June 23rd 2023.
As the pandemic restrictions slowly begin to lift, people everywhere are becoming eager to resume their pre-pandemic activities. One of these activities is eating out, as opposed to home cooking. According to the United States Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, spending on eating out has returned to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the USDA reported that 53.2% of people are now spending money on eating out, versus the 48.3% who bought “food away from home” in 2020.
The lifting of restrictions has also led to a boom in spending on alcoholic beverages. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that spending on alcoholic beverages increased by 13.4% from February 2020 to February 2021. This is in contrast to the 6.9% increase in spending on “food away from home” during the same period.
The pandemic has also resulted in an increased interest in home cooking. The National Institutes of Health published an analysis which showed that more people were buying food from grocery stores than eating out. This is because grocery stores were one of the few places people could go to and still have a sense of normalcy. Furthermore, people wanted to stock up for the long haul. However, the “grocery boom” is now over, and people are returning to their old habits.
But does the end of the pandemic home cooking era mean that we should forget all the creative recipes people discovered during this time? While many people are now turning to eating out, some recipes are just too delicious to say goodbye to. In fact, HuffPost reported that the Detroit-Style Pepperoni and Pickled Pepper Pan Pizza was one of the top 10 most-liked recipes on their Instagram during lockdown. So, even if the pandemic is over, it is clear that some of its culinary creations will live on.
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