University of Maine researchers, Rachel Schattman and Kate Yerxa, have released initial findings from research conducted as part of the National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT). NFACT is a national collaboration of researchers committed to rigorous, comparative, and timely food access research during the time of COVID-19. We do this through collaborative, open access research that prioritizes communication to key decision-makers while building our scientific understanding of food system behaviors and policies.
Through surveying Maine residents in the months after COVID-19 emerged in Maine (March 2020), Schattman and Yerxa found that COVID-19 has increased the incidence of food insecurity for survey respondents of all ages, but that younger respondents (ages 18-24) were more likely than older adults to skip meals, eat less, or go hungry. Meanwhile, adults ages 35-54 were more likely to report traveling to food pantries or federal food assistance program offices to deal with food insecurity. Respondents reported dietary changes following the onset of COVID-19, including a reduction in consumption of red and processed meats.
These findings and more have been summarized in two research briefs, which are now available:
The Maine NFACT survey was repeated in spring 2021, and will be reissued in coming months. This will allow Schattman, Yerxa, and their collaborators to examine changes in food insecurity throughout the pandemic.
Funding for this project was provided by the University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture, the George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, the Maine Food and Agriculture Center Integrated Research Extension Program, and the University of Vermont Gund Institute for the Environment.
To learn more visit https://www.nfactresearch.org/