RISK GROUPS AT KHARKIV FOOD MARKETS: INTER HABITS AND COVID-19

The article develops a topic already raised by the author in previous issues and is built on the intersection of two research directions: the “eternal” issue of food security in the context of the somewhat forgotten problem of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the empirical and factual focus of the work is on two risk groups (both from the point of view of the pandemic and from the point of view of food security): (1) socio-demographic, that is, people of the oldest age categories (60 years and older), and (2) sociо-economic, i. e. families with below-average financial status. Considering food security at the grassroots level in terms of regularity and stability of access to food, the article analyzes the consumption habits of risk groups (on the example of the results of the author’s research (face-to-face interviews with visitors to 9 food markets in Kharkiv, N = 1260), held in June-July 2021). Thus, the article serves to implement FUSILLI (the Fostering the Urban Food System Transformation through Innovative Living Labs Implementation) within the framework of grant agreement No. 101000717 (HORIZON2020). In addition, the results of the study are part of the NDR No. 0121U109814 “Sociological and mathematical modeling of the effectiveness of management of social and epidemic processes to ensure the national security of Ukraine". The starting point of the analysis is a comparative analysis of the habits of buying different categories of food products at the market among representatives of three sub-samples – market visitors in general, as well as the two risk groups mentioned above. The analysis of the problem continues with a correlation analysis of the same variables, which makes it possible to more clearly demonstrate the “strength and nature of the habit”. The analysis ends with a factor analysis, which presents a conditional hierarchy of product categories from the point of view of the principle of buying them on the markets by risk groups. On the basis of these data, conclusions are made regarding the possible trajectories of the development of the risk situation in the event of worsening of the pandemic situation and the re-actualization of the need for total quarantine measures.