The Government Wants to Decide What Items Are Essential Purchases and What Things You’re Not Allowed to Buy

The Government Wants to Decide What Items Are Essential Purchases and What Things You’re Not Allowed to Buy by Daisy Luther for The Organic Prepper

GNN Note – Monday April 6 after reading this article, and seeing several others of the same variety, it seemed prudent to look around, online, to see if seeds were still available. There were a few varieties available and everything seemed okay. After considering making a purchase the thought escaped and work was again front and center. A few minutes passed and I went back to the source, Amazon, and one of the items had sold out and would be unavailable indefinitely. I found one of the other sources that offered what I wanted and, having never planted a vegetable garden in my life thought this was the time to learn and ordered several packets. With the continual threats of “life is not going back to normal” it may be time for you to consider learning to garden.

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Living under lockdown restrictions, prevalent in nearly every state, is about to get a whole lot worse. The government in the United States and Canada has decided to take away the guesswork in the stores that are still open and decide for you what’s “essential” and what’s not.

When I have gone to the store to pick up groceries (I’m still getting fresh produce while I can), I also like to pick up a couple of things that are pleasant diversions: magazines, a crossword puzzle book, coloring pencils, some craft supplies. It’s nice to have some things that are enjoyable on hand to keep lockdown from feeling so grim and torturous. If the store is already open, getting a sunny yellow pillow for the living room is a pick-me-up, not a frivolous jaunt to a place I wasn’t already going. When we had a birthday in the family, we even picked up a few small gifts on our regular trip to the grocery store to provide a sense of normalcy.

But the days of getting a random item to brighten a family member’s day may be numbered. The government (at least in some places) wants to make this already unpleasant time as dismal as possible for us all.

Vermont has started a worrisome trend.

Vermont has decided to choose for you what is essential and what is not, banning the sale of non-essential items at stores like Target, Walmart, and Costco.

The Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) is directing large “big box” retailers, such as Walmart, Target and Costco, with in-store sales of food, beverage and pharmacy, as well as electronics, toys, clothing, and the like to cease in-person sales of non-essential items in order to reduce the number of people coming into the stores.

“Large ‘big box’ retailers generate significant shopping traffic by virtue of their size and the variety of goods offered in a single location,” said Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Lindsay Kurrle.  “This volume of shopping traffic significantly increases the risk of further spread of this dangerous virus to Vermonters and the viability of Vermont’s health care system. We are directing these stores to put public health first and help us reduce the number of shoppers by requiring on-line ordering, delivery and curbside pickup whenever possible, and by stopping the sale of non-essential items.” (source)

Retailers are asked to close certain areas of the stores, rope them off to deny access, or pull non-essentials from their shelves.

What’s considered non-essential?

The Burlington Free Press reports the following items have been deemed non-essential purchases:

• Arts and crafts items.
• Beauty supplies.
• Carpet and flooring.
• Clothes.
• Consumer electronics.
• Entertainment (books, music, movies).
• Furniture.
• Home and garden.
• Jewelry.
• Paint.
• Photo services.
• Sports equipment.
• Toys.

So a store you’re already at is telling you that grabbing some hand lotion to soothe your dry, cracked skin from the constant application of hand sanitizer is non-essential? Getting a book to read while you’re locked down is against the rules? You can’t do a home improvement project while you’re stuck at home?

I fail to see how this is going to stop the spread of a coronavirus if the shopper is already at the store and the employees are also already at the store.

In fact, it seems to me that this would be helpful to our gasping and dying economy. But what would I know? Dinesh Iyer, Assistant Professor of Management at Rutgers School of Business-Camden, says the stores don’t need our frivolous little purchases.

“I think the economy can wait,” he said. “Most corporations have access to debt and finances that are not available to the common folk.”

Corporations can “leverage their assets and tide through difficult times” by borrowing larger sums of money at lower interest rates and more frequently than you or I can,” he said.

“We have an opportunity to do all the things around the house that we have been putting off, spend time with family, learn a new skill,” Iyer said.

He even cautions against online shopping.

“The online shopping can wait,” Iyer said. “But if you must, you can always add the items of interest to your wish-list. And after the crisis, if you still need it, go for it. In the meantime, conserve the resources. You will be saving lives.” (source)

It’s rather curious how Iyer thinks us “common folk” will be able to do those things around the house and learn new skills without the supplies to do so.

One of the most alarming things is that garden supplies are considered non-essential.

Of all the times in the world you need most to plant a garden, now is the time. But in Vermont’s directive, even the sale of garden supplies is non-essential.

…showrooms and garden sections of large home improvement centers should be closed.  (source)

And readers shared this photo from a store in Vermont.

The government of Vermont says that it isn’t really accurate.

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