[bryanrasmussen]

>I don't get how food consumption can increase in a pandemic.

depression spurs eating binges.

being inside what to do, oh lets make more advanced food. lets bake cakes with the kids instead of sending them out to play with friends. etc. etc.

so increased consumption in combination with other, probably more important, pandemic problems.

[alexf95]

But with most restaurants closing your will also have to subtract the food that would have been used there. Obviously most of them tried to change to a takeaway service, but I am pretty sure their overall customers went down by alot during all of this.

[gremlinsinc]

Restaurant supply chains are a totally separate beast. Bulk foods being supplied were mostly sent to landfills. Tons of potatoes for example that were only ear-marked for restaurants went straight to the dump.

Supplier A only supplies to restaurants it's normally a safe bet, so that's all they do. No restaurants buying - holy shit - my entire crop is excess...

I'm not a farmer but this is what I've read.

There's also the fact a lot of panic buyers might buy too much, then end up throwing a bit away because of fear that when they need it - it won't be there, but then it just spoils at home, etc.

Also food banks are taking a lot of the food. More people actually have money for food (one thing the govt does do is make sure people don't starve (usually) maybe more if you have kids).

TLDR: You can't just move all restaurant food to consumer/grocery like it's a commodity in Factorio... it takes a lot to shift global supply chains and get new contracts on how deliverables are received, etc...

[herbst]

If i cant go to a restaurant i still have to eat. I dont think this would lead to a huge difference. At least not for me.