Hunger During COVID-19

Posted on May 19, 2020 by jingjz2

Response to Aaron Baker’s Food supply Chain Consequences of COVID-19

The post from Aaron indicated the economic consequences of COVID-19. While the food supply decreases, we can expect an increase of the food price. Consumers are forced to pay the increased price, and this will lead to severer hunger. This lead to the question: how do we overcome this food crisis?

Field workers wear face masks and gloves while harvesting the first crop of organic cabbage.

It’s important to invest in local food production (The Guardian). As some countries are restricting exportation of certain foods, supporting nutritious and affordable food production can be the key of sustainable food system. Food distribution is also substantial to guarantee the delivery of food to the vulnerable populations.

To improve our food system, we need to change our policies. According to “the Real reasons for hunger”, the policies should “put livelihoods and food security first, rather than read and commerce”(Vandana Shiva). People are starving because of the policy structure that limits the access to resources and markets and dismantle the livelihoods of farmers. Trade liberalization is not the solution of the food crisis because the political democracy removes the basic rights of making decisions from people in this country.

The food chain should be regulated by the governments with improved policies. Under this pandemic, governments must work together to avert disruptions to foo supply chains. The coordination of global governments is needed because of the globalization.

Migrant Workers Have Always Been Essential, So We Should Be Treating Them Like It

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Sydney

In response to “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism?” by Ashley (@ash_marie)

The U.S. has historically relied on the labor of minority groups to provide this labor since the conception of the nation even in times of normalcy. From the use of slave-labor on plantations to the current use of Latinx labor, minorities have driven commercial agriculture for centuries. Yet many Americans hold the notion that these migrant workers are not essential workers but are actually stealing the jobs of American citizens.

The view that these essential workers are “stealing jobs” has been strongly held, even in recent years. We must question this and ask why it is that minority groups have been the main supply of agricultural labor in the U.S.. This question appeals to the larger system of immigration and class structures, and it is deeply intertwined with the history and politics of the U.S. and the countries that the migrants had immigrated from. It all boils down to this: employers seek the cheapest labor, and the cheapest labor can be provided by the most vulnerable populations. The essential work that these workers provide is low paid and the conditions are often unsafe. Even when the United Farm Workers launched the “Take My Job” campaign, a counter discursive act against the “stealing our jobs” mentality, incredibly low numbers of American citizens moved to take on these jobs due to the labor conditions that they present.

As we begin to recognizing these workers as essential during this pandemic, their conditions stay the same. They continue to receive low wages and their working conditions do not comply with the basic precautions of social distancing that are so vital in this pandemic. Instead of calling these workers “heroes”, a term which normalizes their deaths as an inevitability, we must improve the conditions of this essential labor.

Our Society Was Sick Well Before Covid-19: The Elephant in The Room

Posted on May 19, 2020 by grahamms

Thibault Cancel recently wrote about the link between Covid-19 and obesity in the United States. He cited a CIA statistic from 2016 that 36% of the adult population was obese, compared to around just 4% in Japan. Thibault makes a great point about the rise of obesity and how it relates to the rise of processed foods, which have been marketed with various health claims. Claims based on nutrition buzzwords like “protein” and “whole grain,” among others.

Michael Pollan touches on this point in an article for the New York Review of Books. Citing the CDC, he notes the strongest predicting factors of those hospitalized with Covid-19: 49% had pre-existing hypertension, 48% were obese, and 28% had diabetes.

Person Holding Pizza on Box

All are conditions we are predisposed to because of the standard Western diet of processed foods, large quantities of meat, and little fruit or veg. The food system in our country promotes the production of foods which, “are reliably supplying the supermarket shelves and drive-thrus with cheap and abundant calories, it is killing us—slowly in normal times, swiftly in times like these,” Pollan writes.

Please No Smoking, Littering and Radio Signage on Gray Wall

How many dollars and lives has it taken to get the PSA out on the toxicity of Tobacco products? When might we see a similar campaign to properly educate consumers about the foods we see every day on the supermarket shelf, or on that impulse-buy at the counter, which cause disease and increase the threat to viruses such as Covid-19.

