Economic Access to Food and COVID-19: New Challenges for the Russian Exclave

The economic access to food is a very sensitive topic and serves as one of the significant criteria for the standard of living of the population, especially during periods of crisis. In this regard, assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food market is of particular interest, especially in border regions, where dependence on imported food is usually significant (in the case of competitive prices) and cross-border shopping trips are typical for consumer behavior. The aim of the study was to identify changes in the economic access to food during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Russian exclave, that is, Kaliningrad oblast. It is characterized by particular vulnerability to crises, low food self-sufficiency and systemic problems in the labor market. The results of the study are based on an analysis of statistical indicators that assess the standard of living of the population and food prices in 2020–2021, as well as the results of a mass survey of the population conducted by the authors in September 2021. The study showed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the reduction of the economic food availability is expressed in the traditional problems of falling incomes and rising food prices in times of crisis. The most affected groups of the population are low-income residents of the region, including the unemployed, pensioners, and low-skilled workers with a primary or secondary education. The deterioration of their financial situation against the backdrop of outpacing the country’s average inflation rate in the region affects the almost two-fold increase in the proportion of residents of the region (up to 64%) whose food expenditures accounted for more than 40% of income. In the gradients of changes in the economic access to food at the local level, the influence of not only the center-periphery disproportions, but also the factor of the border location has been noted. It defines the periphery of the border municipalities in terms of the standard of living of the population, on the one hand, and a higher level of involvement in foreign economic interaction with neighboring states, on the other. Such features lead to more negative manifestations of the decrease in the economic access to food in municipalities located along the border with Poland.