Objective:

Propose a conceptual model for the analysis of food consumption in a context of sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology:

A systematic bibliographic review was carried out through a search for data in Web of Science and Scopus of articles, selecting original research articles published since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019 on the behavior of food consumption in a context of sustainability.

Results:

External factors were identified, such as object stimuli, including price, availability, online supply, quality, variety, recognition, social responsibility and food safety, and psychological stimulation such as perceived risk and COVID-19 event strength, which affect the internal state of the consumer, and lead to purchasing behavior as postulated by the stimulus-organism-response model.

Limitations:

Difficulty accessing studies published by subscription restricted the analysis to open access research, and the search was limited to two databases.

Conclusions:

Under this model, it is possible the effect of COVID-19 on the internal state of the consumer can be quantified and how this causes the consumption of sustainable food can be analyzed. Consumers choose to buy sustainable products for their health, social and environmental values and for the enjoyment experience involved in their consumption, which are affected by object and psychological stimuli.