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Food spending in the United States during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant increase in the unemployment rate and a decline in consumer income. At the same time, the public health responses to the pandemic, such as lockdowns and business closures, disrupted the food supply chain. These pandemic-driven changes could lead to a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dhakal, Chandra, Acharya, Binod, Wang, Shaonan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9381923/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35991077
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.912922
Descripción
Sumario:The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant increase in the unemployment rate and a decline in consumer income. At the same time, the public health responses to the pandemic, such as lockdowns and business closures, disrupted the food supply chain. These pandemic-driven changes could lead to a shift in food spending behaviors and potentially exacerbate the food insecurity situation. Leveraging the nationally representative dataset from the 2017–2020 consumer expenditure surveys, we employ a two-part model to assess the changes in weekly household spending on total food, food-at-home (FAH), and food-away-from-home (FAFH) between the pre-pandemic and pandemic period in the United States. Our finding shows a predicted marginal decline in FAFH expenditure by 33.7% but an increase in FAH spending by 6.9% during the pandemic. The increase in FAH spending could not fully offset the decrease in FAFH spending, leading to a decline in total food spending by 12.6%. The results could provide a basis for future studies on food insecurity, nutrient intake, and healthy consumption during the pandemic.