FOOD (IN)SECURITY FOR RISK GROUPS AT KHARKIV MARKETS: COVID-19 FACTOR

This article is devoted to the actualization of the issue that during the last two years was the main one in socio-political and scientific discourses, but against the background of the events after 24/02/2022 was pushed from the agenda – the issue of COVID-19 pandemic impact on social practices. The specific methodological aspect of the article consists in considering the problem of the pandemic (and related quarantine measures) influence on the food security of the population at the household level. The author focuses on the food consumer practices of two risk groups: (1) socio-demographic, i.e. people of the oldest age categories (60 years and older), and (2) socio-economic, i.e. families with material below average.The empirical basis of the article is the author’s research (face-to-face interviews with visitors to 9 food markets in Kharkiv, N = 1260), conducted in June-July 2021. The results of the study are interpreted in the context of the research №0121U109814 «Sociological and mathematical modeling of the effectiveness of management of socio-epidemic processes to ensure the national security of Ukraine». The article is published within the framework of the Fostering the Urban Food System Transformation through Innovative Living Labs Implementation (FUSILLI) project under Grant Agreement No.101000717 (HORIZON2020).

First, the issue of visitors’ perception of the COVID-19 threat at food markets is analyzed (subjective assessment of the chances of infection, of the quality of anti-epidemic measures, etc.). Second, it is compared with the issue of changing food consumer practices because of a hypothetical aggravation of the pandemic situation. Based on the data, intermediate conclusions are drawn: (a) regarding the presence, but weakness, of the socio-demographic factor in the perception of pandemic threats; (b) regarding the mediated nature of the socio-economic factor in the perception of pandemic threats; (c) regarding the absence of statistically significant influence of socio-demographic and socio-economic factors on consumer practices at Kharkiv markets; (d) on minimizing food safety risks for all groups of market visitors, but maximizing pandemic risks.