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U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic upended how many Americans acquire foods. In this paper, we analyze eight food acquisition activities at different points in the pandemic, which allows us to evaluate how food acquisition changed as case rates changed and vaccine rollouts occurred. We collected data from three...

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Autores principales: Ellison, Brenna, Ocepek, Melissa, Kalaitzandonakes, Maria
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9282540/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35834568
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271522
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author Ellison, Brenna
Ocepek, Melissa
Kalaitzandonakes, Maria
author_facet Ellison, Brenna
Ocepek, Melissa
Kalaitzandonakes, Maria
author_sort Ellison, Brenna
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic upended how many Americans acquire foods. In this paper, we analyze eight food acquisition activities at different points in the pandemic, which allows us to evaluate how food acquisition changed as case rates changed and vaccine rollouts occurred. We collected data from three nationally representative online samples in September 2020, December 2020, and March 2021. We evaluate changes across time and across demographics using a multivariate probit model. Across time, we find that in-person grocery shopping remained extremely common (over 90%) throughout the pandemic. Food acquisition activities with less in-person contact (e.g., ordering from a meal kit service, online grocery shopping) peaked in December 2020, likely due to the surge in cases during that period. Ordering take-out from a restaurant remained common throughout the pandemic, but indoor dining increased significantly in March 2021 when vaccines were becoming more widely available. Food acquisition activities also varied across consumer groups, particularly indoor and outdoor restaurant dining. Overall our results offer evidence that in-person grocery shopping is a staple food acquisition activity that is unlikely to be changed; however, there is a segment of consumers who complement their in-person grocery shopping with online grocery shopping options. Further, relative to grocery stores, restaurants may be more vulnerable to surges in COVID-19 case rates. We conclude with implications for grocery retailers and restaurants as they continue to navigate operational challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-92825402022-07-15 U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic Ellison, Brenna Ocepek, Melissa Kalaitzandonakes, Maria PLoS One Research Article The COVID-19 pandemic upended how many Americans acquire foods. In this paper, we analyze eight food acquisition activities at different points in the pandemic, which allows us to evaluate how food acquisition changed as case rates changed and vaccine rollouts occurred. We collected data from three nationally representative online samples in September 2020, December 2020, and March 2021. We evaluate changes across time and across demographics using a multivariate probit model. Across time, we find that in-person grocery shopping remained extremely common (over 90%) throughout the pandemic. Food acquisition activities with less in-person contact (e.g., ordering from a meal kit service, online grocery shopping) peaked in December 2020, likely due to the surge in cases during that period. Ordering take-out from a restaurant remained common throughout the pandemic, but indoor dining increased significantly in March 2021 when vaccines were becoming more widely available. Food acquisition activities also varied across consumer groups, particularly indoor and outdoor restaurant dining. Overall our results offer evidence that in-person grocery shopping is a staple food acquisition activity that is unlikely to be changed; however, there is a segment of consumers who complement their in-person grocery shopping with online grocery shopping options. Further, relative to grocery stores, restaurants may be more vulnerable to surges in COVID-19 case rates. We conclude with implications for grocery retailers and restaurants as they continue to navigate operational challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Library of Science 2022-07-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9282540/ /pubmed/35834568 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271522 Text en © 2022 Ellison et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Ellison, Brenna
Ocepek, Melissa
Kalaitzandonakes, Maria
U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short U.S. household food acquisition behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort u.s. household food acquisition behaviors during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9282540/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35834568
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271522
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