We are well stocked so no real great need at this time. I do miss our favorite NYStrip/shell. Found this local farm being curious. Not familiar with them at all. Finding many are out of stock of many of their steaks.

This is a decent price at 18.50 a pound. (out of stock). I always get two 1.5 inch NYStrips at the local butcher. I trim at home on my added blue lines and use the trimmings for burgers added to chuck and a chunk of brisket or short rib. Ground at home.

2 NYStrips make three steak meals at about 4-5 ounce servings. Nice fat cubes that are easy to get a good sear med-rare.

I don't shop....but judging by the store ads and what people who do shop for me find, I think there is lots of meat here.

I noticed rationing three weeks ago, but not lately, and that was for beef, which I have not bought this year. I did notice a lack of chicken thighs, and so I had to buy breasts instead, or else a whole chicken.

I do miss the one-on-one with the butcher, fish monger, cheese monger. Getting three 1/4 pounds of our favorite cheeses, then tasting slices to add another new one. Small amounts of three different seafood choices for a fish stew as well as a couple Cod heads for stock. (super cheap). Cutting out the cheeks and tongues at home for an appetizer delicacy. Seeing in person the marbling of the steak and getting the thickness we like.

I should be thankful for our local farm share. We have been on the fence about it for some time. I'd forgotten they asked us mid-march to postpone delivery since overwhelmed with new subscribers. Just received a few days ago after suspending for nearly three months. I should embrace similar to Plllog's 'fun with flour', like 'fun with beef!' but have been less than enthusiastic until the short ribs a few days ago....oh so excellent. (bavette, denver, etc) ? ....time to have some fun. 🙄

I buy organic meat at the food co-op here and it's all locally sourced except for Mary's chickens out of CA. There's been no change in availability of either. Pork and lamb also as plentiful as every cut of beef. I have never paid attention to the price (because I'm lucky I don't have to) but buy so little meat that it is a small part of my food expenditures - so I can't say about price changes.

I had Instacart deliver to DD’s house from Costco for me a couple of weeks ago. No whole tenderloins of any sort. I would have accepted peeled, unpeeled, choice, or prime. The shopper, instead, got me a couple of packages of “filets.” Out of each pack, there were 2, maybe 3 cuts, that I would call a filet. The rest was random hunks of meat. I was able to get ground beef and BSLS chicken breasts. And a package of pork ribs containing 3 racks. And 2 chuck roasts.

My favorite short ribs are spice rubbed and beer braised.

Fun with Beef would be fun!

Around here, after the first panic buying and before the mini-panic following the meatpacking news, available on the delivery apps there is plenty of chicken and chicken pieces and ground beef, organic/free range or pasture/grass fed, etc. There was a big run on chuck which just wasn't available for awhile, but is now. Steaks are available but expensive. Sirloin is variable. Ribs and shortribs were at a trickle but have become available. I think--rank speculation--there was such a demand for ground at the beginning that they were were grinding all the chuck, sirloin and shortribs. I don't buy pork other than pancetta packets and cooked bacon, which haven't been available recently since all the plant closures, but there's plenty of bacon both high and low end. Prices for all have been up. But I don't know what's actually in the stores.

Plllog, those short ribs were beer/wine braised and spice rubbed...the above the liquid tops spice rubbed. Just fantastic. One third liquid in a tight fitting enameled cast-iron. Lid on for an hour, then open pot low and slow. Nice caramelized crust formed on top. It became two meals not at all leftovers, a lunch sandwich, (I had a salad with rib beef), then a tomato soup/beef stock-ish lunch. Different again adding a parm rind from the freezer. And a fresh blendered tomato. 4 meals.

Using what we have on hand.

Cost might be another thread. We don't have a food budget at all. Just know by nature for years we don't spend at all what most do. A fast food dinner/lunch costs way more than a quality organic meal at home. Proven just by curiosity having a box of invoices downstairs from deliveries.

Roasting our own coffee, growing our own salads. Co-workers that stop at Starbucks, Dunkin', TimHortons, have spent our entire meal day by breakfast time. And we have no food budget. Being frugal at one level not wasteful, we can shop for everything we want without checking dollar amounts.

We were at Sam's Club today and saw prices and selection much better than we have seen in months. Steaks were only about a dollar a pound more than before the CV! I was very happy to see this because steaks were outrageous IMHO. I am in Ohio btw.

We were at Costco, Haggen Northwest Fresh, and Trader Joe's early this morning and saw no limits or shortages of anything. We came home with 2 half hams at Costco, package of filet mignon to divide into three dinners, 2 sockeye salmon filet that will make 3 or so meals, I've only refrigerated things and haven't broken down the packages yet. And, of course a roast chicken. Also from Northwest Fresh - beef cubed steaks (I'd wanted pork cubed), chuck eye steaks, family style package pork chops.

