I cannot find "after shower" spray (the shower stall, not me!) So I plan on making some, via YouTube, using vinegar, Dawn, water and alcohol.

Tinned pet food too is a thing since a lot of it is canned in aluminum.

Beesneeds, I noticed that when I went to buy my pup & the grand dog some canned dog food for part of their Christmas present. I don't normally feed him canned food but dogs do seem to love the mystery meat so I have always indulged them at Christmas. I did find some but had to buy the uber expensive dog food because that is all there was on the shelf.

The can shortage isn't just aluminum cans, either. Most canned dog food is in steel cans. (The larger size, anyway, not the wee tins for little dogs.) Canned Alpo has been disappeared for months--I'm assuming because of the can shortage.

Geez - hadn't considered pet foods, since we haven't had one for a couple years now...

We have enough TP and face masks for a year. DH bought some can food yesterday without knowing the shortage. Now we need to buy some extra laundry and dishwasher detergent this weekend.

Carol, I've not had a problem buying dry kibble. Have been able to purchase the same preferred brand all along. It has been only the canned varieties that have become scarce.

Most of the things in this list don't affect me. I still do have a hard time finding sanitary wipes, and I want to use alcohol based ones, NOT bleach based ones. For one, I store them in the car (which is they are seriously most useful), and bleach based ones FREEZE and are thus rendered useless. I also like to use recycled material paper towels/TP, and although I sometimes now see Seventh Generation, their paper towels are shreddy bits of crud. My preferred brands are no longer find-able. I should probably pick up some more laundry detergent, though.

I should pick up more face masks. I had in advance a bunch here - bought for chicken coop cleanout activities. Seriously, you don't want THAT down your lungs! There'd been a great price then, so I had stocked up.

But as for the food? Haven't had a problem yet. I cook most things from scratch, and I have a small stockpile of Amy's Soups - of which I use approximately two cans a year. I understand they've had to discontinue a few flavors, but since I have six or seven cans of about three or four flavors left here, I am not concerned. If one or another ends up discontinued, I doubt they will discontinue all the ones I actually like. As long as something I like remains, I'm good.

The rest of the things on their list don't impact me at all. I don't drink soda, and I can make my own seltzer here. Indeed, food-wise, the only thing I had problems obtaining last spring was yeast.

Have to mention the worst thing, for me.

I SERIOUSLY MISS fresh seafood. No, there's not been a change up here in what is available, but the fact I can't drive back down to Connecticut to buy a wild and wonderful variety of seafood does bother me. Oh, I could - and quarantine for 10-14 days upon returning across my state border. I may consider this to be something I'll put up with in April, when the crawfish are running in a store or two back down there... (We get factory farmed shrimp and salmon here, and not much more, and this was the case prior to COVID, too.)

I am beginning to see some shortages here. Similar items to last year. My shopping habits have changed so I am not super aware. I try to have a back stock of staples. And I shop much less often...

For those who garden - seed is an issue. We have two local seed companies. Well there are more but two that I am familiar with... Stock is flying off the shelf. There are already limitations on home gardener orders.

I'm keeping a bigger stock of non-perishables on hand also due to the previous shortages. Fresh food is hit or miss still, although it does seem better since Christmas.

I'm also seeing some seeds already sold out. I was able to get everything I wanted but I had to go to multiple sources this year. Last year I purchased early so wasn't affected by that shortage.

We have citrus trees, and so that is not a concern either.

Off topic, since it does not deal with supply chain interruptions due to Covid, I am concerned about the shrinking bee populations and whether that might affect future supplies of items like fruit.

As part of their weekly message the dairy that I have been purchasing most of my food stuffs posted this. "In addition to these great items, we are seeing so fluctuations in the produce market, some items are becoming hard to find than normal." Only changes in the things I order is that rather than 4 items they have been reduced to 3 and some bakery items are listed as out of stock.

Some are saying "i don't use this or that", BUT I am keeping a supply of canned goods, pre-cooked rice, frozen veges on hand just in case.

