A 47-year-old woman who bought everything she could when the coronavirus crisis began had to toss most of her stash to the bin.
Emmie Shute, a mother-of-two, grabbed meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits as much as she could despite only having three mouths to feed.
But then, she had to bin most of it after it’s gone moldy, and this did not stop her from purchasing more.
In an interview with Fabulous, Emmie said: “PUNNETS of rotten strawberries, mouldy bread, unwanted packets of Jaffa Cakes, out-of-date peas and carrots… The bin bag was groaning under the weight of unused food I’d stockpiled when the coronavirus crisis hit.
“But as I heaved it into the already overflowing bin, I didn’t feel a shred of remorse.
“A single mum, I’d do anything to protect and provide for my children, Henry, 15, and Katie, 11 – especially now. I’ve never been a hoarder in the past, but when the panic buying started, I just did what everyone else was doing.”
She continued: “The Government was telling us not to panic and only buy the essentials, but what if I got sick and couldn’t go to the shop? Would food deliveries stop, and the supermarkets run out of food to sell?
“All of a sudden it was like we were plunged into a disaster movie. With only a small freezer, however, I wasn’t able to store the vast majority of the fresh produce, so it went off and had to be binned within the week.
“The kids, who normally eat things like spaghetti bolognese or sausages and chips for tea, simply refused to touch a lot of the other things – like cans of chickpeas, pickled onions, and teriyaki sauce, which I wouldn’t normally buy, but I thought I should stock up on non-perishables.
“Needing to make room for things they did like, I tried to donate them to a local homeless charity and women’s refuge, but whenever I rang they never answered the phone.
“When I offered them to friends, they were too scared to accept them in case they contracted coronavirus – even though we have no symptoms – so as a last resort, I put them in a box on the street with a sign to say they were free, but my neighbours didn’t want them either.
“Judging by their similarly overflowing bins, they’re in exactly the same situation as me.”
She added: “The fact that Boris Johnson is currently in intensive care just reinforces my decision to keep doing it. Even he isn’t immune from Covid-19 – it could strike any of us down at any time.
“If I had to self-isolate for 14 days and there was no one who could drop food round for us, at least Katie and Henry would have enough in to keep going. None of us knows what’s around the corner, for the country or ourselves.
“And I’m not willing to take that gamble when it means my children could end up going hungry.”
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Replaced!