I bought rice, macaroni, cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables, other assorted things. The only thing I didn't find was 409. DH had said his refill bottle in the garage was feeling light and asked me to pick some up. I hadn't needed any yet this year and didn't realize one of the hard to find products. I checked Amazon, walmart and target online when I got home and didn't find any.

I've not noticed any new shortages, although the prices seem elevated. The organic and prime meets seem to be pretty similar. I have an old fashioned butcher at the specialty about a mile away where I can pick up some custom-cut charcuterie (guanciale, soprasetta, rosette de lyon, etc)., a wide range of prime meats, wild salmon, organic lamb and veg from their local farmers. The local co-op, and the chains Sprouts/WF/Costco seemed to be well stocked as well. I have not checked the farmer-direct stall at the nearby farmer's market, however.

We have plenty here, and the prices of steaks and roasts are similar to before the shut down, but ground beef is still about a dollar a pound higher than before.

The only item that I cannot find here is Clorox or Lysol wipes, those shelves are always empty in spite of the sign limiting purchase to one per customer.

I also saw a sign limiting eggs to 2 dozen per customer "due to high demand", but they were 47 cents a dozen, so the price hasn't gone up appreciably.

Annie

One place I shopped at back in May had limits on the amount of chicken or beef one could buy... but such restrictions were off last week.

I'm not typically shopping where I usually shop, so I am not sure about actual price changes. I already have a full freezer from farm shares, and some of my own chicken.

The one thing I still can't find is disinfectant.

Kind of off topic, but it is my primary source of beef.

Sleeve - I feared this was coming but I almost cried when I saw the signs this weekend.

I’ve got another not too far, but 22 minutes vs 12 minutes is enough difference to no longer be my daily shopping.

Oh no. Same signs at the flagship Harlem store. Bummer. Mine was about ten minutes. Now the closest is 30 away. Can't believe they had planned 300 stores across the country. It was such a good layout and much better than WholeFoods. When ours closed I had to hit three different markets to cover our monthly list. All 20-30 minutes away. In different directions.

Our favorite of all is Adams. Just four of those in the HundsonValley. The closest is 45 minutes. Would love to see that business model sweep the country.

I was at Costco yesterday. Plenty of meat, but they did have signs explaining the increase in pricing. Today, I went to my local meat market, and they seemed to be well-stocked. eta I'm in Chicago.

We have restaurant in town that used to prepare the most fabulous Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Smoked Brisket. They’ve discontinued it. They said with the price of meat, they would have to charge $27 for it and they doubted anyone would pay that. It was good, but I am one of the ones who wouldn’t pay $27. That is more than double its usual cost!

FOAS, what was it? The store I mean. Hard to mourn with no name...

Maybe they'll return in better times.

There were “X per customer” signs and prices for meat rose noticeably - but that was about a month ago. I go to the neighborhood Whole Foods about weekly, and the meat supply and selection seems about as it ever was.

plllog - Fairway Market. Outwardly expanding from NYC, but apparently made mistakes along the way. Their slogan is “like no other market” and I agree. Like SD said, no single store around here will replace it.

The problems started back in 2007.

"There are several major causes of Fairway’s bankruptcy, but the main reason lies in the owners’ decision to sell a majority stake to a private equity firm with little experience in the specialty grocery store industry. Once control was taken away, the private equity owners piled on insurmountable amounts of debt and pursued a growth-at-all-costs strategy...."

Article link, HERE

My local Fairway closed last September. Short life of just 6-7 years. I still get daily text messages. Wednesday, 10$ off 50. Yesterday, 3 for $1 avocados, this morning 5.99lb live lobster, 10$ off 50, and 1.99 haagen daz.

Back in the day, the 90's, Fairway would be a place to take out-of-town guests.

If we were close enough for delivery I would be all over some lobster.

I love local raised, grass fed meats and poultry but I hesitated to place my large orders as I wasn't sure how our business would do so I conserved. I found and have been using Butcher Box for most of my meats. I get a small custom box every two weeks. I have been very happy with the quality and value. I have made a few trips to my favorite local butcher shop during off hours but the prices have doubled and I am feeding 6 so.... On the plus side, Maine lobster prices are way down and I can buy right off the boat and support local fishermen. I have been eating lobster rolls and lobstrer bisque frequently. Yum!

