Letting Others Shop For Your Food

[EdF]

Yep, the old "control freak" thing. Been there, and have learned to "roll with the punches" a bit more and treat something I might have once considered sub-optimal as a challenge.

[holehogg]

My family refuse to shop for meat for me. Even if they come across a great deal in store they will not pick out a piece.
Why not?
I'm accused of always being to critical of their selection and then ask a hindered and one questions about what the other pieces looked like. Why they picked that particular one, was there not one with less of this and more of that etc.
It's tough being me.

[rickgregory]

Produce can be hit or miss. Meat is fine if you're getting chicken or ground meats.

[BBQPhil]

Doing much the same. Was skeptical of Instacart when it first came out, but it’s been a godsend as we’re avoiding stores. Generally they do ok except when they mistook a cabbage for a head of lettuce. Don’t do meats except for chicken. It’s nice how you can text back and forth while shopping. Use them for Costco, Safeway and a few others. Also use Whole Foods but their software can’t compare to Instacart.

[Jerod Broussard]

I jump right in. I'm elbow to elbow with other humanoids daily at work. Ain't no trip to the store going to significantly increase my viral load. Quick trips lately since our town gets raped due to being on the evacuation route. Slim pickens on Sunday in both wolly world and dollar world.

[Steve R.]

I insist on shopping for my own meat and produce. I need to actually see it and put my hands on it. No way I'm trusting some random person to know what they're doing with that.

[HouseHomey]

I do a great deal of shopping PLUS use amazon fresh, Whole Foods, Walmart, Sams, Amazon and target. Most of my meat I buy or order.

I am not opposed to spreading the love but can/will be loyal to the right entity for things.

[Michael_in_TX]

Like many of us I am sure, my COVID-19 risk tolerance has evolved significantly over the past several months. Still, I am doing what I can to avoid any indoor environments in which there are a great many people....like grocery stores.

We've been using Instacart and I've warmed up to it after being incredibly skeptical. With the exception of some specialty items, the selection of items on the app mirrors the brands that are available in the store. (HEB for you Texas folks.) Occasionally, they will get something completely wrong, but it is relatively rare and a refund happens in a day or so. One does have to be a bit careful on the app to note the sizes the products, as my 128 oz of chicken bouillon in the pantry attests.

Now that a lot of stores are doing their own in-house delivery and curbside pickup, Instacart has gotten a lot better at picking produce, which has made me quite happy. (My HEB always had good produce to begin with, so that helps.)

They are still struggling a bit with meat, unfortunately. Chicken seems to be reliable, but ground beef can be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes they'll get me 90/10 sirloin instead of 80/20 ground chuck, even if I selected the latter. If I am very particular to specify the pork in the cyrovac bag, I'll get the right pork butt that I want. I'm sure I'll end up with a pork loin instead of pork tenderloins some day, too.

I still haven't gotten the courage to have them pick up steaks or other cow cuts yet. I'm particular about those. I'm going to have them try for an eye of round roast this weekend and I'll see what I get. (Alas, they don't "support" going up to the meat counter and getting the prime cuts there. I wish they did, as I wouldn't even worry about it then.)

Anyone else using such a service? It still seems so surreal that the last time I was in a grocery store was March 11.