Also, there may be a whole new bunch of people on board here that have never really cooked before and are needing to now days! They need help and guidance, maybe using a can of soup!

Something to think about.

Very true, nancyjane. During our utility power shutdowns in 2019, many people complained of losing all their refrigerator and freezer items. And of course, on the East Coast in 2020 it was a record-setting hurricane/storm season.

In both cases, consumers were advised to have at least 3-5 days of shelf-stable foods and 7-10 days of water, on hand at all times in case of emergency - quakes, fires, floods.

I was at the local grocery store yesterday and walmart today and I didn't notice any empty shelves. I don't know about the sanitizing cleaning wipes. I never used them to begin with or any antibacterial/antiviral soap or detergents . If I am working with raw meat on the counter I just use soapy bleach water. Other wise I just use soap and water to clean with. The only thing I usually can't get is hand wipes. Even before covid I kept them in the car and a small pack in my purse. So now I buy diaper wipes, open them up to dry out and pour alcohol into them till saturated. Works just as well.

Artemis, you get crawfish from Connecticut? How is that possible? Crawfish dont "run".

They are harvested in shallow waters and are not called "mud bugs" for no good reason.

Seafood is problematic unless you happen to live in an area along the coast where you can get it fresh.

I will only very rarely, rarely buy seafood because I can't get it fresh and what is sold frozen is likely to have come from somewhere in Asia or factory farmed in Venezuela. NO, thanks. If it is not fresh, I can easily pass on it.

Crawfish I only have when we return to New Orleans to visit family, if in season.

There are things I don't understand. There seems something very big is missing in the news regarding covid-19. We have read about the killing of millions and millions of minks in many countries because they have been infected by corona virus. We have read about there have been possible cases of minks infecting people, and other animals cross infections.

With covid-19 mutations being more infectious, shouldn't we be vaccinating all domesticated animals? What if all cows get infected?

Do something before the sky falls?

Or we all become vegetarians?

dcarch (A.K.A. Chicken Little)

I was going to add a comment about seeds after reading a report earlier, and I see that's been mentioned already.

And there was a news item recently about gorillas at a CA zoo found to be infected with COVID. It was thought to have been from the keepers. It truly is a plague.

Also FWIW, we used to catch crawdads in my aunt's backyard in WI. They're not just a southern thing, it seems.

fyi: We have crawdads in Colorado. ☺ We also have an indoor tilapia farm...and they farm alligators too.

and this is just the food arena ... quality lumber shortages are real too, as well as certain paints/craft supplies

Fur coats are flying off store racks too.

Wednesday Morning pretty much summed up my sentiments. Too much cr*p. All this "fast fashion" and the proliferation of all this junk and the associated consumerism is destroying our environment. Work to fix the throw-away mentality and that will go a long away to address climate change.

Also agree with Arcy that these articles are irresponsible -- they just encourage more hoarding. I am glad to see that stores (in my area, at least) have put limits on certain items.

I don't buy a lot of processed food, I prefer to cook using fresh ingredients, but I do have some items on hand like canned tomato products for cooking, tuna, etc. so I'm not affected much by any shortages (real or perceived). Except butter flavor Pam. Why was there a run on BFP? I spray down my popcorn with it. Won't buy any other brand. I pick up a couple cans if I see it on the shelf -- always have to have that on hand!

And toilet bowl cleaner? What was up with that? Did all the ding-a-lings give themselves TBC enemas to knock out COVID or something? Seriously folks -- if there's an Apocalypse the last thing I'm going to be concerned about is a clean toilet LOL!

Mxk3, I hear ya about the toilet bowl cleaner. There is slim pickens on the shelf last time I looked. Due to having a septic system at camp we used ECO toilet bowl cleaner. I gave up looking for it. We just use vinegar now.

It it wearied what went missing. I had a heck of a time finding a small hand held mixer. Of all places I found one at dollar general.

