Things you can’t find right now

[vonfirmath]

5 minutes ago, SusanC said:

One thing I've noticed is that at Aldi, at least, they don't like empty shelf space, so the wheat crackers I want have been out forever, but although the shelf tag is still there the space is filled with overflow from Wheat Thins and Saltines. Same a few weeks ago when they didn't have any tomatoes there were A LOT of peppers on display.

Really sad about baby formula!

Exactly what I've seen. THe shelves look "Full" -- but its skin deep

 

[mommyoffive]

I don't know if this is true, but it was reported on the Today show this morning that there is stock on organic baby formula.  

[Guest]

On 5/11/2022 at 7:03 PM, vonfirmath said:

Yes. Honestly -- No mother with a crying baby is going to not feed their baby, even if it is something less appropriate than formula. And yes that might be homemade formula. No matter what articles that give no real answer say.

 

Yup. I would be whipping out that Evaporated Milk/Karo Syrup recipe from many moons ago in the Tightwad Gazette. It’s not my first choice but it’s better than letting the baby starve. Many depression-era moms fed their babies this at times because it was better than starvation. 

[redheadmom]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I don't know if this is true, but it was reported on the Today show this morning that there is stock on organic baby formula.  

I just looked at a few organic websites and they had supply they could ship.  I use Baby's Only for my youngest from about 3 to 24 months to supplement breastfeeding.  It is more expensive, but they will ship you a case. 

[Pawz4me]

I was at Walmart Thursday morning and went by the formula aisle just to see. They weren't full, but they seemed to have an adequate supply. I didn't look closely at types, whether most of it was regular formula or specialty stuff. I'm so far out of the loop on that I probably wouldn't know what I was looking at anyway. There was no sign about limits. And yesterday afternoon somebody posted on the community FB page that WM had about 40 cans of powdered formula in the clearance aisle. That seemd weird given the shortage. 

[Hilltopmom]

My youngest 3 came to me as newborns through foster care, plus several others have passed through our home. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to not know if you had enough formula for the week! 
You are not allowed to breastfeed foster children or feed them someone else’s breast milk. (Only in very rare circumstances with DSS approval)

I was able to so always had an extra few months supply of formula on hand (used to spend time on a prepper board), but it’s so pricey that most people can’t do that. 
Foster kids get WIC and you can only buy a certain brand/ size container when using wic- the system doesn’t allow any substitutions.

One of our kiddos was tube fed with medical formula only and would’ve died without it.. could not substitute anything.

The people saying “we lived without formula for years” seem to have forgotten how many infants used to die in their first year. And how many servants or slaves were forced to nurse other peoples babies at the expense of their own.

But I think we’ve already proven that the powers that be don’t actually care about other people’s babies. Sigh.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Hilltopmom

[Carrie12345]

The latest I’ve heard is that formula supply should be back to “normal” (I’m guessing today’s normal, not, say, 2018 normal) in SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS with Abbott back up and running.

Just imagine if we had, say, 20 formula companies instead of, what? 3? Monopolies can kill people.

[Murphy101]

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

The latest I’ve heard is that formula supply should be back to “normal” (I’m guessing today’s normal, not, say, 2018 normal) in SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS with Abbott back up and running.

Just imagine if we had, say, 20 formula companies instead of, what? 3? Monopolies can kill people.

Redundancy saves lives. Literally. 

[Murphy101]

There was flooding in nearby county. last weekend and as I was driving through the area to deliver baby formula to someone I saw bloated cows on the side of the roads and near the country bridge I was crossing and all I could think was dammit “cheap” ground beef is already over $5 a lb. And chicken drumsticks sold out at 1.99lb. Never in my entire life have drumsticks been a “sale” at anything over a $1 a lb.  Usually $400 will fill my freezers for 4-5 months worth of meat for my large family plus regular deliveries of weekly meals to other families. This month that same amount was long 1/4 the amount of food and not nearly as much variety or quality. 

