No need to hoard

Panic buying moves from toilet paper to meat

Let’s hope we learned our lesson with toilet paper.

As problems with the nation’s meatprocessing plants continue with the coronavirus crisis, many Americans have become worried about a potential shortage on the horizon and they’ve started stocking up on meat.

In some cases, the stocking up has become more like hoarding, prompting some retailers, including Giant Eagle and Costco, to limit how much meat customers can purchase with each visit.

If all of this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a lot like the run on toilet paper in March. Consumers concerned that the coronavirus outbreak would lead to a shortage on toilet paper began emptying store shelves of the product, which then led to a shortage of toilet paper.

For weeks toilet paper was difficult, or impossible, to come by in many stores until suppliers could restock the paper products aisles, and consumers relaxed their fixation on filling bathroom cabinets with stacks and stacks of the stuff.

Economists sized up the excessive toilet-paper purchasing as panic buying, an irrational reaction to the pandemic or the shutdown orders that accompanied it. Americans, it seemed, were trying to soothe their anxiety by taking control of what little they could — being sure they would never, ever run out of toilet paper.

Weeks later we can see the episode for what it was, a somewhat silly overreaction.

And that should be in the backs of shoppers’ minds when they see the signs in grocery stores limiting meat purchases.

There is no need to hoard meat. Stocking up on more than is reasonable for your family to consume will, actually, bring about the meat shortage many people may already fear.

And if you’re tempted to clear the meat case of ground chuck and boneless chicken breasts, just remember the hall closet that is stuffed to the ceiling with extra toilet paper, take a deep breath, and move on with your shopping cart.