Changes in the structure of household food consumption expenditure in the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area in response to the pandemic

Abstract

This article aims to determine the changes in the structure of food consumption expenditures of households in the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, a descriptive research procedure and the respective quantitative and analytical procedures are used. A survey is applied to one hundred and six people to determine the change in the structure of food consumption expenditure following three approaches: the market explicitly talks about food products, home orders, and food away from home. The results allow for identifying the most significant changes expressed by the informants in the structure of food expenditure in the households of the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga. About the market, it was possible to analyze that the people surveyed allocate an average of between one hundred and five hundred thousand pesos for the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and proteins (meat, chicken, fish, among others); also, due to confinement, people spend more money on market purchases. This work develops a process of articulation in research training through the collaborative work of the third semester of the thirteenth curriculum of the Universidad Santo Tomás Seccional Bucaramanga economics program.