Dear Pittsburghers,

We’re a practical bunch. Give us a challenge, and we’re going to handle it. Sure, there might be some griping as we gear up. Even a few thundering expletives. But we’re going to do the right thing because we care about each other. In a crisis, we can, and we do, think about the greater good. COVID-19 is no exception.

We need to eat. We’re cooking almost every meal at home. Trips to the grocery store are absolutely necessary. How do we think as a community about best shopping practices?

Let’s start with the advice of the experts. It is said that the best course of action is to assume that each of us has the virus and to take the precautions we would if we knew that to be true. That makes our first tip completely obvious: If you’re sneezing and coughing, just don’t go to the grocery store. Ask for help from family, friends or neighbors instead.

Let’s sanitize before entering the grocery store. Clean your hands thoroughly before you leave your car with hand sanitizer, an antibacterial wipe, or even with a Lysol- or rubbing alcohol-saturated paper towel you’ve popped into a Ziplock bag before leaving the house. Take that Ziplock with you and use the wipe to clean your cart handle.

Let’s maintain the recommended six foot distance from fellow shoppers. A nice smile and a nod of encouragement goes a long way in negotiating this detail. A kind word to staff can’t go amiss, either.

Let’s shop with our eyes and not with our hands. Stand back and study your options. Only reach out to grab something when you’re sure it’s going home with you. No squeezing the tomatoes until further notice.

Make a plan. Don’t go to the store more often than you need to. Make a list and don’t linger. Consider going at non-peak times at the end of the day. If you’re a senior citizen, go in the morning during senior hours.

Avoid items with WIC codes. That stands for “Women, Infants and Children,” and products with the WIC code are part of our government’s nutrition assistance program. People in need are required to channel their purchases to these products, and it’s a good deed to steer clear wherever possible.

There’s no need to hoard anything. Not one thing. Buy what you need for the week and go home. Hoarding is wasteful, and puts lots of people in a bad place. Don’t do it.

Don’t bring those eco-friendly cloth bags to the store...just until this situation passes. They may not be as sanitary as we need everything at the grocery store to be right now.

Once you’ve loaded the groceries into your car, sanitize your hands again. If you’ve worn gloves, please don’t follow the example of a few untidy culprits who rip them off their hands and toss them onto the parking lot. Throw the gloves away properly at a store trash can, please.

When you get home, wash your hands again. Consider wiping down package surfaces. Wash your produce well.

AND THEN COOK! The heat of the kitchen is humankind’s millennia-old disinfecting technique…the tastiest germ-killer of all. It’s also a family activity, an emotionally satisfying thing to do, and a creative outlet.

Last step in the grocery protocol? Let TABLE Magazine hear from you about what you’re making and enjoying…and how you’re doing in the midst of the COVID-19 situation. We’re thinking about you.

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