Written by Bernie Carr
At my last grocery shopping trip, I noticed a lot more empty shelves at my local store, and of course higher prices and the items that were available.
We’ve talked about this before, but we’re about to see even more scarcity with some household staples. Let’s look at five common foods that are about to run short and what we can do to cope.
Orange juice
The price for orange juice has gone up a lot but at least I still some on the shelf. According to U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA), unfavorable weather conditions and citrus diseases have damaged orange harvests.
The USDA expects Florida to produce about 45 million boxes of oranges this year, the smallest harvest the state has produced in nearly 80 years.
Experts say a shortage of oranges and higher demand will cause prices to soar.
SOURCE: clickorlando.com
If orange juice is unavailable, try other fruit juices or drinks that are not in short supply. I’ve bought canned pineapple juice as well as V-8 vegetable juice as backups.
Potatoes
There’s already a global shortage of potatoes, and french fries are in short supply in many countries. In Japan, McDonalds franchises are restricting french fries to small sizes only; in Kenya, KFCs are reportedly “running out of fries.” Potato chips may also be in short supply. Potato chip makers in South Africa warned that supply issues and low local crop yields due to bad weather have lowered their supplies.
I see the freezer shelves out our grocery stores have very little stocks of fries, tater tots, hash browns, and other frozen potatoes.
The shortages are said to be caused by supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic and extreme weather.
To cope with low potato supplies, try dehydrated potatoes.
Milk and other dairy products
Several milk brands have been scarce lately. When we do buy milk, they seem to go bad faster; just this week, I had to toss half a gallon of milk as it had gone bad a whole week before its expiration date. Not sure if the supply chain issue has left milk sitting for too long before reaching local stores.
To cope with dairy shortages, try shelf-stable milk, powdered milk and non-dairy creamer.
Coffee
As we mentioned in a previous article, coffee crops were decimated a couple of years ago. Add that to supply chain issues and now we are feeling the pinch.
I’ve cut back to one cup a day, and am drinking more chai tea instead. It doesn’t hurt to try other coffee substitutes and see if you like any of them.
Pasta
Wheat is at risk now as well. The drought in the Great Plains in 2021 led to a low wheat harvest in the U.S. I saw a lot of empty pasta shelves this past weekend; even the ramen shelf was lacking.
If you eat a lot of pasta, buy in bulk when you can. If you are unable to find your favorite shapes, just substitute with a different type. Or buy rice, quinoa or other grain products. When pasta goes on sale, stock up and repackage for long term storage using mylar bags or a food sealer and oxygen absorbers. I’ve opened a 7-year old pasta bucket and the pasta was as fresh as the day I packaged it.
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Bernie Carr is the founder of Apartment Prepper. She has written several books including the best-selling Prepper’s Pocket Guide, Jake and Miller’s Big Adventure, The Penny-Pinching Prepper and How to Prepare for Most Emergencies on a $50 a Month Budget. Bernie’s latest e-book, FRUGAL DIY has just been released on Amazon. Her work appears in sites such as the Allstate Blog and Clark.com, as well as print magazines such as Backwoods Survival Guide and Prepper Survival Guide. She has been featured in national publications such as Fox Business and Popular Mechanics. Learn more about Bernie here.
Image by Squirrel_photos from Pixabay
The wife and I experimenting with mini citrus tree such as kumquat and lime trees as alternative option.
You can actually grow dwarf citrus trees in small space its amazing. Not a fan of regulate potatoes but the wife introduce me to purple sweet potatoes. small grow bags help a little or LDS #10 can potatoes flakes from their cannery N. Houston. Diary doesn’t agree with me so I’ve always went with alternative such as soydrink. The wife complains of the after taste with powder milk brand we use so we try others. Never knew you can create tea from even flowers or something as simple as dehydrated orange skin according to the wife. Good post!
Hi Carlos, Wow, nice job growing citrus trees in a small space. Will have to research about making tea from flowers other than hibiscus (aka jamaica) is the only one I knew about. Good idea, making tea from dehydrated orange skin, I’m going to have to try that! Thanks for the comment.