books on hold and pick them up. This could be food related (cookbooks) or a tactic to avoiding snacking by having a good book in your hands.
Feel free to share what trends and changes you are hearing and seeing. So much is new for all of us!
All my best,
Steph 🍓
I live in the San Francisco Bay area and am finding some grocery stores are limiting meat/chicken/pork and others are completely sold out. Our Costco last week had no chicken or pork to purchase – just beef was available. I am finding more fish available to customers – so this is the route I am venturing. My husband is vegetarian – so I have always cooked lots of vegetarian dishes with tempeh/tofu. I believe with COVID-19 pandemic in all of our lives – we need to become creative and flexible cooks with the ingredients we have available to us. I am trying to turn this into a positive experience and “let go” of the negative.
Re: Instacart (I tried several times but like you Steph – decided to go to the store since there was such long wait times. Also, many times the shopper would text me that the store was out of stock on many items. It was just easier to mask up and go to the store myself. I arrive at the grocery store as soon as the doors open once every two weeks. Very few folks are wanting to shop at 6am – so I am finding this to be the right time for shopping with my list.
SO good to know! Thank you for such a great update on your experience in your area. I find it so fascinating and agree it helps to talk it out to stay creative and flexible! I would do the same thing and shop early if I were in your shoes.
Here in my area of Michigan, most grocery stores are limiting shoppers to 2 packages each of different meats per person. This has been going on for awhile. I’ve noticed some price changes but not that bad. Yesterday when i was at Aldi’s they had tons of salmon but no beef and only a few packages of chicken. I have been trying a lot of new recipes. I did check out Sam’s to order and pick up but there weren’t any days to pick up left, so i guess I will wait till I go there..