TABLE 3.
Selected quotes describing participant changes to food and beverage purchasing and consumption attributed to COVID-19; from the United States consumer survey on priorities for food and beverage companies and products, Fall 2021, n = 1423.
| Quote | Theme | Participant characteristics |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Age | Race/ethnicity | Income | Education | |||
| 1 | “I have been eating at fast-food places a lot more than I use to. When this all started their was not hardly any products on the shelves, you had to get to the store very early. I ended eating a lot of junk food and other unhealthy items. Things seem better for right now but I think things are going to get bad again.” | Economic, food, diet, setting, intensity, time, behavior | F | 35–49 | Black/African-American | <25,000 | High school graduate |
| 2 | “I have to go to food banks to feed myself, and there is no control over what you get from them. Their quality of food is really bad. Food loaded with sodium, sugar, fat, past-date food, and very few organic products.” | Economic, food, nutrition, settings, intensity | M | 65+ | White | <25,000 | Some college |
| 3 | “Welfare has truly helped my family of 5 a lot.” | Economic, relationships | F | 18–34 | Hispanic/Latinx | <25,000 | High school graduate |
| 4 | “I am more careful with the food I eat, and also when its fruits and veggies I try to apply lots of water just because lots of people have touched them and I want to be safe...I try to eat healthy foods in case I get the virus so I am safe, I purchase items with vitamins like vitamin C, and keeping a NEW healthy overall balance. I try to stay off soda, and high sugar items for my health, and staying off beer as well.” | Food, nutrition, health, time, setting | M | 18–34 | Hispanic/Latinx | 50–99,999 | College degree |
| 5 | “Before the pandemic I ate very badly, things full of sugar, without essential nutrients for the body, with refined flours and I did not realize how much I was consuming. Now due to my health and that of my family I worry about seeing how healthy this product is and that so many nutrients and well-being will provide my body and that of my relatives.” | Nutrition, food, health, relationships, time, behavior | F | 18–34 | Hispanic/Latinx | 24–49,999 | High school graduate |
| 6 | “I am more cautious and selective. I prefer to buy more produce and healthy stuff and cook them at home than processed foods. More healthy and fresh stuff now than before.” | Nutrition, food, setting, behavior, intensity | F | 18–34 | Asian/Other | 25–49,999 | High school graduate |
| 7 | “The pandemic has changed the way my family and I buy food/drinks quite a bit, before we only shopped for a few meals at a time, now we shop to stock up not like hoarding, but to be sure we can limit out time out in stores…We went from frozen and fresh vegetables to getting canned foods like, chili, corn, green beans, canned peaches, soup, etc. But now we get things that take significant period of time to perish.” | Behavior, relationships, economic, health, food, setting, time, intensity | F | 18–34 | White | 25–49,999 | High school graduate |
| 8 | “From clocking in at the local fast-food restaurant to making delicious and healthy meals at home.” | Setting, food, time | F | 50–64 | Black/African-American | 100k+ | Some college |
| 9 | “The pandemic limits me to be out with other people and enjoy the healthy foods served in the quality inside dining. It also limits me to go in the store and be able to touch, feel, taste, and smell the fruits and veggies I want to purchase.” | Health, time, setting, relationships, food, economic, intensity, behavior | F | 65+ | Asian/Other | <25,000 | Some college |
| 10 | “The virus spreads easier so I really try to be safe as possible around store, grocery stores and work and I do not really eat out much unless its outdoors.” | Settings, health, behavior | M | 35–49 | Asian/Other | 25–49,999 | College degree |
| 11 | “I am more aware of packaging of the food and beverages, the surfaces they are touched. When I get home I wipe down the packages with a bleach water blend to kill and remove any bacteria and viruses. Plus I do more disinfection cleaning whenever I bring anything home.” | Food, setting, health, intensity, behavior | M | 50–64 | Black/African-American | 50–99,999 | College degree |
| 12 | “It is scary because germs can be all over everything, you can’t touch or pick up anything nowadays.” | Health, time, behavior | F | 35–49 | Hispanic/Latinx | 100k+ | Some college |
| “I eat out less often, but that’s ok as I save money.” | Economic, setting, intensity, behavior | M | 65+ | Asian/Other | <25,000 | Some college | |
| 13 | “It change me a lot made me eat healthier and all cause was afraid to die.”” | Health, behavior | M | 18–34 | Black/African-American | 50–99,999 | College degree |
| 14 | “Initially, the pandemic caused shortages and that limited what one could buy. Today, almost all of these ‘shortages’ are gone and, so, it is back to normal in most cases.” | Economic, time, behavior, intensity | M | 65+ | white | 100k+ | Professional/graduate degree |
| 15 | “Have more junk and such in the house to snack on being at home…don’t have as much time to make/bake/cook healthy snacks, smoothies, etc...and with the lack of items being available…when I do find the items I want, there is either a limit or you have to stock up since they are always out... :(.” | F | 50–64 | Asian/Other | 25–49,999 | High school graduate | |
| 16 | “Supplement missing nutrients so that children can grow healthier and reduce the occurrence of some diseases.” | Relationships, health, nutrition, intensity | M | 35–49 | Black/African-American | 50–99,999 | Some college |
| 17 | “It forced me to be more careful when choosing healthier food options, no matter the prices. My family’s well-being is more of a priority and if I can control that with the food we consume the better.” | Behavior, food, economic, relationships, intensity, health | M | 18–34 | Hispanic/Latinx | 50–99,999 | College degree |
| 18 | “Kept me away from my family and kept me in.” | Relationships, setting, time | F | 35–49 | Black/African-American | 50–99,999 | Some college |
n = 1878 participants were recruited to complete a 44-item survey about ethical priorities for food and beverage businesses and products including a section asking about changes in food and beverage habits during the pandemic compared to prepandemic conditions. In this section, a free-text item asked participants to describe changes in food and beverage consumption and purchase, n = 1423 responses were received (Table 1). Quotes listed above represent examples of multi-theme constructs as determined by Natural Language Processing, selected to represent multiple participants’ reports with several overlapping elements. Quotes were also selected to report approximately balanced perspectives by demographic group. COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019.