Food and Consumers

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to significant changes in U.S. consumers’ food spending patterns in early 2020, with a return to pre-pandemic spending patterns that continued through 2021 and 2022. While closures of restaurants and nonessential businesses contributed to record unemployment increases during March and April 2020, unemployment fell to below pre-pandemic levels by December 2021. Although income and employment improved, some U.S. households continue to face difficulties obtaining adequate food, particularly in the face of increasing food prices.

Through a variety of data products, USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) monitors the pandemic’s effects on food spending, food prices, and food sufficiency.

These sections will be updated periodically as the information becomes available:

Food Spending During the Pandemic

Analyzing data from the USDA, ERS Food Expenditure Series found December 2022 expenditures at food-away-from-home establishments—restaurants, school cafeterias, sports venues, and other eating-out establishments—increased by 7.5 percent compared to November 2022 and were 13.5 percent higher than December 2021. Such food expenditures remained higher than pre-pandemic levels after their steep decline in March 2020 when the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. In March 2020, efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 included stay-at-home orders that led to significant changes in U.S. consumers’ food spending patterns. Following a sharp decline during March–April 2020, food-away-from-home spending returned to pre-pandemic levels by March 2021. Food-away-from-home spending outpaced food-at-home spending in each month since January 2021, returning to the pattern seen during each month of 2019. Total food expenditures presented year-over-year increases from March 2021 through December 2022.

While higher expenditures partially reflect inflation, total inflation-adjusted expenditures on food (not shown) were 8.8 percent higher in December 2022 compared with December 2019.

The USDA, ERS Weekly Retail Food Sales data series provides a more current and detailed picture of food-at-home retail sales. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, retail food sales rose sharply and peaked during March 16–22, 2020, with 57.0 percent higher food-at-home sales compared with the same week in 2019. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued into 2022, the Weekly Retail Food Sales data series added a comparison of food sales with the same week 3 years earlier to provide a pre-pandemic baseline accounting for seasonality. By December 18, 2022, the value of food retail sales was 18.0 percent above the same week in 2019. In contrast, the volume of food retail sales was 1.8 percent above the same week in 2019, with the difference between changes in sales value and volume likely reflecting food price increases.

By the week ending December 18, 2022, the pandemic had continued for more than 2 years. A comparison with the previous year provides insights into changes in sales within the pandemic period. The overall value of retail food sales was higher compared with the same week in 2021, as a whole and in all food categories except for alcohol, with substantial variation among categories.

Compared with the same week in 2019, the value of retail food sales during the week ending December 18, 2022, was higher in every food category, except alcohol.

Food Prices During the Pandemic

Food price changes early in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic partly reflected the impact of illnesses and safety measures on labor supply and productivity in the United States. For example, most fresh-market vegetable growers rely on seasonal labor to produce and place crops into supply channels. COVID-19 illnesses reduced the supply of farm workers in producing regions. Also, procedural changes to comply with recommended social distancing and sanitary protocols may have reduced productivity for some processing and packaging facilities.

Since early 2022, food price changes may reflect higher costs for labor and energy—as well as supply-chain challenges, weather impacts, avian influenza, and international trade conditions. For more information, see the Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook: February 2023 and Wheat Outlook: February 2023. 

The USDA, ERS Food Price Outlook tracks changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food at home and food away from home. The CPI for food measures retail price changes of food over time. Retail food prices were higher in January 2023 than January 2022 for almost all categories, while prices for beef and veal declined by 1.2 percent. The highest price increases were for eggs (70.1 percent) and fats and oils (20.9 percent).

Food Sufficiency During the Pandemic: The Household Pulse Survey

To produce timely information on the economic and social effects of COVID-19 on U.S. households, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census worked with USDA, Economic Research Service and other Federal agencies to develop the Household Pulse Survey (HPS). HPS is an online survey asking respondents about educational, employment, health, housing, and food-related outcomes. Data were collected for Phase 1 of HPS during April 23–July 21, 2020; Phase 2 during August 19–October 26, 2020; Phase 3.0 during October 28, 2020–March 29, 2021; Phase 3.1 during April 14–July 5, 2021; Phase 3.2 during July 21–October 11, 2021; Phase 3.3 during December 1, 2021–February 7, 2022; Phase 3.4 during March 2–May 9, 2022; Phase 3.5 during June 1–August 8, 2022; Phase 3.6 during September 14–November 14, 2022; and Phase 3.7 during December 9, 2022–February 13, 2023. HPS includes an indicator of food sufficiency for U.S. households, as well as an indicator of child food sufficiency.

  • Food insufficiency means a household did not have enough food to eat sometimes or often in the last 7 days.
  • Low food sufficiency means a household did not have enough food to eat sometimes in the last 7 days.
  • Very low food sufficiency means a household did not have enough food to eat often in the last 7 days.

For more information about the difference between food insufficiency and food insecurity, see Food Security in the United States Measurement.

Measuring Food Insufficiency

The food sufficiency item in HPS asks about food eaten in the household in the last 7 days to assess rapid changes in food sufficiency.

Household adults are asked the following:

In the last 7 days, which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household? Select only one answer.

  1. Enough of the kinds of food (I/we) wanted to eat
  2. Enough, but not always the kinds of food (I/we) wanted to eat
  3. Sometimes not enough to eat
  4. Often not enough to eat

Adults who select (1) are classified as living in households with full food sufficiency; those who select (2) are classified as living in households with marginal food sufficiency. Those who select (3) or (4) are counted as having low and very low food sufficiency, respectively. Those who respond with (3) or (4) are classified as food insufficient, meaning a household did not have enough to eat in the last 7 days.

Prevalence of Food Insufficiency

The prevalence of food insufficiency—low and very low food sufficiency—peaked at 13.4 percent in December 2020, shown in the graphic below as the dotted grey reference line. As of February 13, 2023, the prevalence of food insufficiency was estimated at 11.4 percent and the prevalence of very low food security was 3.0 percent.

Data from HPS and other sources are not entirely comparable. For more information, see the Household Pulse Survey Technical Documentation from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. There is no directly comparable measure of food insufficiency prior to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. USDA, ERS monitors the annual prevalence of food insecurity in U.S. households with data from the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement. These data also include the food sufficiency question, but with a 12-month reference period. The December 2021 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement reported that 3.3 percent of U.S. households described their household’s food situation over the previous 12 months as "sometimes or often not having enough to eat" (food insufficiency), with 0.7 percent reporting "often not having enough to eat" (very low food sufficiency).

Very low and low food sufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic affected certain groups of the U.S. population more than others. From December 29, 2021–December 19, 2022, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households (23.6 percent), Black households (19.7 percent), and American Indian and Alaska Native households (19.6 percent) had the highest rates of food insufficiency. Hispanic households (17.1 percent) also experienced high rates of food insufficiency during this period. Eastern Asian households (including Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Japanese or Korean households) had lower rates of food insufficiency than other racial and ethnic groups—including White households. For most groups, food insufficiency was higher for households with children.

Disparities across racial and ethnic groups are also seen in child food insufficiency. As of February 13, 2023, 23.2 percent of Black households, 21.9 percent of Hispanic households, and 19.6 percent of households in all other racial/ethnic groups (“Other non-Hispanic”) reported their children sometimes or often did not have enough to eat during the past week—compared with 13.0 percent for Asian households, and 8.2 percent for White, non-Hispanic households.

Additional statistics on household food security in the United States are available: see Key Statistics and Graphics and Interactive Charts and Highlights.

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