I’m not gonna lie. I’m stocking up as much as I can on an already tight budget.  I think next winter is going to be very very lean for many people.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Murphy101

[Slache]

5 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

 I think next winter is going to be very very lean for many people.

It already is. I called to have my electric bill put off (again) and we got to chatting. She asked what was going on and I started crying on the phone with a complete stranger and she started crying too! She's in the exact same boat, and she hears it all day from customers. I've seen articles about people moving back in with their parents in droves, and these people are 35 with kids, not 19. My husband is still driving for Uber and his tips have gone from $50 a day to usually zero. He used to drive people who usually take the bus but splurged for the day, now he drives people who just had their car repoed and haven't navigated life without a car yet. Our church has stopped giving out money for the first time in 40 years because there is nothing to give. My husband also inspects apartments and many are under the occupancy threshold necessary to not go bankrupt. He's never seen that before.

[Arcadia]

@Slache  My country of origin bans tips. However, when I was there for my mom’s funeral, I paid cab drivers in cash and tell them to keep the change. So would pay $20 for a $15 trip. Gasoline costs are higher than even California there and the taxi drivers were so emotional over the “tips”. 
I know people who would tip Uber and Lyft drivers in cash because they don’t know if the tips in the app would go to the drivers. It’s possible to tip in cash when we are not sharing with other passengers for Uber. 

[Faith-manor]

32 minutes ago, Slache said:

It already is. I called to have my electric bill put off (again) and we got to chatting. She asked what was going on and I started crying on the phone with a complete stranger and she started crying too! She's in the exact same boat, and she hears it all day from customers. I've seen articles about people moving back in with their parents in droves, and these people are 35 with kids, not 19. My husband is still driving for Uber and his tips have gone from $50 a day to usually zero. He used to drive people who usually take the bus but splurged for the day, now he drives people who just had their car repoed and haven't navigated life without a car yet. Our church has stopped giving out money for the first time in 40 years because there is nothing to give. My husband also inspects apartments and many are under the occupancy threshold necessary to not go bankrupt. He's never seen that before.

Sadly, this is happening here too. I am so worried about the one and only food bank/pantry in the county. They don't have much to give anymore.

We told all the boys if they want to go to grad school at UAH or get jobs in Huntsville, they are welcome to live at the mountain house. Dd and hubby said "the more, the merrier" because lots of adults sharing expenses will make it easier for everyone to survive and hopefully get ahead. We will see how it plays out. I am worried about resource wars, even just ugliness between states. There have been rumblings about the bread basket states wanting a LOT of Great Lakes water this year, but this will devastate the ecology, and long term, make everything worse, create more warming, more droughts, you name it. We have a wildfire going in Montmorency and Cheboygan counties right now, and this is very early in the season for that. I honestly think we could see governors and state legislatures get ugly with each other about this.

I hate feeling doom and gloom. But my always enthusiastically, optimistic husband is even worried which is a bad sign. So Dd and I are putting away rice and dry beans in plastic, sealed buckets for winter and plan to be sure to use it. We are both going to freeze a lot of produce. If things keep getting financially tighter, we at least know that herbed rice and beans with steamed vegetables and some frozen fruit can be on the menu regularly.

[Slache]

2 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Sadly, this is happening here too. I am so worried about the one and only food bank/pantry in the county. They don't have much to give anymore.

We told all the boys if they want to go to grad school at UAH or get jobs in Huntsville, they are welcome to live at the mountain house. Dd and hubby said "the more, the merrier" because lots of adults sharing expenses will make it easier for everyone to survive and hopefully get ahead. We will see how it plays out. I am worried about resource wars, even just ugliness between states. There have been rumblings about the bread basket states wanting a LOT of Great Lakes water this year, but this will devastate the ecology, and long term, make everything worse, create more warming, more droughts, you name it. We have a wildfire going in Montmorency and Cheboygan counties right now, and this is very early in the season for that. I honestly think we could see governors and state legislatures get ugly with each other about this.

