I had thought that this was probably just an isolated issue that was overblown by the media in the bigger cities, and it wouldn't necessarily hit here in quiet little Oregon. Yeah, right.
We stopped at Costco first because that is were we normally stock up on staples. The pallets in the rice area were bare. No mid-grain white rice at all, and only a couple 20-pound bags of Basmati.
This ain't good.
When I asked at store guy passing by about when they were going to get some more, he just shrugged his shoulders and said I was only the fifteenth person to ask that question TODAY.
Then we hit another store called Cash & Carry.
Same story, and the only rice they had was two bags of friggin' Uncle Ben's crap.
This wasn't looking too good, so we decided it might be prudent to load up on some other staples while we were there.
We bought 40 pounds of sugar, 60 pounds of pinto beans, 40 pounds of flour, two gallons of soy sauce, and five gallons of cooking oil. Tossed in a couple of cases of Sobe drink to round it out.
The store had plenty of all of the above items on hand, but the store lady did say that people seemed to be buying more of everything than they normally did.
She also said that they had received many calls and in-person requests about when more white rice was coming in and she was told by management to try to allay customers fears by saying that more rice was expected in a few days, but the truth was that they didn't know when they would be getting more.
She also said that in the last 3-4 weeks that as soon as a pallet of rice had arrived it had been sold off very quickly. We left there, and on a whim tried an Asian market we occasionally shop at.
Eureka! We didn't see any rice on the shelf but when we asked the store owner if she had any in the back, she very nicely gave us her last five 20-pound bags because she remembered us from earlier purchases. She also said that she had been looking for rice herself around town to buy and re-sell in her store, and that it was bone-dry.
We were damn lucky to find what rice that we did get today, and I feel a bit more comfortable now that I have some sitting in my pantry.
The big question though is there an ACTUAL nation-wide shortage on rice, or is this mostly fueled by consumer fears? Whatever the case, whether it is a self-fulfilling problem fueled by consumer panic or a long-term issue we are going to see more of, and also spreading to other staples eventually, I had a very hard time find the food supplies I needed today.
We are better off than many people in this country because we had the gasoline to make the several trips to try to find the rice and other food, and the substantial cash needed to buy it all once found.
What about the folks who are teetering on the financial edge already, or who can't afford the fuel to track down the food supplies they need?
I can definitely see how this could snowball into a much bigger problem nation-wide, and also in the world itself.
I personally didn't want to add to the existing problem by grabbing up what little rice I found today, but I would rather be the person who is able able to feed my family easily, than the guy who is staring at an empty pantry and wondering what to do.
My advice after what I saw today? Get thee hence to yon favorite store, and buy what foods you can afford NOW... because it might not be there tomorrow.
-urban
