Do you also think the Corona pandemic is having a significant impact on our eating habits? Our entire, everyday lives have been profoundly affected by the Corona pandemic. This naturally also applies to our eating habits. But has Corona also made our eating behavior more sustainable? This is the question I would like to explore today.
In this article I would like to take a look at the most important changes and analyze what impact Corona has had on our eating behavior. Let's go!
People are cooking more themselves again
Pick up the wooden spoon again yourself and prepare a delicious, healthy meal? During the Corona pandemic, many people were forced to make their own luck, as there was often no alternative at all. The home office, which was enforced in the majority of companies, and so-called home schooling provided more time at home. Meals out were less frequent for this reason. The focus was rather on the desire to take the ingredients into one's own hands.
This trend can be proven not only on the basis of large surveys. Demand for suitable recipes from the Internet also increased significantly in the months of the pandemic. As a result, these sites not only generated more clicks, but were also able to welcome their users to the site for a longer period of time.
Many people preferred smaller portions that can be combined without fixed rules. Instead of the three fixed meals of the day, the meal should be adapted to personal needs during the day.
In terms of sustainability, there are several advantages associated with this development. On the one hand, it is a trend that reduces the environmental impact of packaging waste in terms of the Zero Waste Lifestyle significantly reduced. On the other hand, a large part of the food is again processed fresh in the kitchen. Long transport routes and refrigeration, which are necessary in other cases, can be easily mitigated by this change in demand.
Vegetarian and vegan diet becomes more and more popular
Whether ultimately Bats, raccoons or snakes the cause of the emergence of corona virus in Wuhan were: our brutal treatment of innocent animals ultimately endangers ourselves.
Not least the Tönnies scandal has opened many people's eyes. On the one hand, because the conditions of the workers are extremely brutal and underpaid. On the other hand, because COVID-19 is not the first virus that has been caused by animal husbandry. The cattle disease BSE also originated in this way. These facts are finally stirring up resistance among the population - and the will to change something about their own eating habits.
More and more people start into vegan life. To end the exploitation of animals - but also for environmental protection and their own health.
Tip: If you're still lacking the motivation to adopt a plant-based diet, be sure to check out the Documentation "Dominion an. It has also had a significant impact on my personal eating habits.
Three new nutrition trends from the corona pandemic
At the same time, several food trends were able to take on great significance during the pandemic. Experts assume that they will be maintained in many households in the post-Corona period. The longer the restrictions imposed by the pandemic last, the more firmly established the current trends will subsequently be in the common perception.
1. soft health
A balanced and healthy diet - this concept found more and more followers already in the years before the pandemic. In the meantime, there are many people who are concerned about the design of their plate. While in recent times this was justified, for example, by the desire for better fitness, aspects such as the body's own defenses an important role. A holistic diet that includes large portions of fresh vegetables, legumes and grains has since become highly popular. Offers such as ready-prepared vegetable boxes from the organic farmer around the corner naturally increase the demand for such offerings even further.
Tip: Look under Reduce food waste if you want to make your diet even more sustainable.
2. DIY food
What better way to spend time in your own home than to do a little growing of your own food? If you only have a small balcony available for this, your options may seem limited at first. But things like Herbs, small salads or Tomatoes (see Grow tomatoes) can also be grown well there. The drive to be able to get something useful off the ground even in this time contributed a decisive part to this enthusiasm. It can be assumed that many hobby gardeners will want to continue to pursue this interest even in the period after the pandemic.
Tip: Take a look at my post about sustainable gardening inside to learn even more.
3. local food
The importance of local food for sustainable consumption has had to be preached again and again in recent years. Especially the enormous environmental benefits associated with it could be potentiated by the appropriate supporters. In the period of the pandemic, the regional foods regained importance and they are on the menu of more and more people. Ingredients that can be grown directly on site are now extremely popular. This is the counterweight to accelerated globalization, the disadvantages of which have now been made all the more prominent by Corona.
Meanwhile, the importance of local food can be observed not only in private kitchens. More and more restaurants have also discovered in it an opportunity to address their customers with a unique offer. Especially the Lockdowns have shown many highly developed countries the vulnerability of their supply chains and that something has to change.
Tip: You can get even more tips in my article about regional shopping.
Delivery services on the upswing
But not every change that our way of eating has undergone in recent months shows the longed-for positive outgrowths. On the other hand, delivery services, for example, have also been able to inspire more customers again. But by no means every messenger is on a bicycle. But it's not just the greater distance the food has to travel that stands in the way of a concept of sustainability.
On the other hand, it is the resulting packaging waste that becomes a risk. Nevertheless, many people appreciate the quick support they can call on with just a few clicks. After all, even those who work in a home office don't always have the time to also make an effort to prepare a good dinner. But it is of course more sustainable if you cook yourself or pick up the food from the restaurant yourself.
Different eating behavior but less exercise
More than half of the population in Germany recently stated that they are moving less as a result of the pandemic. Many everyday journeys simply have to be completed less frequently or not at all. If no physical energy is burned, even the healthiest diet is useless. The daily amount of calories is then not adapted to this lower consumption due to the lower, physical activity. There is a risk of weight gain. To ensure that the corona pounds are not a permanent phenomenon, it is extremely important not to neglect physical activity.
Tip: If you want to know, what lessons we can learn from the Corona pandemic, be sure to check out the linked post.
So is Corona changing the eating habits of Germans?
Definitely! Through Corona, the focus is finally on regional, healthy and even home-grown food. An enormously important step in the fight against the climate change and for a sustainable diet of our company. However, this step did not come entirely voluntarily. It would therefore be presumptuous to firmly believe that the newly established food trends are now firmly anchoring the issue of sustainability in people's minds and kitchens. Further efforts will be necessary to maintain the positive changes in our eating behavior.
Do you have any questions or suggestions about this article the change in our eating behavior due to the Corona virus? Then always here with your comment.
Stay sustainable,
PS: Want to know, why i eat vegan? Dann schau unbedingt in den verlinkten Blogbeitrag hinein!