Mid/late March, large families with two working parents and 2-4 kids at home instead of school....much more bathroom action than usual. 😜. A large family quickly runs out of TP, yikes. We were home 24/7 after working 12-14hours a day and sometimes weekends.

Parents that don't cook much needed quick lunches. Long lines at fast food joints. Long lines at groceries so once in, the stock-up happened.

We don't use canned goods or prepared/processed foods but many rely on them. Especially food pantries. (I did purchase a few cans of tomato, and a case of 12 tuna cans, some water gallons, a case of plain seltzer, etc when we finally could get a delivery). ...When we get heavy rain storms, the water can get murky and clog or strain our filter system. Basic storm prep and loss of power we always prepare for.

Hopefully, like mentioned, some in the world, will gain some valuable lessons what we don't need. Not just food waste but overall household waste. (probably dumb wishful thinking).

I do know that friends/family/co-workers....some know how to cook but did not have the time, and some wanted to learn and are learning,... some grew up on farms and have the knowledge about gardens and farm life. First time in years with chickens and a garden. Win-win.

Two favorite popular seed companies went of-line for a couple weeks trying to catch up with orders. That means many are keeping up with last years first gardens....I learned from my grandfather. This crap year, 2020, may prove to have educational value .Like my childhood. If we can kill this virus. Less tragic suffering. Some of our youth will have learned something? Just being hopeful....

Some areas of the country, this one, ice, wind storms, tornados, snow will knock out the power or make it hazardous to reach a food source so I have always kept shelf stable food.

My problem with keeping shelf stable food is I think I need to hold on to it and the next thing I know it is waaaay out of date.

Don’t forget about hair dye shortage we had last year.

I like to buy some extras of non-perishables when on sale, so usually have a supply on hand.

"Best before ..." dated cookies are tasty for some time after the date. Here's my challenge: buy six boxes of cookies. Eat one box now, a second on the recommended date, note whether there seems to be a difference, then one of the remaining four after each of three, six, nine months and a year after that. I doubt whether you'll find any deteriorated beyond being edible.

Even things like milk, cream, yogurt and such will be good for a substantial period beyond their claimed "Best before" date when well cared for.

When our cookies got dry, prior to or during World War II, dad told us to put an apple core into the package and they freshened them up. We didn't have bananas, and these days a quarter peel will do an even better job. In those days, when we got an orange in our Christmas stocking, we considered it a treasure.

ole joyful

In my quest to stop with all the plastic packaging, I've already dialed down my consumption of a lot of that stuff. I've noticed the canned food shortages due to my switching from frozen in plastic bags. I've been seeking alternate sourcing. Already was switching to dried beans, now looking for some more unusual varieties to order online, since my supermarket selection is limited anyway. Can't use most commercial TP anymore due to skin sensitivity. Just sourced a tree-free, paper-packaged variety today. Working on the cleaning supplies issue. Hubs is a traditionalist in love with various "sprays", I like more home-made products or natural ones. The saddest thing for me, and this was pre pandemic, was seeing local food factories close. We had a fabulous bread bakery close, consolidation . . . On the flip side, we are drowning in cheap pork now due to a huge pork processing plant that went in. We also have a huge tomato greenhouse, lights up the whole night sky in our town. We eat a lot of vegetarian stuff, so the ups and downs of meat don't mean much to me. I wish I could find locally sourced flour . . . that would be comforting.

I've also noticed the lack of toilet bowl cleaner, and I don't know what that's all about, but I'll figure something out if it becomes an issue. I do have a couple of gallons of that heavy-duty cleaning bleach that can be pressed into service.

Of course I have hundreds of jars of canned food on my shelves, from beef and chicken to green beans and tomatoes, and I still have 25 pounds of wheat berries and an equal amount of corn for grinding so I'm set. I've given up my Diet Coke habit, and I just bought 15 pounds of green coffee beans, but I might need more of those!

My Mother, however, likes specific things, including Banquet Turkey Pot Pies and Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup, so I probably stock up on some of those.

