Some things are predictable when it comes to pandemics: you know before it descends upon us that citizens across the world will freak out and panic buy items such as canned and dried goods, shelf-stable items, and toilet paper/paper products, but what about all the random items that you don’t necessarily think are necessities, but somehow have increased in purchases and general demand/inquiry? Here is a list of items I’ve seen across multiple news sources that have been a little surprising to me:

1. Thermometers (I guess we all think we have the virus now, huh?)
2. Raw chicken (boneless chicken, particularly breasts, and mince make sense, but even whole! Whole chickens never sell out.. until now!)
3. Dried beans (but even more peculiar are the heirloom varieties run by small family businesses across the country)
4. Flour (the gluten-free fad totally bites the dust when a pandemic happens…)
5. SOURDOUGH STARTER – bakeries and sourdough starter companies that have 50-100-year old starters are reaching their peak demand!! I guess I wasn’t that original in wanting to use this time to begin my sourdough journey)
6. Live chicks / hens: People suddenly think they want to self-provide food by raising hens to lay eggs for them to eat, not to mention have their own mini farms. Do these people have ANY idea what they are getting into? Do they even have the proper space/conditions for this to not kill the chicks…?!)