Home Food Procurement Impacts Food Security and Diet Quality during COVID-19

BackgroundHome food procurement (HFP) (i.e. gardening, fishing, foraging, hunting, backyard livestock and canning) have historically been important ways that people obtain food. Recently, some HFP activities have grown (e.g. gardening), while other activities (e.g. hunting) have become less common in the United States. Anecdotally, COVID-19 has sparked an increase in HFP evidenced by increased hunting licenses and shortages in seeds and canning supplies. HFP may have positive benefits for food security and diet quality, though research beyond gardening is especially limited in high-income countries.MethodsWe examine HFP activities before and since the COVID-19 pandemic, and their relationship to food security and dietary quality using multivariable logit models and matching analysis with a statewide representative survey (n=600) of residents of Vermont, United States.ResultsWe find 29% of respondent households classified as food insecure since COVID-19, and more prevalence among those experiencing a negative job change since COVID-19, households earning less than $50,000 annually, Hispanic and multi-race respondents. Forty-two percent of respondents engaged in HFP activities; the majority of those gardened, and more than half pursued HFP activities more intensely than before the pandemic. HFP was more common among food insecure households, who were more likely to fish, forage, hunt and have backyard livestock. Respondents who were food insecure, Black, Indigenous, People of Color and/or Hispanic, those with a negative job disruption, and larger households all had greater odds of increased intensity of HFP since COVID-19. HFP were significantly associated with eating greater amounts of fruits and vegetables, especially if gardening and canning, while respondents hunting or having backyard livestock were significantly more likely to have higher red meat intake.ConclusionOverall, these results suggest that HFP activities have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and may be an important safety net for food insecure households, and provide diet quality impacts. Long-term, HFP activities may have important food security and diet quality impacts, as well as conservation implications, which should be more thoroughly explored. Regardless, the increased interest and intensity of HFP demonstrates multiple opportunities for educational and outreach efforts.