Grocery workers starting to die- we need a better system to get food to people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WIthout protective gear for the workers, all that is happening is they are exposed to asymptomatic carriers, and they themselves can be asymptomatic carriers.

We dropped the ball on masks so colossally.

All grocery stores should provide masks, turn their employees into shoppers (like instacart), and delivery persons and/or offer pickup.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/06/supermarket-workers-deaths-coronavirus-/?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1

Anyone else find it upsetting that her mother allowed her to still go to work?

“She said, ‘Mommy, I’m going to work because no one else is going to help the senior citizens get their groceries,’ ” her mother, Zenobia Shepherd, told The Post. “She only stopped going to work when she could no longer breathe.”

Upsetting that she died. Not that she was admirable and selfless and her mother supported her in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grocery stores should just ship the orders or have curb pickup. No human interaction needed. The stores can be wiped down and only employees spaced out should be in the buildings.

Everyone just needs to stop going to grocery store, and they will get the message. Live on the extra can of beans and mushrooms in the back of the pantry. I’ve had so many friends FaceTime me from home and their kitchens are overflowing with snacks and cereal and random stuff. Eat down some of that ration, maybe the meals will be subpar but you will hardly starve or get scurvy. And give stores the message, we want curbside.

Not going to happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in my local Giant in MoCo this weekend and they were not doing much in way of cleanliness. There were no wipes for the carts. Most employees did not have masks. And nothing was being done to help with social distancing (such as making aisles one way, having lines showing where to stand at check out, or restricting the number of people in the store). They did however have an announcement asking customers to stay 6 feet from other customers, which is impossible because I don't think the aisles are that wide.

Or how about your order online instead of complaining? The need for online shopping and closing stores would be in demand if people stop going all together

Not everyone has internet access, computers and extra $ in online banking. THATS WHY.

And that is why we need to really solve the problem here.

Ive been ordering online and already things are now backed up over a week. And its only the beginning.

Stop with the BS excuses. Most people have a phone in the family to make a phone call to place and order or to do online. The money you pay for gas and or a bus can go toward the extra money it pays to shop online. Have someone place the order for you and cash app them. Solutions to every excuse

Not sure who you are referring to. Ive been online shopping for several weeks. Im responding to the PP who said "order online instead of complaining", and I guess THAT person was reerring to the quoted person who was actually not complaining about online shopping at all. She was talking about the condition of the stores.

The online ordering system is clogged. Delivery dates are backed up sometimes up to a week. Senior citizens do not have phones and often do not have online access either.

I am the OP of the original post about people working in stores dying. My hope is we can develop a new system that would accommodate everyone and keep workers safe. It would probably have to be a combination of online ordering and pre-set orders on a schedule, so people who are elderly and/or disabled and maybe dont have a phone or a computer might also get groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone has room / fridge space etc to store enough for 2-3 weeks. Must be nice.

We are storing all our pantry supplies under dining table. Family of 5. 1 fridge. We havent gone grocery shopping or had food delivered in 3 weeks, though we are now on powdered milk and some canned pasta. But kids haven’t wasted away yet.

I don't know I just feel like I can't do it. What do you do as far as fruits / veggie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Giant in Gaithersburg (Kentlands) was awful today. No protective equipment for customers or workers.

WF was much better. Gloves and hand sanitizer out for everyone. All the workers I saw had masks and gloves.

Safeway in Darnestown had plenty of sanitizing wipes, a spray bottle, some paper towels at the entrance. The employees at checkout wore masks (but some who were restocking did not). The credit card keypad had a plastic covering and they also had sanitizer at checkout. Store was not crowded either. The Giant is a heavy foot traffic area and frankly they should do something for their employees.

[Anonymous]

We are eating what we have and not planning to go until we run out of food at this point. There is no need to have fresh everything all the time, this is an emergency.

And obviously no one is prepared, and the corporations aren't prepared, the grocery stores aren't prepared, and the government is not prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't been to any other store but Giant since this started and it does seem that they are not doing anything to protect their workers. I can't remember the last time they had cart wipes.

It sounds like WF's is better but they are above my price range. Has anyone been to Harris Teeter or Safeway and had a better experience?