I hate feeling doom and gloom. But my always enthusiastically, optimistic husband is even worried which is a bad sign. So Dd and I are putting away rice and dry beans in plastic, sealed buckets for winter and plan to be sure to use it. We are both going to freeze a lot of produce. If things keep getting financially tighter, we at least know that herbed rice and beans with steamed vegetables and some frozen fruit can be on the menu regularly.

I don't think there is a place that it's not like this. And I don't think it's going to get better soon.

[Arcadia]

5 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I was at Walmart Thursday morning and went by the formula aisle just to see. They weren't full, but they seemed to have an adequate supply. I didn't look closely at types, whether most of it was regular formula or specialty stuff. I'm so far out of the loop on that I probably wouldn't know what I was looking at anyway. There was no sign about limits. And yesterday afternoon somebody posted on the community FB page that WM had about 40 cans of powdered formula in the clearance aisle. That seemd weird given the shortage. 

People prefer Similac and Enfamil to house brands. So the house brands tend to be left on the shelves and expire. My Safeway had many cans of Safeway brand formulas and those aren’t subjected to the limit per customer. Also pediatricians here encourage switching to low fat milk after baby turns one because formula to them is a waste of money. So formula for older babies don’t sell as fast as those for newborns.

[Murphy101]

15 hours ago, 73349 said:

I was in a grocery store today. Almost everything looked well stocked except the baby formula area, which was about 3/4 empty and had a limit of four products per customer.
It seems like a terrible time to be a parent of little ones. 😕

It’s weird here. Winco is almost always fully stocked on everything except formula. And it’s not just skin-deep either. 

Walmart has been the absolute worst about bare shelves since covid started. I almost never bother to shop there anymore.

Aldi is stocked in the am, but by noon there’s lots of bare spots. in fact I took a pic just yesterday to send to Dh bc I was shocked that the meat area was nearly empty.  But I can’t post the pic bc it says the file is too big and I can’t seem to make it small enough. 🤷‍♀️
 

Costco seems well stocked. I’ve been buying their roasted chicken bc it’s still cheaper than buy a bird to cook.  I take it home, remove all the meat to sandwich ziplock freezer bags, and boil down the bones for broth.  Usually I make a soup with it the next day but I’m thinking I need to start canning it…

[Slache]

Just now, Murphy101 said:

It’s weird here. Winco is almost always fully stocked on everything except formula. And it’s not just skin-deep either. 

Walmart has been the absolute worst about bare shelves since covid started. I almost never bother to shop there anymore.

Aldi is stocked in the am, but by noon there’s lots of bare spots. in fact I took a pic just yesterday to send to Dh bc I was shocked that the meat area was nearly empty.  But I can’t post the pic bc it says the file is too big and I can’t seem to make it small enough. 🤷‍♀️
 

Costco seems well stocked. I’ve been buying their roasted chicken bc it’s still cheaper than buy a bird to cook.  I take it home, remove all the meat to sandwich ziplock freezer bags, and boil down the bones for broth.  Usually I make a soup with it the next day but I’m thinking I need to start canning it…

You probably need to clean out your attachments.

[Murphy101]

4 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

People prefer Similac and Enfamil to house brands. So the house brands tend to be left on the shelves and expire. My Safeway had many cans of Safeway brand formulas and those aren’t subjected to the limit per customer. Also pediatricians here encourage switching to low fat milk after baby turns one because formula to them is a waste of money. So formula for older babies don’t sell as fast as those for newborns.

No one here is being picky. The only thing I see on the shelves is soy formula.       Not that it matters. The generic formulas are affected too. Most of them come from the same places as the brand labels. My great niece was born this month and both the hospital and pediatrician said to feed her absolutely any formula we can find and to only worry about it if one kind seems to not agree with her tummy.  WIC is freaking useless right now bc it states a brand of formula they have to get and if it isn’t on the shelf? Too bad.  Her WIC voucher is for Gerber, but if similac or whatever is all that’s on the shelf? Better have cash to buy it.  I’m very grateful to my church community bc they have all been donating their formula.  Either just buying whatever they find and giving it or giving whatever left over they have bc they breastfed or weaned a baby.

