Investigating the lasting changes in consumer food consumption and acquisition since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This paper examines the change in food-at-home consumption and food-away-from-home consumption and acquisition in the United States from 2019 to 2024. Exploiting the variation in State-level policy actions and vaccine rollouts, this work provides a longer-term view of altered food consumption and acquisition behavior during and after the pandemic. The most recent period was positively associated with food-at-home consumption and negatively associated with total food-away-from-home consumption, relative to pre-pandemic, driven by changes in acquisition. Additionally, results show heterogeneity in food-at-home consumption and food-away-from-home acquisition across different groups. This work provides insights on the sustained changes in food consumption since the pandemic.