COVID-19 Impacts on Food Security and Systems: A Third Survey of Vermonters

Authors

Meredith T. Niles, The University of VermontFollow
Emily H. Belarmino, University of VermontFollow
Farryl Bertmann, University of Vermont

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

11-2020

Abstract

This brief report highlights the findings from a third survey of Vermonters since COVID-19. We surveyed 600 Vermonters, representative on Vermont demographics on race, ethnicity and income in August and September 2020. We find that nearly 30% of Vermont respondent households were food insecure between March and September, with households experiencing a job disruption, households with children, and respondents without a college degree at greater odds for food insecurity. One-third of respondents used some type of food assistance program since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns about food access and challenges had largely gone down, on average since March 2020; however, concerns about the cost of food and losing access to food assistance programs have gone up since March 2020. We also identify impacts on diet quality, with 25% of respondents overall, and 50% of respondents in households with food insecurity, indicating they ate fewer fruits and vegetables since COVID-19. We also document a large number of respondents (42%) engaging in home food procurement (fishing, foraging, hunting, gardening) since COVID-19, with many doing this for the first time or more intensely this year. These results highlight the depth of COVID-19's impact on food security and systems over time in Vermont.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Recommended Citation

Niles, Meredith T.; Belarmino, Emily H.; and Bertmann, Farryl, "COVID-19 Impacts on Food Security and Systems: A Third Survey of Vermonters" (2020). College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications. 27.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/calsfac/27