I did notice a "shortage" of seeds, I had to go to three places on line today to get sweet corn, onion plants and golden beet seeds. I got a couple of messages that said shipping would be delayed 3 or 4 weeks, one that said orders were only taken on Tuesday and Wednesdays, one that said no orders were being taken at this time. Because I save most of my own seeds and don't plant until late May or early June it's not a big concern, but others may want to hurry if there's something specific they need as it may take a while to find specific items or have them shipped.

I'm going to do some of my own "predicting" and say that canning items like jars and lids are going to be in short supply, so that's another thing that you might want to consider looking for.

Annie

"I do have a couple of gallons of that heavy-duty cleaning bleach that can be pressed into service."

Bleach has a limited shelf life. It's best if used within 6-9 months from purchase and loses its effectiveness after that. Bleach has been pretty available in my area since the hording behaviors of last Spring quieted down. I wonder if that's also true in other parts of the country.

The "soap or detergent" part of toilet cleaners is less important than the bleach part.

quality lumber shortages are real too,

Yeh, but that isn't anything new. The problem of quality lumber predates Covid by decades.

No shortage of bleach here either, although it was in short supply in early spring. I bought 2 gallons at Lowe's on December 17, we had cattle slaughtered on the 18th. I'll raise a couple of dozen chickens for the freezer this spring too, so I knew I'd need "cleaning supplies". If I need to, though, I can use it instead of toilet bowl cleaner just as easily as I can use it to clean buckets, utensils, sinks and cutting surfaces and the brooding tanks and heating plates for raising baby chicks.

Annie

Food, cleaning supplies and other essentials are in good supply here. Other than the first week or so of this last shelter in place shelves seem to be well stocked. Yes, there may be less choice of brands but there is no shortage of needs. Huge difference from last year when shelves were empty.

There is a shortage of large appliances and some building materials. The more global the manufacturing and sourcing the more difficult for manufacturers. Not only do they have to retool their systems to reflect new products coming out this year but they have to source raw materials and parts from global vendors. So it may be summer before that industry gets back on it's feet to be able to serve the consumer with more availability and choice.

Seeds - I talked to my friend who works at a local seed company yesterday. Seed is flying off the shelf. She said she packed a thousand packets of something that is still on back order. At least some of the ‘out of stock’ messages is they haven’t had time to package it.

Lumber - there is a local contractor who also cleans chimneys. When he came to clean our chimneys he said he was straight out busy. And that construction materials had gone way up in cost - by several factors. Between people being home and taking on projects that have been on the list for years and out of staters who decided 2020 was the year to move to the wilds of Maine and need their homes upgraded he sees no end in sight. Those 2x6s in my woodshed are suddenly a lot more precious.

On the other hand my sister and I just bought a huge pallet of cherry for a very reasonable price. We weren’t sure how much waste there would be but so far the quality is very good. We cut wood up into smaller lengths so loss from twisting is much diminished.

Toilet paper is available but there are always gaps in the aisle. Cleaning products are funny. I try to minimize what I use. Even in the middle of the worst of spring I could find bleach - but a bottle lasts me quite a while. (Good to know about the shelf life)

Food - I feel like the array of products in general is going to shrink and change. My own preference is for less processed food but I have the time, resources and inclination to cook that way. Lack of familiar inexpensive convenient foods are a real hardship for many.

Fortunately, DH and I both cook. We don't eat much processed food except to keep rice pilaf mixes in our pantry. We do buy canned tomatoes. On my local FB garden forum, people are saying they are having a hard time ordering seeds for their vegetable gardens and not able to find canning supplies.

We shop for groceries about every 2 weeks at this point, and we go to the big Stop & Shop at 0600 when it's almost empty of people. I divide our grocery list in two and he goes to one end of the store and I go to the other. I do stock up on pasta, canned beans and salsa when they are on sale. I have always ordered hard to find ingredients from Amazon because the Boston Asian markets and Trader Joe's are too far away for any reasonable shopping.

