Hoarding the wrong response to our fears
PEOPLE STOCKPILING WHEN THEY SHOULD BE WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY AND YET WE KEEP FORGETTING THAT WE HAVE TO BUILD THAT PUBLIC TRUST.
Leaving an empty shelf in his wake, a man accompanied by a small child cleared out every last face mask at the Shoppers Drug Mart in my neighbourhood last week. His behaviour, although notable in its selfishness, is by no means atypical. Driven by fears of COVID-19, many are now living by the “leave no mask behind” maxim.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has made face masks a hot commodity, although health authorities have unequivocally stated there’s no need for healthy people to wear them (and they may even increase your risk of infection). Reams of toilet paper, cases of hand sanitizer, bottled water, energy drinks, fruit snacks, pretzels and dried beans are also big sellers, according to late-february figures from Nielsen.
Since federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu suggested stocking up on food and medications as a precautionary measure last week, people have taken this recommendation to extremes. Emergency preparedness has swiftly transitioned into a spate of panic buying in Canada and elsewhere.
Photos of empty shelves are flooding social media, feeding the compulsion to follow suit; a nagging feeling that if others are stockpiling, you should be too. As a result, stores in countries including Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. have started limiting sales of everyday household items — such as toilet paper, milk, eggs and rice, CNN Business reports.
It all amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy: Spurred by worries of scarcity, stockpiling has only served to disrupt global supply chains. All the while, in our consumer frenzy, we’re losing sight of the sole purpose of preparing for an outbreak: being able to care for yourself or your loved ones, should one of you fall ill.
“A good way to deal with this for yourself is to ask, ‘Am I buying this because I’m really going to need it if I’m sick, or am I just freaking out right now?’” says Alison Thompson, professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, and a specialist in the ethics of pandemics and prioritization of scarce resources. “The point of all this is not so you can live off the grid for six months. It’s so that you (don’t need to) go outside if you get sick. You don’t really need that much stuff.”
Through focusing solely on what we can buy — feeling content in a trip to Costco as the beginning and end of coronavirus preparations — we’re ignoring something far more elemental.
Intangible yet essential, solidarity is key to surviving an outbreak, adds Thompson. Rather than compulsively hoarding toilet paper, our time would be far better spent cultivating contacts in the community and building a support system.
When we act selfishly — stocking our pantries with goods we may never use while others are doing without — we’re not thinking about how our actions affect our neighbours. Instead of giving over to coronavirus fears and putting our faith in an outlay, she emphasizes, practicing empathy and considering what we can do to help our communities is critical before an outbreak occurs.
“It’s very hard during a public health emergency to actually build the community cohesion that you need. That’s why there has been such a focus on pandemic planning since SARS (in 2003), because we know that is a key determinant of how we will come to the other side of all of this,” says Thompson. “And yet we keep forgetting that we have to build that public trust, maintain resources for public health, and try to build community cohesion prior to an outbreak.”
The line between panic buying and emergency preparedness is a fine one, she explains. And while the urge to stockpile is understandable — “We can all go there if we let ourselves” — it isn’t logical, or necessary. Rather than stockpiling, take your time and add to your larder gradually, Thompson advises. Choose one or two items each time you’re at the store; a week’s worth of supplies is all that’s needed.
Images of bare shelves and a fear of missing out are distracting us from truly preparing for an outbreak. In concerning ourselves with the availability of products we have no immediate need for — stockpiling items that will likely gather dust — we’re ignoring the importance of togetherness, and the sense of security that comes with having connections you can count on.
“It’s much easier to feel safe if you know that you’ve got a buddy down the street who can actually help you out if you are in trouble,” says Thompson. Instead of buying things in the name of preparedness, concentrate on putting those supports in place. “If we can get the focus off the can of beans and more onto the relational aspect of all of this — what do we need from community to get through this cohesively? — I think that would help.”