Christina Ferzli and Britt Lundgren on Food Talk, discussing their companies and COVID-19
Former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman explains how our diets can help flatten the curve of COVID-19. Then, Danielle talks with Beth Dooley about the importance of small grains in a healthy, resilient food system.
Danielle Nierenberg interviews Jim Perdue of Perdue Farms and Tom McDougall of 4P Foods.
They discuss farmers, the impact of COVID-19, and how they’re responding to the crisis.
Louisa Burwood-Taylor of AgFunderNews discusses the impact COVID-19 may have
on agriculture technology, supply chains, and the future of farmers
“For yourself, and your civic responsibility – you need to take care of your own health.”
“If you break the food supply chain, you can imagine how that would affect supermarket shelves”
The news of COVID-19’s impact on farmers, chefs, food service workers, and people who are food insecure around the world has been devastating. Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg shares why she sees hope in the food system this week.
“We’re here to teach students, and try to help them prepare for the work force, but also apply what things we know to try to make the world a better place”
What’s really important is stocking up on fresh produce – stocking up on nutrient dense food.”
“We have this really beautiful rich, diverse country where we can produce and we can create so much wealth for all of us, and it’s now about zooming in and resourcing these gaps that we know exist”
“There are some similarities [to 9/11] in terms of displaced workers, in terms of need for help, but those workers actually got help after 9/11. And in this situation, I think we’re teetering on the brink of a real great depression very similar, if not worse to, what we saw in the 30’s in terms of people outside looking for food.”
“There’s no shortage of food. That has never been the case in America- we have so much food. We can throw most of it – almost all of it- away, and still have enough food to feed everybody. It’s just a distribution issue.”
Food justice organizations are finding ways to use locally produced food to address equity in access, affordability, and health. DC Greens’ Produce Plus Program partners with farmers’ markets to distribute over US$800,000 annually to Washington, D.C. residents to help purchase…
“If part of what comes from this is that we realize all the people who are handling the food from the beginning on the farm to the end of the chain are really vital. We need to treat them better, pay them better, give them benefits.”
“The biggest goal will be to keep the distancing possible. So, how do we move customers through quickly and safely, and change what markets have been, which is a place to congregate and socialize?”
“It’s kind of like going through a grieving process, I would imagine. Because our restaurants are our second homes.”
“Government policies and laws are very important – and have enabled an inefficient system – and that has to change.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt everyone in the food system, from farmers to restaurant servers to hungry students. Here is a running list of organizations you can support with donations of money, food, and your volunteer time.
In a recent New York Times article, chef and activist José Andrés calls for the adoption of a proposal called “America Eats Now.” He outlines how the federal government could feed vulnerable Americans while supporting struggling farmers, food distributors, and chefs amid COVID-19.
“I do think food is kind of the social issue of our time, when we’re not worried about being wiped out by novel flu virus”
