Framing consumer food demand responses in a viral pandemic

In this paper I explore several issues related to how the COVID-19 pandemic might impact consumer demand for food. These impacts relate to the structure of preferences in the context of a pandemic, income and time constraints, and price effects. Discussion includes accounting for differential impacts of COVID-19 on demand for food across sociodemographic characteristics, and several high-level issues and observations related to where and how consumers shop and what they buy. My own thinking leads me to conclude that demand-side factors will account for most of the changes we see in retail food market. These demand-side effects will be dominated by income effects, the opportunity cost of time, and longer planning horizons on the part of consumers.