Remember when the Covid-lockdown began in March? It was so surprising–and alarming–to see so many empty grocery store shelves. Our sudden grocery-buying spree caught grocers flat-footed because of a business practice called “Just-In-Time” or “J.I.T.”
This practice saves businesses money because they can avoid having a lot of inventory on hand. Instead, right before running out they order more to arrive Just-In-Time before their shelves go empty.
The pandemic revealed the big problem with J.I.T. Focusing so heavily on cost efficiencies left grocers unable to respond to unusual disruptions–like a lockdown.
Shoppers Got Caught, Too Grocers weren’t the only ones caught flat-footed back in March. We consumers suddenly faced empty kitchen cupboards because we had jumped onto the JIT bandwagon, too. Whenever we felt like cooking something, we just made a run to the store.
The Virtue of Preparedness We’ve probably learned that a little preparedness is not a bad idea (something I’m sure our grandmothers would have warned us, too!)
The Pantry to the Rescue In the kitchen, “preparedness” takes form as a pantry that is helpfully and healthfully stocked.
Now before yawning and moving on to the next post, consider this: When the lockdown hit, I didn’t have to panic buy because I had a solid base of staples. I just picked up a lot of fresh vegetables (which were never in low supply!) and I was set for three weeks. Would you be happy to go three weeks without tromping through the grocery aisles?!!
Beyond Pandemics–Everyday Time Savings! The pandemic certainly brought the pantry’s value to light. But the pantry’s value extends far beyond being prepared for random calamities and challenges.
The pantry also saves a huge amount of our precious time—
which frees us up to make healthful meals.
Understand the Time Sinkhole Every shopping trip has some built-in “time overhead.” Whether you’re shopping for 5 items or 50, you still have to:
- get out the door (5 min)
- drive to the store (5 to 15 min)
- park and get in, get a cart, get situated (5 min)
- check out (5 to 10 min)
- load the groceries into your car (3 min) and
- drive home (5 to 15 min).
Your total time overhead: 28 to 53 minutes!
Who doesn’t complain about not having time to make healthy meals? Well here’s the answer: Put your pantry to work! With every shopping trip you avoid, you get rewarded with the 28 to 53 minutes which would otherwise have become wasted “sunk costs,” as they say in the business world.
Putting the Pantry to Work The key for reducing sunk costs lies in maximizing each trip to the store.
- Stop making “quick trips to the store” every time you want to cook something.
- Keep track of things you buy frequently that can last a long time, like canned goods, grains, nuts, beans, frozen foods, etc.
- And then, when you do go shopping, buy two, three or four cans of e.g., tomatoes, not just one.
Not only will you save a lot of time–you’ll be prepared for whatever hiccups might happen, from getting sick or breaking a leg to your car breaking down, severe weather, unexpected guests–or a pandemic.
Wild Hairs You might chafe at the idea of cooking inside the boundaries of your pantry. What if you feel like making something spontaneously? Nothing about a pantry prevents that.
First, if your pantry is well and helpfully stocked, you’ll have plenty of interesting ingredients to make a huge variety of dishes. Secondly, having a pantry doesn’t mean you can’t stop at the store for something special–as long as you’re willing to sink 28 to 53 minutes into the outing!
Boring Meals? Not at all! I’m always amazed at how many of my meals are sourced completely from the pantry–and they are anything but the same old thing!
Learn More About the Pantry at September’s Class