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Food and Drink in a Pandemic Lockdown
May. 17th, 2020 03:28 pmHow have people's eating and drinking habits changed since the Coronavirus swept through our daily routines?
Some say that the "quarantine fifteen" is a real thing. Lots of mindless munching of junk food, brought on by boredom, stress, worry or whatever. Then again, it's not just junk food that comes into play. Cut off from a lot of their fast food sources, people are turning to slow food instead. Stuck at home, they're doing more cooking and baking - assuming they can find the necessary ingredients! I suspect that in many households, there's actually far less food waste these days too - people are making do with what they have, finding still-good foods at the back of their pantries and pressing them into service. Of course, the less food waste may not apply quite so much in rural areas, where farmers are hard-pressed to bring in the labour they need to harvest their crops!
Personally I've always found I tend to pig out more when I go out and eat in a restaurant, which of course hasn't been happening lately. Buffets can be insidious that way, although so can restaurants where they bring the food to your table - the portions are nearly always larger than what I would eat at home. Sometimes we get a "doggie bag" to take home, but that's not always practical.
So on the food side of things, I think we're probably eating about the same amount as before on most days, although without the dining out. But with grocery trips now being less frequent and more complicated, we do tend to consume less fresh and perishable food than before.
What about drink? Apparently in some demographics, people are drinking more . In our case, we still have beer, mostly on weekends - it's definitely a way to differentiate the days of the week at a time when regular schedules are broken and one day tends to look much like the next! Beyond The Pale does local delivery, although quite often they are sold out of our preferred varieties. And of course, there's no longer the option of sampling before buying.
We've only gone to the LCBO once since lockdown began, and that was to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier. Their hours of business (I think 11AM to 5 PM) are on a rather different schedule than grocery stores, where we tend to show up early for seniors' hour. If lockdown extends into Christmas baking season, I'll be wanting to replenish our supplies of rum and brandy. We don't go in much for mixed drinks, although I've seen all kinds of online recipes for "quarantinis"
So cheers, everyone! Anyone for an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, stirred or shaken quarantini?
Some say that the "quarantine fifteen" is a real thing. Lots of mindless munching of junk food, brought on by boredom, stress, worry or whatever. Then again, it's not just junk food that comes into play. Cut off from a lot of their fast food sources, people are turning to slow food instead. Stuck at home, they're doing more cooking and baking - assuming they can find the necessary ingredients! I suspect that in many households, there's actually far less food waste these days too - people are making do with what they have, finding still-good foods at the back of their pantries and pressing them into service. Of course, the less food waste may not apply quite so much in rural areas, where farmers are hard-pressed to bring in the labour they need to harvest their crops!
Personally I've always found I tend to pig out more when I go out and eat in a restaurant, which of course hasn't been happening lately. Buffets can be insidious that way, although so can restaurants where they bring the food to your table - the portions are nearly always larger than what I would eat at home. Sometimes we get a "doggie bag" to take home, but that's not always practical.
So on the food side of things, I think we're probably eating about the same amount as before on most days, although without the dining out. But with grocery trips now being less frequent and more complicated, we do tend to consume less fresh and perishable food than before.
What about drink? Apparently in some demographics, people are drinking more . In our case, we still have beer, mostly on weekends - it's definitely a way to differentiate the days of the week at a time when regular schedules are broken and one day tends to look much like the next! Beyond The Pale does local delivery, although quite often they are sold out of our preferred varieties. And of course, there's no longer the option of sampling before buying.
We've only gone to the LCBO once since lockdown began, and that was to buy a bottle of Grand Marnier. Their hours of business (I think 11AM to 5 PM) are on a rather different schedule than grocery stores, where we tend to show up early for seniors' hour. If lockdown extends into Christmas baking season, I'll be wanting to replenish our supplies of rum and brandy. We don't go in much for mixed drinks, although I've seen all kinds of online recipes for "quarantinis"
So cheers, everyone! Anyone for an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, stirred or shaken quarantini?
