With stay-at-home orders in effect, it can be challenging to manage the number of groceries you keep in your house while only going out for essential trips.
Luckily, we live during a period where we have many different options to get groceries to fill our pantries, whether you prefer to shop in-store, use a delivery service, or use curbside pick-up.
Grocery Delivery
Grocery delivery services have been popping up, and some of the most widely available ones include Peapod, Instacart, Walmart, and Shipt. These services are currently high-demand, so getting a time slot for a grocery delivery can be tough.
Other services offer delivery, and some of your small local stores, have adapted as well. Be sure to check to see what is available nearest you. Some sites like GroceryDelivery.org can show you local delivery and pick-up options.
Grocery Pick-up
In the last few years, many stores have added a way for you to pick out your groceries online, and you can drive to the local location and pick them up at the curbside. This is a wildly used and convenient form of shopping that allows you to stay in your vehicle’s safety mostly.
Subscription Boxes
Food subscription boxes deliver fresh produce, meat, dairy, and other groceries, even complete meals to your doorstep by mail each week. This won’t completely replace your shopping trips, but it is a great way to supplement your core grocery shopping and limit your trips to the store as much as possible.
Several different subscription services can bring you a variety of different foods. Farmbox Direct, Misfits Market, Imperfect Foods, ButcherBox are a few such services that can bring you fresh food directly to your door.
Meal delivery kit companies like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron will mail you some complete recipes each week, with the exact ingredients you’ll need to make them. Generally, setting you up for at least a few nights of meals a week can customize which recipes you receive. Many companies will allow you to add a few other products if you want a snack or even a staple item, like ground beef.
Remember: Local Business
Many local businesses are adapting to the new environment created with the current situation. Be sure to ask around or look at the local Facebook groups, word of mouth is how many of these small companies can stay afloat in times like this. Many of them have adapted with phone orders, online ordering with safe pick-up options in convenient locations.
The food itself isn’t going anywhere, trust the supply chains put in place. Many websites and services have become overloaded due to a surge in use, but it’s not for lack of product. There is no need to panic and hoard items.
There are more than enough ways to either limit your shopping trips or have them come to you; so that we may all stay safe while we wait for this all to pass. At least we can rest assured knowing that we won’t go hungry.