And years ago pediatricians stopped recommending low fat anything for children. Growing children need fats for brain and bone health. Not that milk is cheap these days.

I almost never bought any drinks for my kids even as infants.   It was water or nothing. Milk has only been for cooking and the last 10ish years for breakfast cereal. I almost never buy juices either. That’s a rare special occasion type thing. When budgets are tight, a choice has to be made between spending money on food or beverages. We can drink water. So money went to food. 

[Murphy101]

12 minutes ago, Slache said:

You probably need to clean out your attachments.

I do not know what this means? 

[Slache]

6 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I do not know what this means? 

 

[Corraleno]

5 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I do not know what this means? 

Click on your name at the top right of the page, and you'll get a menu that shows "My Attachments" under Content. You can go in there and delete some of the older images you've uploaded, and that will make space for you to post new ones. The forum now limits the total mb of data you can have as attachments at any one time

[Murphy101]

9 minutes ago, Slache said:

 

 
 

I was like of course I’m going to clean my canning attachments. Duh.  I figured surely that couldn’t be what you meant but I couldn’t think what else you meant.  Thank you!😆

[Murphy101]

Aldi nearly sold out of meat at 10am last week when I went.  I went back for something I forgot later that evening and it was entirely empty except for meats over $8 a pound which was a tiny corner bc places are carrying less and less of it bc fewer and fewer people can afford to buy it. Idk what they are doing with those expensive cuts/types?

 

 

[Arcadia]

The amount of formula at my local Safeway did not change from my previous trip. They do have the Gerber ones which qualify for WIC. They also have the hypoallergenic kind from Similac and Enfamil. 

[Lady Florida.]

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

Aldi nearly sold out of meat at 10am last week when I went.  I went back for something I forgot later that evening and it was entirely empty except for meats over $8 a pound which was a tiny corner bc places are carrying less and less of it bc fewer and fewer people can afford to buy it. Idk what they are doing with those expensive cuts/types?

 

 

I was at Walmart this afternoon and that's what the chicken section looked like. I haven't had a problem finding chicken except briefly a few months ago. Today was different with barely anything there. Beef and pork were well stocked, only chicken was sparse. I was able to find what I need for tonight but only just.

[Arcadia]

@busymama7 The strawberry cream cheese tub changed at Grocery Outlet

[busymama7]

38 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

@busymama7 The strawberry cream cheese tub changed at Grocery Outlet

So ironically, when I went o fo my order today it was available at Walmart. My kids will be super happy!

[ScoutTN]

The floor in my son’s room! 😉😱🤣

[kbutton]

11 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

WIC is freaking useless right now bc it states a brand of formula they have to get and if it isn’t on the shelf?

I think I read somewhere that they are trying to loosen up WIC to help people out. I am not sure who the PTB are that can do this or where I read about it, but it was something newsy vs. hearsay.

[Drama Llama]

I almost never go in stores, but today i went into the grocery store. There by the entrance was a large locked glass faced cabinet full of formula.  I thought, well I'll reach out to a few people I know who have babies see if it's something they need, maybe get some for the food pantry at church too.  So, I went close to see what brand. 

In small letters, there was a label that said "due to recall this formula can't be sold".  

It seemed so misleading, and made me wonder about all the other times I've read where people say "I heard there was a shortage but I went to the store and I saw plenty on the shelf".  

Why would they leave a recalled product like that sitting out?  It seems so misleading!

[Excelsior! Academy]

8 minutes ago, Baseballandhockey said:

I almost never go in stores, but today i went into the grocery store. There by the entrance was a large locked glass faced cabinet full of formula.  I thought, well I'll reach out to a few people I know who have babies see if it's something they need, maybe get some for the food pantry at church too.  So, I went close to see what brand. 

In small letters, there was a label that said "due to recall this formula can't be sold".  

It seemed so misleading, and made me wonder about all the other times I've read where people say "I heard there was a shortage but I went to the store and I saw plenty on the shelf".  

Why would they leave a recalled product like that sitting out?  It seems so misleading!

