Haven't noticed a flour shortage yet. However expect a meat shortage in some parts of the world, soon, if not sooner. There's hog and cattle operations literally being paid by insurance/etc to kill entire barns/lots full to make room for the next shipment.

Luckily some farmers are selling "on the hoof" to the public at reasonable prices but this is limited by the fact that most people dont know how to process meat anymore. A hog farmer in this area just shot and disposed of all his pigs since insurance pays better.

Sure this meat is some of the poorest quality you can get, but it's also what you'd buy at any store, it's impossible to take such a huge chunk of food out of circulation without really messing things up down the road.

Of course who's to blame? other than the many people who were to busy/good to raise their own food and slowly started trusting their meals on a very fragile, extremely wasteful system.

Hopefully it'll blow over without too many consequences but the best thing that could happen is if more people would wake up and even if they can't raise their own food at least make sure it's sustainably sourced.

I was in a local Aldi today and they were limiting flour purchases to two five-pound bags per customer. I know this because the guy ahead of me wanted to buy three bags.

I'm not aware of any actual shortages here in my little corner of the world. The check-out clerk's theory was that persons are home and bored and taking up baking to pass the time, hence, bulk purchases of flour.

Fifteen pounds of flour would last me for several months, and I bake (about half of) my own bread.

Good grief! Are people really that helpless nowadays? Indoor antennas are cheap and plentiful. Check Amazon for starters. Plenty of other places also sell them.

It's ironic that you say using an antenna doesn't make sense for cord cutters. I can't think of a better way to "cut the cord". You don't even need an internet connection to watch OTA (Over The Air) TV.

I don't own a TV set. For me it has nothing to do with helplessness - a computer, the meta machine, replaces that part perfectly, and better.

Also, I don't think they even broadcast TV over the air anymore around here. It's all "digiboxes" - now those foster helplessness! Vendor lock-in etc.

I consider myself the opposite of helpless when it comes to my media consumption habits. Very open-(re)-sourceful, with a system I control.

i didn't have a tv set for a 10'ish years, but few months a go i bought one 43" 4k tv to act as a my main monitor.
i do watch some programs on tv, like news and morning shows.

You must really live out in the sticks. I can remember when there were only four TV stations in the Phoenix area. Now, there are over 100 TV stations and the number increases every year. I can get most of them (I have a rooftop antenna) but I have my TV programmed for only 30 of them.

If you like watching movies, news, and other programming on a small screen, then you don't need a TV. I prefer viewing programming on a larger screen: a 43" TV. I don't watch all that much OTA programming anymore (much of what's available anymore is garbage--even on PBS--in my not so humble opinion) but I have my TV patched into my computer so I can watch ripped movies on the TV. Sometimes, if I have a string of YouTube videos or a long one or two queued up, I'll watch them on the TV, mostly educational or how-to videos.

Would you stop making inflaming remarks like that?
I think it is you who lives out in the sticks. That banana republic...

Anyhow where I live is of no consequence to my lack of helplessness; I haven't had a TV set for 2.5 decades, living in 2 countries in many different places that are various degrees of "stick" - from state capital to total wilderness and everything in between.

It was not my intent to inflame and I apologize for coming across to you that way. I have no idea where you live since you didn't include it in your profile. Here in the SSA (aka USA), "living in the sticks" is an expression for living in a remote, rural area where services available in more populated areas, such as television and radio broadcasts, utilities like water, cable, power, cellular service, etc. don't exist yet due to the population being too low to make those services to be cost effective for companies or local Governments to provide them. It's not an insult nor was my use of it intended to be.

You, however, you are being deliberately insulting by referring to where I live as a banana republic, even after I made it clear where I live, which is a derogatory term no matter where one lives. I'm dropping out of this conversation to avoid any more misunderstandings. Hopefully, you will be mature enough to do the same.

I was at the market this morning and they were limiting meat purchases to two packages. I imagine that supplies will become more limited if meat packing plants continue closing. Time to dust off the vegetarian cookbook.

They were out of bread machine flour, but you can use regular flour and add wheat gluten, which I was able to get. Since I try to limit my market trips to once in two weeks, I'm baking bread at home. The bread machine has been used more in the last month than the previous decade. Also good for pizza dough since the only local delivery is horrible national chain D********.

I went to the market once at "seniors only" time; never again. Nobody observing precautions or using masks properly, failing to observe the one-way aisles. My sister described it as "like Saigon in 1975". Dang old people. Oh right, I keep forgetting I'm one of them.

We've been doing more bread baking (it's not exactly rocket science). We haven't seen any problems with flour availability but yeast is sometimes sold out. There's always sourdough, though. A little yeast gets it started but then you have to keep nurturing it -- it's like a Tamagotchi for adults -- to keep it going. :^D

Cheers...

The latest thing seems to be buckets! My old one broke and the only local hardware shop is closed, although they could be open. I traveled 4 stops on the train to one that was open, only to find the "brooms, mops, and buckets" shelves were empty. Evidently people are cleaning more to keep sane. Luckily a train trip in the other direction, prompted by a vague memory of a builder's supply shop (not traceable on-line), paid off. The blessings of living in a big city — there's always something somewhere. Now I just need to find some-one who can re-heel shoes…

That's interesting. I have not heard this about meat where I am.

So they have been unable to sell the meat, for some reason, and it is just being disposed of?

I did notice a Timpsons that was open in a supermarket. You might be able to find a cobbler that is open.

Weird on how I have no shortage on dog food in my grocery store in a one horse town . But some can't find human sundries in major countries and cities.

I rescue animals. So I spend some time feeding them.

The packing plants were closed in some areas and it was cheaper to dispose of the livestock than to feed it for an extra week or two. They also need to make room for the next batch.