The Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Food Consumption Habits at Home

It was officially acknowledged for the first time on March 11, 2020, that the COVID-19 pandemic had spread to our country. As a result of the restrictions implemented within the framework of the measures thereon, we have been locked down in our homes; many entities have shifted to work from home and significant restrictions were imposed on restaurants and catering businesses.

As in every extraordinary situation, one of the issues that worries people to a great extent over the spread of pandemic news was access to basic consumer goods, particularly food. We saw people emptying grocery shelves and stocking dry food right after the official statements and the news on the restrictions. One of the products whose shelves were emptied the fastest was pasta. Unless pasta producers made comforting statements that their production figures would not shrink, pasta would have been among the foods that were stocked for a long time.

The most prominent posts on social media in the first months of the pandemic were homemade bakery and meals. We have observed a significant increase in the online sales of food products, kitchenware, storage containers, and freezers.

The change in our food and dietary habits has inspired an international research study: Prof. Dr. Asker Kartarı (Kadir Has University), Prof. Dr. Metin Kozak (Dokuz Eylül University), Assoc. Prof. Aslı Özen (Dokuz Eylül University), Dr. Jun Wen (Edith Cowan University, Australia), Prof. Dr. Antonia Correia (Universidade do Algarve, Portugal) have published the first results of their survey conducted between Jan 3rd-Feb 1st, 2021 in Turkey, Portugal, and China on “The Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Food Consumption Habits at Home”.

Some of the most striking results of the survey conducted with 449 respondents in Turkey and 351 and 319 respondents from Portugal and China respectively are:

• In the “New Normal” state, the house regained importance as a place for socialization.
• While the consumption of meat and eggs has increased in Turkey, the products whose consumption has increased in China were meat and rice; they were seafood, bread, and margarine in Portugal.
• Due to the pandemic, the proportion of those who started dining with their family members increased by 25%.
• Mass food shopping and the consumption of dried, frozen, and canned foods decreased
• The tendency to consume fresh fruits and vegetables increased during the pandemic.
• No change was observed in the consumption of foods such as bread, margarine, flour, and rice.
• The consumption of desserts and alcohol has decreased.
• No change was observed regarding online food shopping.
• The tendency to order food from outside has declined.
• Time spent in the kitchen was also affected due to the increase in time spent at home. As longer periods were spent in the kitchen, changes were observed in the cooking techniques used. People switched to new cooking techniques.
• The areas reserved for kitchens have expanded; hence an increase was observed in the number of tools used in the kitchen.
• One of the changes observed in young people aged 25 and under is the increase in the number of daily meals. Again, young people aged 25 and understated that the time they spent preparing food during the pandemic increased.
• While respondents from Turkey and Portugal complained that their quality of life was poorer in the new normal state, this was not the case in China.