Behavioral Coping With Food Price Inflation: Patterns Among U.S. Households

ABSTRACT Recent food price inflation has placed substantial pressure on household budgets, food security, and mental well‐being. Using Household Pulse Survey data, we combine k‐modes clustering and Double Machine Learning to identify distinct household coping groups and examine differences in how households respond to rising food prices across groups. Results show that higher food prices are associated with increased grocery and prepared meal spending, elevate risks of food insufficiency, and worsen mental health conditions, with heterogeneity across coping groups. Households employing moderate substitution strategies show limited buffering, while those using more intensive coping behaviors remain highly vulnerable, highlighting the need for policy responses that address the multiple, co‐occurring dimensions of hardship including food access, financial strain, and mental health, rather than any single dimension in isolation.