Investigating the changes in food consumption patterns of rural households in Khorasan Razavi

According to the diversity of household consumption patterns and the importance of how to allocate limited household income to different goods and services, the study of household consumption behavior using expenditure elasticity estimates has a special place in economic policies. Therefore, in this study, the raw data of the Statistics Center of Iran in two consecutive years 2017 and 2018 to analyze the food consumption behavior of rural households in Khorasan Razavi have been separated into nine food groups. This study showed that significant changes have been observed in the pattern of food consumption during these two years. The share of food budget in 2018 compared to 2017 has increased from 41% to 53% and also, the expenditure elasticity of food groups has increased in 2018 compared to 2017 and some food groups have changed from essential to luxury that, result indicates a decrease in household welfare. The results also show that low-income families have higher food expenditure elasticity than higher-income families. Balance of scale is found in food costs, which means that an extra family member reduces additional costs. Reducing the consumption of cereals and increasing the consumption of fruits and meat means revising the supply of food. Although cereals and bread are the main food items of rural households in Khorasan Razavi, but, according to the consumption pattern of rural households in Khorasan Razavi province, in order to solve food security problems, the production of other materials should be increased.