Covid-19: It Continues

[Italiancook]

My pet peeve is that so few people are wearing masks. I just don't understand this widespread disregard for the health of other people. After I received the vaccine in October, I thought my life would return to normal. My first shopping trip out proved me wrong -- too few people wearing masks.

[chocomouse]

It sounds like my area is doing really well in comparison. I find pretty much all employees and shoppers are wearing masks. A few nearby towns have mandated masks, but most stores just have signs politely requesting that masks be worn. I always wear a mask in public. I do not shop at the big box stores in a distant town. And I shop early in the morning when there are no crowds. But I rarely go anywhere. In the past month, I've been to 3 medical appointments, the pharmacy twice (once for the booster) and twice to the grocery store. I do shop at a chain grocery. We don't have many "needs", but if there is something, I order on-line. Our cases are way up, and my hospital (a large teaching hospital associated with a local college) has stopped doing elective surgery and does not allow visitors to in-patients or to accompany out-patient appointments.

[Italiancook]

I was on the Lehman's website this evening, looking at their New items. They now have lids for regular and wide-mouth jars. lehmans.com Lids listed as USA-made. I don't can, so I can't compare the price. https://www.lehmans.com/category/new#/perpage:500

[BakerAunt]

When we went to Walmart last Thursday, I was looking for matches--which I never found--and in the canning section found a display on an upper shelf that had regular Ball canning lids! I bought two packages.

[skeptic7]

I got my Covid booster shot yesterday. My arm is slightly sore but I haven't noticed any other side affects. I hope more people get vaccinated. I saw an article that said areas which are highly vaccinated are seeing slightly fewer Covid cases than expected just from the vaccines, so herd immunity does work if there is enough of the populace vaccinated.
I still have to get my father vaccinated. I was hoping that his new doctor could look up his record in the state database but found that doesn't work. I can fax the state office for the information and might have to do that.

[Mike Nolan]

Be sure to stay well hydrated, there's some indication that helps reduce the soreness from the vaccine.

[Italiancook]

Don't recall where, but I read today that there's a shortage of wheat. Do you know anything about that, Mike? I guess this means we'll have a shortage of flour, but I have no idea how many months away that may be.

[Mike Nolan]

Spot wheat prices are at multi-year highs, and durum wheat prices have more than doubled on the world market.

High demand and shortages due to weather-related crop issues are to blame. I'm sure higher transportation costs are factored in as well.

Next year could be worse, fertilizer prices have in some cases tripled and farmers are having to decide what to grow and how much they can afford to plant and treat.

I don't think the fall (December) wheat storage reports are out yet, those generally come out in January, but that'll be interesting to watch.

[BakerAunt]

I may have seen the article that Italian Cook saw. It mentioned the drought that affected the wheat crop in Australia. I think the article is from the Eat This, Not That people, and I have found that their accuracy is somewhat suspect. However, there was also drought in some areas of the U.S. this year, so there could well be shortages. I'm pretty well stocked for now.

[Italiancook]

Yes, BakerAunt, we read the same article. I have a friend who lives in the farming region of Oregon. During the growing season this year, she kept me posted on the drought there. The water shortage was so severe that there was a danger drinking water might become compromised. During fire season, farmers couldn't irrigate, because the water was needed for firefighting. So it was easy for me to extrapolate Australia's problem to the U.S., especially since there were droughts in other farming areas of our nation this year.

[Mike Nolan]

I checked for stories on the WSJ and Bloomberg sites.

And here's a 6 year price chart for wheat:
Wheat Prices.

USA is a major wheat exporter, and wheat exports have increased, but most of the supply chain issues in early 2020 were due to changes in demand patterns, especially at the retail level. Wheat in storage never reached critically low levels.

The BBGA forum has had multiple threads on commercial bakers having both availability and quality issues. As we all know, if you switch flours, your recipes may need adjusting.

[BakerAunt]

One of my nephews (vaccinated but not yet boosted) tested positive for Covid after coming into contact with one or two people at his work who tested positive for it. He was and continues to be asymptomatic, but he visited his parents before he knew about his co-worker, so then they had to be tested. My sister, who had received her booster nine days earlier, continues to test negative. However, my brother-in-law tested positive, had trouble breathing, and had to be hospitalized for treatment. (He's home now.) He had been dragging his feet on getting the booster, even though he was eligible before she was. After hearing her story, several of my sister's friends immediately made appointments to get their booster shots.

Moral: Boosters are not optional.

[Mike Nolan]

Our granddaughter's high school is recommending covid tests for students before they come back after the holiday break, especially those who traveled out of town.

[Mike Nolan]

The mask mandate expired here yesterday, but I'm going to continue to wear one when shopping, not that I plan to do a lot of shopping.

[cwcdesign]

Our company reinstated the mask mandate for employees starting today. It hasn’t gotten here yet - I gather it’s bad in Atlanta - but because of the holidays we have a lot of out-of-Townes.

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