Very misleading!  Imagine having a hungry infant and seeing recalled formula.  It would be very tempting to feed one's child recalled formula in times of shortage.

[Drama Llama]

3 minutes ago, Excelsior! Academy said:

Very misleading!  Imagine having a hungry infant and seeing recalled formula.  It would be very tempting to feed one's child recalled formula in times of shortage.

Well it was locked up.  So, it would be harder for someone to steal.  But I can also imagine someone doing what I almost did (saw it was there, and texted people) and then someone else comes all the way to that store and can't buy it.  It almost seemed like that was the plan, to lure people into the store thinking maybe they'd buy something else.  

It did lead me to talking about it with my BIL, and it sounds like they're OK.  My nephew is 10 months, and they say they have a plan.  

[mathnerd]

I have not been able to find Roma Tomatoes for several months now. I can occasionally find 3 roma tomatoes in a plastic bag but not all the time. Today I again bought a bunch of Campari tomatoes (hothouse grown and available all the time) and 3 roma tomatoes in a plastic ziplock bag. I wonder when that shortage will get addressed and it is strange given how short the growing cycles for these tomatoes are and the thousands of open trucks with millions of roma tomatoes that criss cross the freeways in california transporting the produce to factories. Why not release a few to consumers or grow some more? (and yes, I am aware that there is a drought and an ongoing water crisis 😞 )

[Arcadia]

25 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

I have not been able to find Roma Tomatoes for several months now. I can occasionally find 3 roma tomatoes in a plastic bag but not all the time.

I bought mine from Trader Joe’s and I saw them at Sprouts as well as Grocery Outlet. I bought from Trader Joe’s near Great Mall last week.

ETA: I can walk over and check my nearby Safeway tomorrow 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Arcadia

[Shoeless]

Y'all, there was almost no formula at my local store. There were a few cans of a hypoallergenic formula and a few of an organic brand, but that is it. Like, 6 cans total.  They had cases of baby water to fill the space. 

No clue about Walmart or the pharmacies. HEB is normally on top of supply chain issues. If HEB can't get it, I have doubts anyone else can source it here. This is terrifying. 

[Melissa in Australia]

What is baby water? 

[Shoeless]

6 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

What is baby water? 

Sterilized water to mix with powdered formula. I just used tap water for my son. 🤷‍♀️

[Drama Llama]

8 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

What is baby water? 

It's distilled water with flouride marketed for mixing with powdered formula. Supposedly safer than tap water in places where the tap water isn't good?  

[Melissa in Australia]

1 minute ago, Baseballandhockey said:

It's distilled water with flouride marketed for mixing with powdered formula. Supposedly safer than tap water in places where the tap water isn't good?  

Oh. 

Never heard of it before. 

 Here they just reccomend cooled boiled water. 

Most people breastfeed here and shift onto regular milk at around 12 months

[Shoeless]

1 minute ago, Baseballandhockey said:

It's distilled water with flouride marketed for mixing with powdered formula. Supposedly safer than tap water in places where the tap water isn't good?  

I imagine if one had hard or well water, bottled baby water would be preferable "just in case". Our municipal water was safe, so I was like "eh, good enough". I also didn't buy special baby detergent. I just used the scent free version of whatever was on sale. 

[BusyMom5]

All the stores near me are out of formula- I saw a few cans of toddler formula on the shelf yesterday.  There are moms posting on FB asking for formula bc we only have a few stores that carry it, and they are out.  People can't drive 2 hours to another town, hoping to find it.  Its very frustrating bc our WIC office keeps posting not to use anything else- but there literally IS NOTHING ELSE.  

I thought my stores were more stocked than it has been in a while, but it may be that they are rearranging things.  The produce stand is back open with lots of fresh foods!  

[Arcadia]

14 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Oh. 

Never heard of it before. 

 Here they just reccomend cooled boiled water. 

