Factors Affecting Selection of Coping Strategies by Using Less-Preferred and Cheap Foods in Food Insecurity Situations: A Case Study of Rural Areas of Gorgan, Iran

Coping strategies are a set of reactions adopted by people in food insecurity condition, a common one of which includes eating less-preferred and less-expensive foods; thus, this study tries to determine factors affecting its selection as a coping strategy by rural households in rural areas of Gorgan County in Iran. For this purpose, the primary data are utilized via a sample size of 267 rural households. Direct interviews with the people in charge of preparing food for the family members are conducted during winter and spring in 2013. In addition, the ordered logit model is used to analyze the data. The study results show that the factors like annual income, education of spouse, having an agricultural job, village distance from market and chronic illness of one of the household members affect choosing less-preferred food as coping strategy.