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Virus shortages and your impressions.


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Since I've been self-unemployed, I started to enjoy cooking again. Aside from the regular shortages of paper goods, yesterday I discovered that America has run out of garlic...yes, Allium Sativum is in short supply, meaning we couldn't buy it at two supermarkets. My Salmoriglio was ruined. Unbeknownst to me, most of the garlic is supplied to the world by the Chinese conglomerates using prisoner labor, and it's not what you might call an OSHA-compliant process.

Apparently the garlic trade wars have been raging for decades, and we had no knowledge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_production_in_China#cite_note-FT2018-11

"Prison labour is common in China, where the law states that prisoners able to work must do so — a system known as “reform through labour”. China is home to around 2.3m prisoners and pre-trial detainees, according to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, giving it the world’s second-largest prison population after the US

The hours are long, and "Former prisoners say the pungent acids in the garlic can melt detainees’ fingernails, exposing stinging flesh. Those who can no longer use their hands bite off the garlic skins with their teeth."

Once I finally get a hold of a bulb, I'll start planting my own. 

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Will post some more photos that I've been snapping.

 

 

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Been awaré of the garlic shortage problems for some time. Hope that our regular suppliers in southern France keep our stocks available. They keep producing their ëxcellent pink colored stuff near Lautrec (as in Toulouse Lautrec). Need to keep our health in these troubled times....

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1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

Plenty in my local Turkish supermarket too.

The place has maintained stocks of a broad range of fresh fruit and vegetables, many not ordinarily available in high street supermarkets, throughout. One of the many advantages of North London living.

We remain very well stocked in fresh fruit and veg out here and I’ve noticed no significant shortages. The plunder of the supermarket shelves must have been mainly a London/SE thing.

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This is the beginning of garlic harvest season, at least for California so it's not unusual to see shortages of last year's crop at this time.  What is typically more common is green garlic, i.e. young garlic before the bulbs begin forming.  It could very well end up being absent from markets as farm workers are not plentiful at ths time and farmer's markets will be difficult with the physical distancing if not unlawful.  I'm down to a couple of cloves.

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It looks like the tp scare is over for now, and I'm also seeing the return of pasta, rice and canned goods to the shelves.  This weekend there was a bit of a run on flour and other baking supplies, though you could still get milk and eggs.  In Canada and US, the supply chain issues (and the fact that schools aren't purchasing milk) is leading to quite a bit of milk being thrown out and poured into the sewers.  Very sad and wasteful.

I've read, though can't vouch for it, that hair dye and trimmers and such are the latest craze, as people are starting to try going the home 'do route.

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I had to go back to work this morning, so we hit the supermarket all the way on other side of our vast state, which is a 35 minute drive. Garlic is plentiful there, both the USA product [at least the sticker said so], and Chinese. The Chinese one was 5 bulbs for $2.29, packaged in tidy plastic netted socks, the Americano was $1 per bulb. There was also an organic variant, three small bulbs per box, but it didn't look great, so we took a few bulbs of the alleged US garlic.  There was also the pickled, minced variety in jars below, but that was of no interest, and will be the last resort, if the need arises..

So it appears there are purveyors  that have ran out [like the two my wife hit yesterday, and was told they haven't seen a clove in a week], while others, some distance away, are stocked up. 

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I took a cruise around the market, and some items, like frozen vegetables, cleaning products, paper goods, fish, some meats, are all but gone. The kid at the fish counter said they are going to only be selling the pre-packaged portions on a smaller scale. The fish section is gone, for now.

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Looks like pork butts have been cleaned up. Could be Easter. Could be the 89c/lb. deal.

There's PLENTY of other meat, and meat-containing products on the shelves.

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My mother in law, who literally missed the last plane to Europe, and is stuck with us for who knows how long, which is pretty nice, planted some sprouted cloves of garlic that she found in the pantry. Apparently this stuff grows anywhere. We shall see.

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58 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

My mother in law, who literally missed the last plane to Europe, and is stuck with us for who knows how long, which is pretty nice, planted some sprouted cloves of garlic that she found in the pantry. Apparently this stuff grows anywhere. We shall see.

IMG_6219

 

 

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Arizona added barber shops to the non-essential list effective April 4th at 5pm. I was in the chair that morning and had my barber take everything down extra short.

Still see short or no stock on items such as TP and paper towels, but we are not running short at the office or home. PPE equipment/supplies is a major cluster fuck though. We are having trouble with all kinds of stuff including safety glasses.

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March 7 here so only a week later than usual. She must not have taken as much off because it feels like I am about three weeks past due.

I was thinking how long to catch up when they can work again. If everyone was on a monthly schedule, then one month to get everyone, more or less, right?

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Lucky you, Chris. our gov shut the barber shops, along with the rest of the "close contact" businesses 3 weeks ago. The temples and the back of the head shouldn't be a problem for a trimmer. Otoh, I'm grooming my nose hair to prevent the inhalation of the virus. :)

Some more photos from yesterday's trip to the market.

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THE HUNTING DAD

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BEAUTY STARTS IN THE SHOWER

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2/$6

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DUE TO TIGHT SUPPLY, LIMIT 2 PER CUSTOMER

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LIMITED EDITION

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BONES & RAWHIDE, the good old days.

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The most stocked isle in the store.

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He looked lonely, so I took him home to my daughter. 

 

 

 

 

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Wow!  The stores up here are nothing like that (now).  The lines to get in are pretty long, but shelves looks pretty much back to normal.  I think in Toronto people have calmed down and aren't hoarding any longer. 

Ironically there could be some significant food shortages down the road, since Canada does import a lot of food, and also relies largely on temporary workers (most of whom won't be getting across the border) for harvesting the domestic crops.  And where there is harvesting (by hand) it has to be done much slower as people need to space out.  I've read the UK could also be in significant trouble later on.  Hopefully not, as growers adjust, but food prices this fall will almost certainly be higher.

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D, that shit is pretty hardcore. Most of the grocery stores I go to in Phoenix have been able to level food stock back pretty good. Some canned good, frozen veggies and pasta are still in high demand but it's mainly paper products and home cleaning supplies that are still scarce.

I'm still holding off my return to NY for at least another 30-45 days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Garlic is BACK! It's everywhere. In addition to the Chinese and American homegrown, now I see garlic from Argentina, Chile and Spain.  

What's missing is Dry Yeast and All-purpose baking four. Both do pop up from time to time, but for the most part those two items are gon.

I went as far as to order both from Amazon -

Saf-Instant Yeast, 1 Pound Pouch $20

Ceresota Unbleached Forever All Purpose Flour 25 lb bag $54

One pound bag of yeast would last me 20 years, and the 25 lbs of flour...I must've been stoned and/or desperate when I placed the order, so I canceled it.

 

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