There have been some great sales on pork and chicken in my area, but other meats are too expensive or scarce. I did hit a great sale on ground beef yesterday at $1.89 a lb., limit two. I figured I'd at least be able to pick up two. Lo and behold, it was packaged in three pound packages so I got two packages. That was at Meijers. Kroger and JayC have been having half pork tenderloins, whole or cut and cubed for .99 a pound, limit two per day. My freezer is becoming well stocked. Would like to get some beef roasts, but won't until the price goes down.

Madonna

Good to know you like ButcherBox moosemac. I looked at them last year but went with the local share. Butcher is full now so that's good seeing more supporting smaller farms. A wait list for new members. Our local share is full as well.

I like seeing limits on the lower priced proteins. Feeding a larger family especially teens can get expensive. Fortunately most of them are happy with burgers, spaghetti, Mac-n-cheese, lasagna. We put so much veg in my lasagna that I easily fooled my nieces and nephews when they were young.

I'll get live lobster eventually. A local market I did not care for before covid has them. On the insta-cart list I've not needed to use yet but now have delivery slots if need be. Crazy I still can't get FreshDirect at all. But they supply NYC and they need it more than we do.

We also are well stocked for now but could use some nose tissue. And a few pantry staples. Every few days I have a seasonal allergy sneezing fit. Using some retired cotton napkins and rather liking it. Softer and less dusty lint that tissue has. Easily added to the wash load.

On a side note, I noticed today that a number of prices @ Aldi have jumped by $1 or so...

Availability of meat is hit or miss and now that tourists are here it's worse. Even in normal summers, sections of grocery shelves look like locusts descended. We're retired, a household of two and at our age we don't eat a lot. We're used to cooking once, eating twice and freezing some for the future. At this point, we get excited about finding cleaning and paper products lol. Locally caught seafood and shellfish prices are lower than normal, though, because restaurants have been closed and still aren't operating full-tilt. So we've been enjoying fruits de mer.

SD - Thought you’d appreciate this. I brought home some nostalgia. Wish more were available to make counter bar stools, but this was the only large branded one left. If you can’t tell, I’m seriously mourning.

It's not a sign of true shortage, but both the beef and the chicken I’d ordered were unavailable, (no replacement because I don't trust them to choose).

Aw, foas, a Fairway memento. DH is not so sentimental seeing first hand the fall of our local. So good at one time a few years ago. We were known by name, then the great employees left after the first 'chapter 11'. 2016?.

I also have a problem with others choosing plllog. I so miss my relationship with a good butcher.

Just tippy-toeing into insta-cart but at the moment but can't go there. It was backed up for a few months but now have slots all day. My freezer is fine for now. Many choices with our local meat farm share. My freezer has many choices.

Veg drawer is better than before covid now. Garden starting to provide, Misfits helps....

We are spending so much less on quality food meals it is shocking.

I'm spending more, but that includes delivery fees, tips and food bank mirrors (there's one (optional) with my farm box deliveries)). Instacart started good, went through some not so good growing pains, and has improved again. I ordered two limes and a bag of key limes this week, and the shopper brought me two limes and a bag of limes. Oy. Instacart gave a refund, no problem, but I have to wonder about the person who didn't stop to figure out why two different versions of limes. No key lime cake for us! They figured out the difference between Italian parsley and curlyleaf (my parsley plant is not liking the heat). There are two other stores which might have my heirloom chicken. The butcher does curbside, I think, but I haven't wanted to go there.

Was out earlier last week, and the store had a goodly stock of various meats. Some stuff was more expensive than usual, but most of the popular things for the Fourth were on sale prices on par with recent years.

I went to the store today and the aisle of paper products was fully stocked, including Kleenex, paper towels and toilet paper. I bought two pork loins to smoke for Canadian bacon for $1.49 a pound at a small local "meat market", but the price of ground beef is still up at $2.89. Flour is back on the shelves, even hand sanitizer is there although it's $3.99 now for a small bottle that used to be $1.00.

The only empty shelves were Lysol/Clorox type disinfectants, ramen noodles, white rice and Mother's favorite, Banquet turkey pot pies. And, for whatever reason, caffeine free Diet Coke.

In other news, I see the local WalMart has decided to start enforcing the mask requirement. I seldom go there anyway but they were terrible, I don't think any of their customers ever wore masks. The single time I stopped to buy something unavailable anywhere else, at least 90% of the customers did not wear masks. Meijer is right next door and at least 90% of their customers do wear masks so when I make a rare stop for groceries, I go there. Aldi is across the street, I stopped there for the pinto beans that were not available at Meijer. Every single person in there had a mask on, both workers and customers. Our governor has mandated mask wearing in public, but since there is no enforcement or punishment, some people just ignore it.

Annie