Numbers are in for the costs the pandemic had on restaurants. That’s today’s This Land of Ours.
Detailed numbers are coming in for consumers’ food-buying habits during the pandemic. USDA Economic Research Service’s Food Expenditure Series shows significantly lower spending at restaurants during 2020, which was expected because of the many closures because of the pandemic. The question has been: how much? The series found decreased spending at each of the nine types of food-away-from-home outlets that it studied. Full-service restaurants, which accounted for more Food Away From Home spending than all other outlets from 1997 to 2019, experienced a decrease in spending of 31.7 percent in 2020. Even restaurants that were able to stay open with drive-through or limited services saw a drop. They dropped 6.7 percent. Hotels and motels, recreational places, and drinking establishments also experienced closures and capacity restrictions throughout much of 2020. Food spending fell 42.9 percent at hotels and motels, 37.7 percent at recreational places, and 40.7 percent at drinking places.
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.