Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a major global challenge. In Latin America, both Brazil and Peru reported the highest levels of impact in terms of proportional infection and death rates. Within this context, this study sought to compare food consumption and wastage patterns in Peruvian and Brazilian households. For these purposes, the authors conducted a quantitative research study based on a self-reported online survey submitted during the pandemic outbreak. Results revealed that the intention of reducing food wastage and implementing leftover management routines are related to the economic value of wasted food. In addition, in both countries, shopping lists are used as planning elements, and food purchases are influenced by on-sale products. Leftover management is also similar in both countries, and the expiration date on the label is the most commonly used criterion for consuming or discarding food items. Nevertheless, within the framework of the health and economic crisis generated, opportunities for change toward the adoption of smarter and more sustainable purchasing behaviors are emerging for both households and companies, in addition to giving equal importance to environmental, social, and economic benefits. This research study provided insights into food consumption and food wastage behaviors in times of crisis, such as a pandemic.
Highlights
Published: 7 July 2021The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which commenced at the beginning of 2020, has presented a challenge to society at large [1]
This study focused on households in Peru and Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak crisis, seeking to compare both food consumption and food wastage patterns in households subjected to quarantine in the COVID-19 pandemic
The data provided by the respondents were assessed to find significant similarities or differences in the food consumption and food-wastage behaviors reported by Peruvian and Brazilian households
Summary
Published: 7 July 2021The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which commenced at the beginning of 2020, has presented a challenge to society at large [1]. The forced social distancing and home confinement measures implemented by different governments changed food consumption patterns [3], and generated uncertainty in the population and put food security at risk due to food supply shortages [4]. In many countries, this context demanded the adoption of new routines, which implied a drastic reduction in socialization and mobility [5,6,7,8], altering consumer behaviors and generating lifestyle changes and uncertainty [5,8,9,10,11,12]. At the onset of the pandemic, panic buying driven by these behavioral changes led people to overstock perishable food products regardless of their shelf life, generating additional food waste at home [7,8,14]
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