It’s high time we address the elephant in the room; Not only do our food choices affect our health and happiness, they also are linked directly to inequities in our society. While I don’t expect everyone to have the resources to eat a healthy diet, we all have personal responsibility over our bodies, and it’s time we get them moving.

Person Running Near Street Between Tall Trees

For Essential Food Processing Workers, “Thank You” Won’t Be Enough

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Thomas

When your health and possibly your life are on the line, a mere “thank you” from your employer won’t cut it. In an excellent blog post, Gregory Stine (gstine9) cites an article from The Fern reporting that as of May 1st, there have been 6,832 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 25 deaths among meatpacking and food processing workers across the country. This leaves me to wonder, is thousands of workers getting sick a business expense? Or did their employers make the age-old mistake of valuing profits over people, deciding that the costs of worker protections were simply too high. The question now – will they learn their lesson?

Gregory did a great job tying in what Michael Maniates’ piece, “Individualization”, taught us about the way in which large employers deflect responsibility for their own mistakes back onto the workers who suffer those mistakes’ consequences. This phenomenon has been especially evident during the pandemic. The New York Times reported how in a Tyson Foods pork plant that had over 1,000 confirmed cases, Tyson named “worker absenteeism” as a reason for having to temporarily shut down production, failing to recognize how their own practices had made going to work too dangerous for many of their workers.

A Tyson Foods factory in Waterloo, Iowa (Daniel Acker for The New York Times)

In Raj Patel’s “The Color of Food”, it was reported that food processing and meatpacking facilities across the country employ people of color at a disproportionate rate to the national population, as does every other sector of the food industry. Per the Food Workers Alliance, as well as being some of the most dangerous, 5 of the 8 lowest paying jobs in America are in the food system.

workers at a Tyson poultry plant in Georgia (Tyson/AP)

Gregory’s post emphasizes the pressing need for structural change that the pandemic has only helped illuminate. When the dust settles, will employers continue to disregard health concerns in the name of profits or will this mark the start of a new age of food worker safety and empowerment.

Response to: Boxed in a Paradox

Posted on May 19, 2020 by nmock

Response to: Boxed in a Paradox by ash_marie

Since the start of the pandemic, I have been scared to go out to get groceries or other essentials for fear of contracting the virus and/or bringing it home to my loved ones. Because of this, I have chosen to seldom go to the store, going only every few weeks to buy in bulk. But on occasion I still need something that I have run out of or forgot to purchase. Rather than risk the trip to the grocery store, I chose to order the product online, often kicking myself as I use amazon. While deliveries are not risk free, they have reduced risk compared to in person sopping. I took my ability to do this for granted until I read ‘Boxed in a Paradox’ by ash_marie.

‘Boxed in a Paradox’ explains the reality of a lack of access to online orders for many Americans as well as the immense amount of wealth that online ordering has been generating for companies like Amazon and Walmart while their workers suffer. In the blog post, ash_marie discusses the need to reform the system to make it more equitable for workers and consumers.

Food System Map. Source: https://kumu.io/monicapc/food-system-vision-2050-oct2019

To make reforms, it is important to fully understand the system to begin with. As we have touched on in class, mapping out a system is an effective way to achieve this. Monica Price Cohen develops system maps, such as the food system map, which allows the viewer to gain an in depth understanding of the system that they are investigating by demonstrating connections that the viewer may never have thought of before. Developing a system map of the online ordering system, which would fit within the larger food system map, is a great place to start to understand the next steps to take to make effective change.

-Nathan Mock

A Response to “Migrant workers are the backbone of our food system, why don’t we treat them better?”

Posted on May 19, 2020 by kaelir2

Original Post: https://sites.uw.edu/pols385/2020/04/13/migrant-workers-are-the-backbone-of-our-food-system-why-dont-we-treat-them-better/

The United States has a long history of social inequity and it is coming to light more during the recent events of COVID-19. I do agree with Ag519 with the unjust treatment of migrant workers especially during this time and the fact that things aren’t getting better. I do have an answer to their question on why it is not getting better. Upper class society has a substantial amount of power over what happens in this world, and they do not want to lose this power. With that, all they worry about is how to gain more money and power and finding the quickest way at attaining that. In addition to that, there is barely any media coverage around big social problems in the world, so only a small amount of people knows what’s happening.

