As the major effects of the coronavirus pandemic make themselves apparent the ubiquity of masks and hand sanitizer , restaurants serving at half capacity other, more subtle changes are still just coming into focus.

Take the grocery store. Doorstep delivery and online shopping, already popular before COVID-19, have become part and parcel of a business model that once relied almost exclusively on brick-and-mortar stores. Moreover, the pandemic appears to have affected not just where and how we buy food, but what were actually eating.

Two simultaneous trends in our consuming habits are becoming clear. Many Americans are buying products they believe will boost their immune systems, in the hopes of fending off disease. At the same time, rising levels of anxiety and stress have pushed some to seek solace in the things they eat, resulting in an uptick in sales of comfort food. This raises the question: Will the coronavirus change the roster of products that were used to seeing at the supermarket?

The strong trends [we noticed pre-pandemic] are actually staying, but for different reasons, said Frances Zelazny, chief marketing officer of advanced analytics platform Signals Analytics. Before COVID, [vegan products] were on the rise and the driver for that trend was a split between well-being, concerns about lifestyle and fitness, animal welfare and sustainability.

But as the coronavirus swept the world, consumption of these products became more and more about people trying to fortify their immune systems. Anything that can be associated with immunity is gaining strength and momentum, even if its more expensive, Zelazny said.

Mary Torrecilla, owner of Whoopsie Daisy, an upscale convenience store in Mokelumne Hill, California, has noticed a renewed devotion to health among her shoppers. People are definitely lingering over the health food section longer than they used to, she said. Now carrying nature bars and other dried goods in addition to the candy and confections she already sold, Torrecilla said shes had to radically change her normal buying routine since the virus hit, to cater to rising demands for healthier fare.

Some once-unfashionable categories of food have also gained popularity, if in very specific ways. The frozen food aisle, usually considered a less desirable option, has become a focus of grocery shopping in pandemic times . Generally speaking, people have been panic-buying frozen foods because they last longer and wont necessitate weekly shopping trips. The frozen vegetable aisle in particular has undergone a sort of resurgence: Being able to buy and store healthy foods, including greens, suddenly seems like a luxury.