In the annals of human history there have been few global events that have shaken the world, as the emergence of a mysterious new ailment threatening human existence in such a wide scale as that of an infectious pandemic. That we are now living through such a time, after the last one a century ago of a similar magnitude brings up a widely-shared sense of disbelief. After all, in a century, human ingenuity has matured science to the extent that surely research and scientific breakthoughs should be able to rescue us from a threat such as this? Ah, before we even came to this desperate point, the question looms; why hadn't government, science and health authorities taken steps to prepare our institutions to mount an instant response to defeating a health threat before it even established its presence?

This is yet to be seen. And yet to be seen is the amount of damage in human life that this novel coronavirus out of China will wreak before it is brought under control. Everyone is vulnerable to its depredations, but of course some of us more vulnerable than others, and we personally just happen to fall into a particularly vulnerable population group since we're approaching our mid-80s, and both of us have underlying serious medical conditions.

So it was with relief that I signed up online to be able to shop for our groceries remotely, then simply pick them up at a designated place and time. Canada's largest grocery retailer had initiated such a program well prior to the current pandemic. Where one accesses one of their outlets like the Loblaw Superstore close to where we live, and where we never shop because of the sky-high prices. We had, years ago, shopped there for several months, paying those exorbitant prices, then finally returned to a supermarket where the same fresh goods are available but at a more reasonable price range.

Under these very special, trying circumstances, though, I resolved that I would shop online and not expose us directly to the possibility of disease transmission. I sat down before my computer this morning and began to navigate the Loblaw system of online grocery ordering. It was dismaying. The relief I'd felt in signing up and anticipating the rewards inherent in shopping remotely, minimizing contact with others quickly dissipated. The food choices that came up were, for the most part, pre-prepared foodstuffs, convenience foods, organic foods, or just plain junk.

It seemed to take me forever to get through all the categories I was interested in; fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, pantry products. My incredulity just grew, that such items posing as food proliferates, while whole foods, fresh foods, are represented by such few choices. Having, however, made my choices, I went to the checkout, and was reminded that before completing my credit information I would have to select a pick-up time. That's where I moved to, only to discover that there were no pick-up times available.  The chart giving date, time-of-day options clearly showed it was in lock-down; no such arrangements could be made. I moved from March into April and it was just the same; the option to select a pick-up time was inoperative.

The largest grocery retailer in the country which has gone out of its way to assure Canadians that there is no shortage of edible products and that the company, Loblaw, having the best interests of its customers uppermost in concern, was dedicated to offering quality products, a reasonable shopping experience, and shopping options, yet was unable to fulfill the function to which it has dedicated itself.

For us, it's back to square one. Shopping at our usual, reliable grocery outlet where we can indulge in filling our refrigerator and cupboards with whole foods, the basic foods we need for nutrition and the pleasures inherent in eating meals that appeal to our visual aesthetic, our hunger for fresh and natural ingredients, and the pleasure we take in preparing for ourselves the finest food choices that agriculture can provide.