The video So Close to America: Undocumented Farm Workers & The Myth of The ‘Free Ride’ illustrates how migrant workers work just as hard, if not harder, than other people in America while doing the jobs no one else wants to do. During this time, migrant workers continue to work in close quarters with each other and do not have resources to stay safe while others can work from home or not work at all. A question that I think Ag519 does not ask that is very important is what can we do as a community to change this. What can we do as allies to support migrant workers and what can we do to change the system? This is an important question because it asks where we go from here. These answers can include educating others about the unjust treatment happening, especially during this pandemic and donating to foundations in support.

Change starts with everyone fighting together against inequity and unjust treatment.

Farmworkers harvesting zucchini in Florida, April 2020

Photo credit: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2020/04/23/483488/protecting-farmworkers-coronavirus-securing-food-supply/

Food Lines: A Response to “Hunger and the Hungry”

Posted on May 19, 2020 by tkaitis

Having had time to reflect on a post by wisdaub entitled “Hunger and the Hungry,” a thoughtful contemplation of spiritual fasting, hunger, and food system shocks amidst the coronavirus pandemic, I will try to extend the conversation using a systems thinking approach. If we put “food insecurity” in the center of a systems map, the maze of feedback loops is dizzying, even without considering the effects of the current pandemic on the food supply network. Factor in the pandemic crisis and the triple inequalities multiply as those already least prepared for catastrophe are hit with another wave of hardship. There is no single cause or solution to global hunger, and many causes have complicated relationships among themselves.

Food System Map Image Source: thebigraise.fr

Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, an expert in issues of famine, declares poverty and lack of democracy as primary drivers of hunger, and suggests increased trade, tariffs and democratization as solutions, and self-sufficiency as a less powerful solution other than in times of war. A different view from physicist and food sovereignty advocate Vandana Shiva sees globalization and lack of import regulations as some of the larger systems responsible for poverty and displacement in the first place. Both perspectives would be appropriate in a systems-thinking map – the 135 million currently facing food shortage are victims of systems that cause or perpetuate poverty.

Children wait in line for food Image Source: weforum.org

If food is a human right (which, of course it is), how can we prevent projected estimates that the number of hungry may double by the end of 2020? Part of the answer is that people can’t afford food, especially with the economic fallout from the pandemic. Another is that nations who rely on imports are feeling food supply shocks deep in their bellies without the resources to grow or secure food closer to home. Increasing food sovereignty can build nimble resilience as shock absorbers for current systems vulnerable to price fluctuation and supply bottlenecks.

Widaub’s post describes fasting as “a way in which we recognize our common human fragility.” This is both humbling and empowering. Humbling in that the fragilities within the food system are wounds pulled wide open during Coronavirus. These wounds may heal not by applying bandages of food aid and imports alone, but by empowering the world’s hungry with land, the resources to feed the land, and their children. Poverty is a reason many will not eat today. The systems perpetuating poverty are reasons many may not eat tomorrow.

Farmers in Indonesia
Image Source: viacampesina.org

A Response to “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism”

Posted on May 19, 2020 by ruffk

Coming across “‘Essential Workers’: Heroes or a Sacrifice to Capitalism” reinforced many of my frustrations regarding the valoric framing of laborers during the coronavirus pandemic. As more awareness campaigns, often celebrity-fueled, clap from screen to screen in viral transmission, people embedded within the linkages of our global food chain work to ensure the survival of themselves and those who depend on this vast network, not out of charity, but because that’s the way things are. These are real people with a real capacity for exhaustion, illness, and death- not some Marvel character that can recalibrate their cellular composition when compromised. The use of superhero imagery during this time of crisis to encourage productivity and decrease strike sentiment among food workers whose rights are consistently trampled is not surprising, as it has often been used to normalize and increase citizen engagement in the military industrial complex.