In Asia too they recommend cooled boiled water too unless the water quality is risky. Where we lived in US when DS16 was born has lead contamination issues. So people would either buy baby water or use mineral water for formula. Even with the pitcher style water filter, we didn’t dare to use filtered water for our kids. DS16 had a blood draw to test for lead since he was underweight and where we lived is a known lead risk. We ended up buying our current home in 2006 when prices were still high because the mortgage was similar to renting at supposedly safer places.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Arcadia

[cjzimmer1]

On 5/14/2022 at 9:42 AM, Slache said:

My husband also inspects apartments and many are under the occupancy threshold necessary to not go bankrupt. He's never seen that before.

I wish that were the case here.  Maybe my kids would stand a chance of being able to move out.  Two of my kids have been hunting for a few months and most places have no openings.  Occasionally they will hear that there might be an opening in the summer but nothing concrete.  One place told them their first availability was in December (and it was March when they told him that).  I think far more than food, my area has a shortage of housing and vehicles.

[Slache]

17 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I wish that were the case here.  Maybe my kids would stand a chance of being able to move out.  Two of my kids have been hunting for a few months and most places have no openings.  Occasionally they will hear that there might be an opening in the summer but nothing concrete.  One place told them their first availability was in December (and it was March when they told him that).  I think far more than food, my area has a shortage of housing and vehicles.

Call a realtor. We used one for ours. We didn't pay her, the apartment did.

[mathnerd]

4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I bought mine from Trader Joe’s and I saw them at Sprouts as well as Grocery Outlet. I bought from Trader Joe’s near Great Mall last week.

ETA: I can walk over and check my nearby Safeway tomorrow 

Thank you! I will check the Trader Joe's near me tomorrow.

[lewelma]

I can't figure out why you guys are having such supply problems and we are not.  (I'm in NZ). We are further away from ALL standard shipping options, and we don't make these products in house. Somehow our supply chain is more resilient to shocks and I don't know why.

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

I can't figure out why you guys are having such supply problems and we are not.  (I'm in NZ). We are further away from ALL standard shipping options, and we don't make these products in house. Somehow our supply chain is more resilient to shocks and I don't know why.

We’re not importing.
I heard something somewhere (how’s that for reliable sources?) about Europe offering to help, but the FDA said no? Again, just “something somewhere”.

[Carrie12345]

A local FB group apparently went on a banning spree because people are trying to sell free samples.  Humans are gross.

[Melissa in Australia]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

I can't figure out why you guys are having such supply problems and we are not.  (I'm in NZ). We are further away from ALL standard shipping options, and we don't make these products in house. Somehow our supply chain is more resilient to shocks and I don't know why.

I did read on( I think it was Al Jazeera) that more baby formula  in the US was sold last month to what was sold in February. 

found it  supply chain issues associated with the pandemic were part of the problem and that consumers bought more baby formula in April than in the month before the recall https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/12/absolutely-nothing-desperate-parents-swap-sell-baby-formula

 

[Melissa in Australia]

and this BBC article https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61387183

Abbott issued the recall of certain batches of powdered formula in February after reports that four babies who had been fed from cans from the factory became sick, including two who died.

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection said they were investigating a possible link, but that testing so far had found the strain of bacteria detected at the factory did not match that found in the sickened babies.

Separately, the FDA criticised Abbott for unsanitary conditions.

But the shortage pre-dates those issues and has been building since last year due to supply chain and other factors, according to research firm Datasembly, which tracks 11,000 stores across the US.

The situation deteriorated further last month, as publicity of the problem grew and parents raced to stock up.

And as parents rush to buy as stories of empty shelves spread, that only makes the problem worse, he warned.

"It's not a situation where you can just snap out of it," he said. "It was designed to run at one speed."

[Idalou]

4 hours ago, lewelma said:

I can't figure out why you guys are having such supply problems and we are not.  (I'm in NZ). We are further away from ALL standard shipping options, and we don't make these products in house. Somehow our supply chain is more resilient to shocks and I don't know why.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/baby-formula-shortage-abbott-recall/629828/

Bacteria, virus, and trade policies

Edited May 16, 2022 by Idalou