The Groceries No One Is Panic-Buying

COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, is a very serious threat. The highly contagious respiratory virus that has been infecting tens of thousands continues to spread around the world and has people concerned and governments asking everyone to practice social distancing and self-quarantine as much as possible. After all, it is the safest way to stop the spread of the virus. A side effect of all of this is that a whole lot of people are stocking up on necessities and then some. Why is toilet paper a must-have at the moment? No one really knows. No one understands why certain items are disappearing from shelves, but people are in the frenzy and sometimes logic just flies out the window. No, you don't need seven jars of pickles. Pickles are delicious, but trust us, you don't need that many. This is what we call panic buying. 

Beyond the sociological fascination of the act, panic buying is causing a lot of vulnerable people to be unable to get their basic necessities, including the elderly and low-income families. Hoarding groceries and supplies is causing more harm than good, and some people are even trying to profit off of it. However, not everything is being bought up in bulk. Some things just aren't desirable, even when people are preparing to be  holed up in their homes for weeks on end. Some of these items may not surprise you, but others may cause a raised eyebrow or two.

These are the groceries no one is panic-buying.

Now here's a peculiar one. Oranges and other citrus are being left on shelves in large numbers. 

That's right, the Vitamin C-packed fruit that helps keep your immune system healthy, fights free radicals, and is especially good at boosting iron absorption for those living a plant-based lifestyle are being left on the shelves in grocery stores around the world during a pandemic. It doesn't make much sense. You'd think of all the fruits available, people would be going for the ones who actually help your immune system. Just one orange will more or less give you your full day's worth of Vitamin C. You don't even have to buy 10. Just one.

Not to mention, if you don't get enough Vitamin C in your life, you can face some serious complications like scurvy. Don't get scurvy while protecting yourself from COVID-19... seems like a win-win to us. 

The mind boggles.

Well, good news for vegans, chances are that you're golden. Meat shelves are barren all across the country, but one section that seems well, if not fully, stocked is plant-based protein. This is referring to vegetarian and vegan meat substitutes. Some are made out of vegetables, others made out of soy and wheat protein, among other ingredients. Various tweets are poking fun at the fact that no one is buying vegan meat even in a crisis, but really, it's just good news for the vegetarians and vegans of the world.

Around five percent of the United States population follows a plant-based diet, so either they're not panic buying, or there's just plenty to go around. With the popularity of Beyond Meat the past year, one might be surprised there's still some available on the shelf. After all, it's said to taste just like real meat, but it seems when push comes to shove during a pandemic, people prefer the real stuff. 

If you're craving "meat" but aren't able to find any on the shelves of your local grocery store, you might just want to check out the vegan section. Chances are, there's plenty for you to choose from.

Whenever there is a hurricane or a blizzard on the horizon, one of the major purchases people make is alcohol. There's even been weather forecasts depicting how many wine bottles you should be buying to get through it all. After all, if you're going to be cooped up for awhile in a stressful situation, a lot of people would prefer to have a little something to take the edge off. 

Ironically, this doesn't seem to be the case for panic buying for COVID-19 — at least in some locations. There's plenty of liquor still on the shelves all across the country. Walking into a liquor store or a grocery store if your state allows it has offered up a pretty well stocked supply. There may be a smaller selection of some wines or popular liquors, but overall, there's still a lot to go around.

This may change in the coming days as more states are asking bars and restaurants to close. However, for now, people are thinking that maybe it won't be so bad if there's still so much alcohol out there. Oh, and before we forget, no, do not use vodka to make your own hand sanitizer. Store-bought alcohol doesn't have the alcohol content needed to kill viruses. Distilleries, however, have the tools to make it, like one in Atlanta that is donating their homemade version to those in need.

This may not be true for all locations, but there seems to be such a surplus of bananas at one Twitter user's grocery store, that they're being  stored on shelves where the toilet paper used to be. There are lot of questions here that will never be answered, but one is: why aren't people eating bananas? They're good for you, have a ton of vitamins, and should you get sick, are an easily stomached food for when you may feel too miserable to eat anything. 

This does bring up a question of what the stocking situation at many of these stores must be like with so much being bought so quickly. Maybe this grocery store overestimated the amount of bananas people would need in a pandemic. 

It's not exactly something they've had to think about before. Placing them in the aisle where toilet paper and paper towels are is an... odd marketing tactic. Perhaps they hope those seeking out toilet paper will instead be reminded that yes, potassium is important, and pick up bananas instead. Everything is bananas right now, so it seems on brand.

Ok, this one isn't all the surprising. 

Easter is right around the corner and that means the neon marshmallow sugar bomb chicks known as Peeps are everywhere. They explode in the microwave and are mostly only eaten by small children who want to turn their tongue an outrageous color and then run around on a sugar high. Not exactly what any parent wants to deal with as so many states have closed schools for weeks, if not the rest of the year, at the recommendation of the CDC. That's a lot of children staying home with a parent who now has to work from home and tend to their offspring. 

Yeah, we would avoid the peeps too.

If, for some reason, you actually do want to buy up some Peeps to keep your kids entertained, there is actually quite a lot you can do with them. You can make Play-Dough, pancakes, or cover them in chocolate for an extra special treat. Or, you know, save your sanity, teeth, and stomach and just leave these in the grocery store. Just because it's still available doesn't mean you should go and buy it (obviously, a lot of people already know that).

Brussels sprouts get a bad name. Ever since you were a child, people have bad mouthed them and more than likely made you hate them because they cooked them improperly. It should come as no surprise that they are among the vegetables that aren't being bought up. Other vegetables seen available at some grocery stores are green beans and ears of corn. Fresh vegetables are great for your immune system, though corn is actually a grain. Maybe people just don't want to deal with cooking them? Too much work? Who knows.

While not the case at this particular supermarket, the Brussels sprouts that are sold still on the stalk may also look intimidating and impractical to someone not a fan of them or wholly familiar with them. All you need to do is snap or cut them off, but we understand if you think it looks like an alien life form. It kind of does. 

Oh, by the way, should you choose to add these delightful little sprouts to your shopping cart, do yourself a favor and roast them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. You'll become an immediate convert.

When you think of watermelon, images of summer picnics at the beach probably come to mind. Warm weather, family gatherings, or perhaps even a big boozy cocktail. The image many people have of their proverbial coronavirus food bunkers do not include the large melons, as evidenced by this photo. 

There's a lot of fruit that people are buying up, but watermelon is most definitely not on that list. They're cumbersome and heavy, and the idea of panic buying multiple watermelons, while hilarious, isn't that realistic. We haven't quite reached that stage yet.

That said, you've got to feel a little bad for the abandoned melons. They're not even that good this time of year, but they are being neglected in large quantities. This is sadly a very real issue for Myanmar watermelon farmers who have been hit hard by the effects of the coronavirus. Their lack of sales to China have caused entire harvests to rot in the field and for labor forces to be severely cut down.