In reading the authored recounting of the Mexican Farm Labor Program Act, I am reminded that the systematic legacy of slavery in America has not yet dissapated, but rather, manifested into more obscured, diverse forms (Yes! Magazine). The cultural enclaves we find doting the outskirts of a pricey Seattle, and the pages of our history books likewise, are not out of choice, but a historical attempt by many immigration quotas to ‘cultivate’ a certain workforce with eugenic-like intent, preying on those whose lives have been destabilized in the industrial rat race to the bottom. We live at an ironic intersection, where the wealthiest of individuals are able to buy back the pastoral fantasy that the likes of Earl Butz’ so eagerly destroyed, while those burdened with the task of feeding an ever-growing urban population work to ensure the economic mobility of their children (GRAIN). Rightfully, this post questions the performative support offered by individual actors with real political and economic influence, much like many of us have questioned the performativity of our own green consumer choices within this class; it’s the easiest way to cope in an infrastructure which abhorrently lags behind the needs of the populace. If history taught us anything, it’s that, every once and awhile, a little civil disobedience is necessary, and that efficient industry and equitable economic distribution puts food on the table (not instagram montages).

Connections with the World System and Ourselves

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Zoe

Response to Sarah Champ’s “A refocusing Around Connection”

This reflection on the Contemplative Practices ties in the very present issue of COVID-19 and the stresses it is bringing to daily lives, and the stresses it puts on the world system. I personally have never felt more transient, with my family’s summer move plans no longer set in stone, all future plans cancelled, and the uncertainty of even returning to school in the fall taking its toll on my ability to feel connected to the life I left (as I am out of state) and even the sense of self I have built over the last year. Sarah feels the same way, as there is both an internal sense of pressure to feel tied down to something, and an external through responsibilities such as coursework and household duties, but an inability to feel a connection to either. People are interconnected, and this sense of connection being disrupted has led to a more systemic approach of every individual and entire countries evaluating their connection to each other.

The greatest impact of this can be seen on the fossil fuel industry. COVID-19 has decimated oil prices as production continues but no consumers are using it, as car use and industrial production are halted due to economic shutdowns worldwide. A ccording to Forbes, renewable energy has become more appealing in fossil fuel’s place as they are not nearly as volatile economically, and increase energy sovereignty as constant imports of scarce fossil fuels are cut. Economic bailouts are being drafted for relief, and lawmakers are being given an opportunity to focus relief on more economically viable and environmentally safe instead of continuing to fund the dying fossil fuel industry. Peak Oil and Coal were reached decades ago, and the supply is only fading more and more.

The connection between individuals, the pandemic, and the fossil fuel industry’s future is clear, and it is paramount to make sure that change is enacted for the better.

A Response to “Urban Farms’ Rapid Response to Covid-19” by Champ3

Posted on May 19, 2020 by freuna

Original Post: https://sites.uw.edu/pols385/2020/04/16/urban-farms-rapid-response-to-covid-19/

Covid-19 is showing just important it is for all people to have easier access to food, however in the United States some people with the least access to food live in urban areas. Due to many food sellers deciding not to set up shop in poor urban areas because it is not profitable enough, there are food deserts for millions of people across the county. The current pandemic is showing just how important it is for these areas to have community farms so that people have access to fresh and healthy food without it being dependent on capitalism. Champ3 notes how unreliable food chains can be and that is why urban farms are so important.

However, what I think that Champ3 doesn’t mention in great detail is that the pandemic is showing a few limitations of urban farming. With the outbreak of Covid-19 and social distancing rules in place, urban farms in general are not able to be as productive because the number of workers must decrease. Especially when these farms are squeezed into such a tight space, it is much more difficult to plant, maintain, and harvest these foods.

In a way these urban farms are quite similar to what Monica White describes in her essay about the Freedom Farmers which gave recently freed black people an opportunity to create their own economic and food-based sovereignty. These urban farms give the chance to provide food for communities that are often majority people of color without the need to depend on outside forces like the government or large food companies. However, in both cases they face the same problems of not approaching the issue systematically. The whole pandemic is showing the need for change in policy in order to better provide the people who live in these communities with access to food.

Photo Credit: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/15/11660304/urban-farming-benefits

Political Ecology of the World Food System

Environmental Politics / Political Science 385

Category Archives: COVID-19 News