In an emergency situation, people eat foods with the least nutritional value. That’s my conclusion from shopping trips while social distancing.
Trust me, there weren’t many such trips.
I was a good boy. I stay home, pretty much. There’s little danger from the coronavirus when you live six miles from the entrance to Pedernales Falls State Park.
Yes, your columnist now lives in the boonies and loves it.
Food shopping as a learning experience
So, shopping for food is a big treat, with or without social distancing. It was also a learning experience.
The first learning experience is positive. It took a while, but supermarkets adapted well to the rules of social distancing. In early March I went to the new H.E.B. in Lakeway because its aisles were wider than the ones in my local market. That made social distancing pretty easy, even without any control of the number of shoppers, until I got to checkout. When I returned a week later, carts were cleaned before being put in place for you, and standing marks were in place inside and outside the market, helping people keep their distance. And a plastic shield protected the cashier and shopper.
If not solved, the contagion problem was very much reduced.
Yes, we’re adapting
Let’s give a vigorous round of applause for adaptation. It’s what keeps us alive. Always has. Likely always will.
H.E.B. had a pandemic plan and actually put it in place timely, which is more than we can say about our federal government. I’m thinking Charles Clarence Butt, the CEO of H.E.B., should carry Texas as a write-in candidate for president in November.
The best and freshest foods weren’t in short supply
The second learning experience was simply odd, even after choosing to ignore our bizarre national obsession with toilet paper. After a month, pasta was still in short supply. Ditto sauces except for pesto. Also, lots of canned goods like tomatoes in different forms, beans in any form. Different sodas were sometimes in short supply. And sometimes different kinds of chips.
Meanwhile, the only shortage I experienced around the periphery of the stores was a brief shortage of potatoes and a thinness of lettuce types. But peppers of all colors and types were abundant, as were avocados, asparagus, leeks, green beans, celery and carrots.
Fruits of all kinds were in generous supply, as usual, except for one day when the lime supply was low. That sent a shudder of stark terror down my spine. People may be able to get through the day without margarita makings in New York or Seattle, but it’s a real threat to stability here in Texas.
The chicken supply was thin once or twice, but far from empty. Other meats were generally ample. Ditto fish.
No big problem with dairy, either. The market had the usual abundance of American butters, fancy European butters and faux butters. Plenty of milk(s), yogurts, sour cream and cheeses.
The fresh food cornucopia still works
Basically, the magnificent cornucopia of American food was ready, even in a pandemic, to fill our tummies with high quality food.
Provided it was fresh food.
Which brings me to the advice of Michael Pollan. In his book “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual,” he points out that the healthiest food in any supermarket isn’t in the center aisles filled with the canned, processed and packaged goods.
It’s on the periphery of the store.
It’s in the fresh fruits and produce, the meats and dairy sections that line the outside walls of supermarkets across the country.
What’s the lesson here?
If you’re convinced that World War Z is about to break out, go ahead and buy those canned beans. Heat ’em up by burning some of your Charmin supply. But if you think we’re just finding a way to keep on truckin’, focus on what’s healthy and fresh.
One way or another, you’ll live longer.
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “My Supermarket Epiphany,” 9/23/2016 https://scottburns.com/my-supermarket-epiphany/
Sources and References:
Michael Pollan, “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual” on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan-ebook/dp/B002YJK5L4/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472159271&sr=1-5&keywords=Michael+Pollan#nav-subnav
World War Z Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk
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Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
(c) Scott Burns, 2020