We surveyed 2,002 representative Americans between Aug. 27 and Sept. 1, 2021, to explore how the pandemic influenced the food landscape and shaped people’s food resources, choices and diet.
Millions of Americans left the workforce during the pandemic, so it may not be surprising that 53 percent of those with limited food access reported having fewer financial resources than they did before then. To make matters worse, food and gasoline prices surged during the same period. This made decisions about where and how to spend fewer dollars even more challenging for families already struggling to make ends meet.
Rising Food Insecurity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as having limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Households with low food security have trouble affording enough food and eating balanced diets.
In 2018, the department estimated that over 37 million Americans were food insecure. By December 2020 that figure had risen to 38.3 million people, or 10.5 percent of U.S. households.
Among the subset of our survey respondents who reported that financial constraints limited their food access, 74 percent said they chose different brands of food in response. Nearly half (47 percent) consumed less food, and 31 percent received support from government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). One in 6 (17 percent) reported visiting food banks more often.
Money wasn’t the only factor. Among respondents who experienced limited food access, 37 percent said they did not feel comfortable shopping at the grocery store, and 32 percent reported not having reliable transportation. It is likely that the risk of illness led many people to avoid public transportation or ride sharing to limit their chance of exposure to disease.
Regardless of financial constraints, 50 percent of respondents said the pandemic has changed the way they purchase and store food. Among that group, 51 percent now look for food with a long shelf life, 50 percent are storing more food at home and 48 percent are taking fewer trips to the grocery store. Aside from concerns about the virus itself, these trends may be associated with uncertainty, speculation and highly publicized supply chain disruptions.
More Food Awareness
The pandemic has also led some Americans to focus more on what does not get eaten. One in 4 of our respondents (27 percent) said they were paying more attention to food waste. Given that food waste globally accounts for 6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that the U.S. wastes between 30 percent and 40 percent of its food supply while 6.1 million U.S. children currently live in food-insecure households, reducing food waste has the potential to address multiple challenges at the same time.
The #pandemic has changed so much of our every day. Your child's access to meals shouldn't be something that changes. Follow this graphic to see if you qualify for #PandemicEBT, and be sure to apply online by TOMORROW at https://t.co/zbJZAX53dz. #COVID #COVID19 #SNAP #EBT pic.twitter.com/31CkuHvr81
— Second Harvest Food Bank of East TN (@SecondHarvestET) August 13, 2020
At the time of our survey, 69 percent of respondents had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. Among those vaccinated, 67 percent reported visiting the grocery more often after receiving their first shot. Similarly, 33 percent spent more time in the grocery store after getting vaccinated, and 29 percent reported that they could more easily transport and access groceries. Only 15 percent of vaccinated respondents had stopped wearing masks where they were not required.
Our poll results demonstrate how the pandemic has transformed many Americans’ lives and behaviors in complex and interconnected ways. While these changes may not be permanent, we can predict that Americans’ food access and choices will undoubtedly continue to shift, along with the state of the pandemic.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
