How has the pandemic influenced food choices?

The coronavirus pandemic has not only influenced the work culture and related subjects, which involve travelling and stepping out, but has also affected people’s food choices. Whenever any significant change occurs that impacts life, people first analyse what they are consuming. Thus, eating habits are highly influenced by the pandemic.

Significance of human sciences

To optimise public health during a pandemic, simply acquiring knowledge about medical sciences is insufficient; studying human behaviour and how the pandemic influences human lifestyle is also important.

Human behaviour is highly transformative; it fluctuates depending upon external circumstances. For example, several studies have showcased how the pandemic has changed people’s choices of what they consume, how they spend their days and what other shopping choices they make.

According to studies conducted in the USA and the UK, around 80% of people had changed their eating habits in 2020, and the percentage dropped to 70% in 2021. Overall, most people have made changes in their eating patterns.

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Changes in eating habits

Home-cooked meals: Irrespective of age groups and economic backgrounds, people worldwide have gained more trust in home-cooked meals. The high transmission rate of the coronavirus has horrified people, and thus, to remain safe from the infection, people have started cooking at home more often during the pandemic.

Plant protein: Several reports have indicated that people have started preferring vegetarianism because of the pandemic. They have reduced their dependency on animal products for protein consumption and have begun consuming more plant-based food items.

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Frozen food: Be it because of a change in lifestyle or because of the new work from home culture, eating habits, and people’s overall lifestyle has been highly influenced. The pandemic has also triggered anxiety and stress among the younger generation, becoming another cause of stress-eating and frozen food is the go-to snack for midnight stress eating.

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Home remedies: Apart from cooking at home, people worldwide have also become more inclined towards trusting home remedies for optimising immunity. Under home remedies, people have started preparing herb syrups for boosting immunity.

More deliveries and lesser dining: Another change concerns consuming outside food. Because of social distancing and other COVID-19 norms, people have started ordering more often than dining outside. The dining business has been in low demand for over a year now, and deliveries have gained trust across countries.

Organic food, the niche: People have started fearing chemicals and pesticides, which are used to grow vegetables and other food items. Thus, more people worldwide have started buying more organic food items to remain safe from harmful viruses.

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Bottom line

The pandemic has drastically affected people’s lives globally, and thus, eating habits are also influenced. As a result, people across age groups have become more cautious of what they eat. Having said that, while the demand for healthy eating has improved, binge eating, and stress eating has also increased.