I despise shopping: the fluorescent lights, the spending of money, the inane conversations about children with strangers. It's easy to convince myself not to go if people might be sick there. Since I have the luxury of doing so, I can leave what's available for those who haven't had the ability to stock up.

This is important. Stocking up when items are scarce is hoarding, but stocking up when there is plenty available is the opposite of hoarding. If I'm stocked up, I have the power to remove the pressure of my own consumption from the system just when the system is most stressed, therefore allowing others to get more of what they need.

I had never actually given our food storage and production systems a good test, though. Now I have, and I've learned some important things.

To be clear, my kitchen wasn't perfectly sealed off from the world. A friend gave us some milk before the stay-at-home order, and my mom brought us some baked goods while I gave her beets and eggs. My husband bought cheese once. But other than that, we've been eating at home.