The post-storm meat hunt

Like everyone in Baton Rouge, I’ve been in touch with my canned food side.

In the days after Gustav, (before we chickened out and fled to Georgia), my family of five and I wrenched open tins of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, Campbell’s Soup and Hormel Chili, thankful for the minimal preparation time and a chance at thoughtless cooking. Kind of reminded me of my Vienna sausage-filled childhood, but man, did it get old fast, particularly when candlelit meals became infested with mosquitoes and there was no sign of immediate relief. I used to think there was survivalist glamour in bunkering down for storms, and even relished in stockpiling non-perishables. Crazy. Now, I feel what we all do: There’s nothing fun about a hurricane.

Thankfully, the number of power-on supermarkets is increasing, lessening that bread-line feeling that descended on the community over the weekend. By Monday, a week after the storm, Calandro’s had received its first shipment of meat—beef, primarily, with some pork and chicken thrown in. It’ll take two weeks to get their meat counter fully stocked again, reported Jesse, the butcher. On Tuesday, Calandro’s fresh produce amounted to seriously-reduced plastic-wrapped trios of bananas, along with a welcoming bin of brand new gleaming eggplants, crisp bell peppers and fresh squash and cukes. There was neither garlic, nor milk to be had that day, proving the point, that shopping, at least in the short term, means making due or making multiple traffic-infused stops.

And that brings me back to canned goods. For years, I’ve avoided them, even scoffing at friends who stock up on them due to pressed schedules and limited grocery shopping time. But I must say, there’s some descent stuff out there, like the seasoned greens of Glory Foods and the clean taste of Amy’s. But even if my pantry is filled with stuff I formerly snubbed, there’s something comforting about a stash of cooked-to-death veggies and pasta-in-a-can that never go bad when the lights go out.