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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, August 25, 2005 Not just gas shortages any more I hear more and more often from the owners of small convenience stores in rural areas that their bread, dairy and/or grocery vendors will no longer drive that far to supply them. The cost of gas and diesel fuel has made it unprofitable to run a refrigerated truck twenty miles out into the boonies to keep a small store stocked. Some stores simply don't sell bread or milk any more. Some store owners drive to a Costco or Sam's Club once a week and buy at near retail themselves, in order to keep at least a small inventory of dairy products and bread on hand. Others make deals with friends who own stores in larger towns; the friend contracts for enough for both stores, and gets reimbursed by the owner of the more remote store.One might conclude that buying at a convenience store isn't the wisest way to spend one's money anyway. But many of these stores serve an elderly, poor population that may have no easy way to get into town to the supermarket. Many of them are disabled enough that they couldn't drive even if they could afford a car, and many have no family members living nearby who could help. In some counties, non-emergency transport is available to take people into town to shop, or for doctor's appointments and the like. But this isn't available everywhere, and it often seems as though the most needy areas have the least services of this sort. So these little convenience stores in the most remote areas provide an important service, and they are having an increasingly difficult time staying stocked. Some of them are just going out of business. I arrived at one store to find that it was closing that same day. The owner had fallen and broken her hip, and while she was more or less ambulatory in terms of taking care of herself, she could no longer drive. Her dairy vendor had long since stopped stocking the store, and her bread vendor had told her the previous month that he couldn't afford to drive out there any more either. She said to me with a pained little laugh, "All these years I've been trying to keep things on hand so the old widows around here could walk to the grocery store. Now I'm just another old widow like them, and I don't know how I'm going to get my food either."As gas prices continue to rise, I expect to hear more stories like this. Churches and social services will step in to help to some extent, of course, but I worry that the first response will be to move people out of their homes into assisted living, something that costs a whole lot more than keeping a remotely located grocery store stocked. posted by Liz @ 10:51 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I hear more and more often from the owners of small convenience stores in rural areas that their bread, dairy and/or grocery vendors will no longer drive that far to supply them. The cost of gas and diesel fuel has made it unprofitable to run a refrigerated truck twenty miles out into the boonies to keep a small store stocked. Some stores simply don't sell bread or milk any more. Some store owners drive to a Costco or Sam's Club once a week and buy at near retail themselves, in order to keep at least a small inventory of dairy products and bread on hand. Others make deals with friends who own stores in larger towns; the friend contracts for enough for both stores, and gets reimbursed by the owner of the more remote store.One might conclude that buying at a convenience store isn't the wisest way to spend one's money anyway. But many of these stores serve an elderly, poor population that may have no easy way to get into town to the supermarket. Many of them are disabled enough that they couldn't drive even if they could afford a car, and many have no family members living nearby who could help. In some counties, non-emergency transport is available to take people into town to shop, or for doctor's appointments and the like. But this isn't available everywhere, and it often seems as though the most needy areas have the least services of this sort. So these little convenience stores in the most remote areas provide an important service, and they are having an increasingly difficult time staying stocked. Some of them are just going out of business. I arrived at one store to find that it was closing that same day. The owner had fallen and broken her hip, and while she was more or less ambulatory in terms of taking care of herself, she could no longer drive. Her dairy vendor had long since stopped stocking the store, and her bread vendor had told her the previous month that he couldn't afford to drive out there any more either. She said to me with a pained little laugh, "All these years I've been trying to keep things on hand so the old widows around here could walk to the grocery store. Now I'm just another old widow like them, and I don't know how I'm going to get my food either."As gas prices continue to rise, I expect to hear more stories like this. Churches and social services will step in to help to some extent, of course, but I worry that the first response will be to move people out of their homes into assisted living, something that costs a whole lot more than keeping a remotely located grocery store stocked.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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