I have been ordering foaming hand soap for our bathrooms on-line, I like pretty containers and nice scents. Haven't been able to buy bulk refills as before. One indulgence in these times. We have septic systems where we live, so single ply Scott bath tissue can be somewhat hard to find and we keep a supply a bit ahead of our immediate needs.

We're a bubble of two. With 2 Australian Shepherds. We get their food online from Chewy. It's a great company...

seagrass

HU-753479426 I don't know if you are interested in a little hack, but I use foaming soap in my bathroom. I have used the same foaming pump for years and use any kind of hand soap deluded in half with water. Apparently the container makes the foam and not kind of soap. The soap just has to be thinned down for it to work.

Spices. Our grocery stores shelves are empty of McCormick and other brands. Fortunately, I have access to Penzey's about 20 minutes away, and Costco sells a couple of the spices I use most, so I have been able to get what I need. Grocery stores, however, have been a bust when I just need something quick. I found info about some companies ramping up production to meet the need.

Function, I do the same thing with soap. Although lately, I'm just using it straight. I don't want it diluted and I feel like this method dilutes it.

Soap bubbles don't do much cleaning.

That's why they try their best to eliminate bubbles in dish washing and laundry detergents.

dcarch

Bluebell66 , yes it does dilute it. I guess it would affect the anti bacterial/viral soaps, but I don't use them in my home. It works for regular liquid hand soaps.

When Dawn Foaming was test marketed in this area one of their selling points was that most people use too much especially when they are cleaning only a few items. Although that is dish washing soap the same should be considered in the foaming hand soaps. Do you really need other than mentally a large blob of soap to wash your hands?

I agree foam uses less soap, making it go further.

I dilute liquid castile to use in my recycled foaming dispensers, and it lasts so much longer than un-foamed. It's supposed to be diluted anyway, and that makes it extra watery, it runs off your hands and gets wasted. Foam stays put.

And yes the article I shared isn't referring to the present, but the future. I'm always interested in economics reporting. There are so many moving parts that many people are unaware of.

I hear about something new on the list every day it seams. Most delayed products are about the supply chain for containers. Sometimes labeling. Bread yeast again. The brown containers for Fleischmann's. (nutritional yeast for a bit when non-bakers were buying it thinking it was for bread, 😂)

Educational hobby items, and outdoor/indoor activity toys....fish tanks and bicycles. Chicken incubators, sewing machines.

Seeds are hit and miss. I just need carrots and a few salad varieties. And a specific hot pepper I'm out of. Some suppliers I use have seed but keep shutting down for ordering being so backed up with minimal staff. A local CSA is doubling their gardens this season. That might be common nationwide. That is a good thing. More local support.

The only thing that I have consistently seen a shortage of, since last spring (excluding TP), is Kroger brand frozen vegetables. They seem to be out of many varieties, more often than not, when I make my monthly visit to the store. Especially of the varieties that I want! Sometimes the other brands also have gaps in the stock, but not as consistently.

Bluebell, I notice the same things with spices here. A recent penzey's order resulted in a message saying they were 5-7 days behind on shipping, so expect delays. I was just looking for cumin, my local grocery store has been out of most spices for at least two months.

Annie

Interestingly, yesterday I was listening to reporting about how shipping is struggling to keep up with a huge increase in demand for goods. Overseas shipping is especially overwhelmed, but trucking companies are also having problems because of a shortage of drivers.

Goods coming into the southern Mexico port of Lazaro Cardenas to be shipped by rail to the US have been delayed for several months by teacher and student protests blocking the tracks. The main rail line has only been open for trains about 10 hours a day on average.

First thing that showed up on the screen this morning when I opened my browser was a story about the "Salad Bowl" was the perfect setting for Covid. Expect things to become even wackier based on the story on the BBC this morning that the English variant that is in this country is even more deadly. Having an interest in emerging diseases I suspected that there was something beyond it being more infectious since it took the various medicos to even mention the "more infectious".

I just went to my local grocery store today. There was enough TP and paper towels to choke a horse. The shelves were packed, stacks on the floor, 2 end caps, and the floor around the end cap bulging.