Are people finding it better to go first thing in the morning or later at night?

PP above. Safeway is definitely better than Giant in my area. Less crowded and they have wipes and sprays and sanitizer for everyone to use when in the store.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Im sure Im not the only one seeing the problem here in some of these responses. First of all, no need to judge anyone for wanting food. Second, its pointless to pretend everyone can shop online. I understand this is a well-heeled crowd (or is it? Sounds like it is sometimes!) but really its very possible to live in this entire CD metro area and have very different financial realities.

Those enter into this equation when you have people who cannot store extra food because they cant buy extra food because they dont have "extra" money for these things. The delivery costs and markups and tips. I dont know how long I can sustain it. And were my husband to lose his job, it would be a very big problem.

Im lucky to own my home but renters are at a disadvantage as well in so many ways. People in highrises dont have the same delivery options and people who live in single family homes. It can be an ordeal just to get a package, depending on where you live.

Finally, the elderly do not generally shop for groceries using their phone or internet connection and their fixed income doesnt allow for a lot of extras, or ANY extras, or much of anything.

Several posters have described the disparity between grocery stores in terms of safety. THat should not be.

As to it being a histrionic article, whoever said THAT _really_ is in denial.

So what would it take to develop a better system? Would the workers have to unite and make a demand? That apparently worked for some Amazon employees in one warehouse. But thats one warehouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone has room / fridge space etc to store enough for 2-3 weeks. Must be nice.

We are storing all our pantry supplies under dining table. Family of 5. 1 fridge. We havent gone grocery shopping or had food delivered in 3 weeks, though we are now on powdered milk and some canned pasta. But kids haven’t wasted away yet.

I don't know I just feel like I can't do it. What do you do as far as fruits / veggie

We have some canned peas, some frozen bags of stuff. It’s not great and in a week it’ll be just dried fruit. But kids won’t get malnourished in a couple of weeks, and we have multivitamins.

[Anonymous]

Grocery shopping in Wuhan China Feb 25 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btWxp9McF0c

3 vegetable combo packs. (carrots, cabbage and greens/onions it looks like)

fresh and frozen pork

Combo packs delivered by postal service, taxi, bus system

grocery boxes delivered to the entrance of the neighborhood (apartment building)

sorted by community workers who notify residents to get their groceries (to avoid large gatherings)

[Anonymous]

The Giant near us in MoCo has the plastic shield up and only every other cashier open to keep people distant. And had wipes for the carts.

I think they all should have this, plus require everyone shopping to at least have a fabric mask; require people to hand sanitize before they enter the store (they do this on cruise ships at the dining halls!); and make all the aisles one-way. Last time I shopped, I was really irritated at the people that were brushing by me in the aisle. I think if the whole experience felt more like the store was taking it seriously, then maybe customers would too.

Also, Giant and Safeway have unionized workers -- none of the other grocery stores do. The union is advocating for the workers health/safety rights in a way that individual workers cannot do. This is s a good time to support stores with workers that have a collective voice. (Unionized workers are also much more likely to have paid sick days and health insurance, so less likely to be working sick.)

[Anonymous]

You close grocery stores, pharmacies close too! Not every insurance carrier provides mail order option. Access to urgent drugs will be denied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in the Asian store close to us were wearing masks and gloves - from cashiers, stockers to customers. People were maintaining social distancing and no one talked at all.

Our Indian grocery store is not allowing anyone to come in if they are not wearing masks and gloves. You can phone in your order and they will give a slot for curbside pickup.

Even Costco was not giving workers masks and customers were certainly not wearing masks. So stupid!

Where is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a grocery store that is putting together boxes of set produce -- you buy a box and you get what you get.

https://keanyproduce.com/curbside/?fbclid=IwAR1RJKo5xmsSV5G_bXZZmwsb6vFfXgvrpzsU55M3CHtaxFEm3vEnCbHiSX8

I was really excited about this, too, but these boxes are total rip offs. It's price gouging, taking advantage of people during a crisis. Shame on them.

[Anonymous]

They should shut down the grocery stores and only take orders online
Have the workers in the store gather up the groceries and bag them
Someone take them to the car

Or, each grocery store should do a 10 person limit