Futurity

The pandemic may change what we eat

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted food supply chains and raised awareness of how food production harms the planet, an expert says.
A man carries two paper grocery bags that cover his face through a parking lot

The pandemic may raise widespread awareness of the production, processing, and distribution of food to new heights.

Restaurant and meat plant closures due to the coronavirus crisis are forcing farmers to dispose of their products—from killing livestock to dumping milk and plowing under produce—while shoppers are facing empty grocery store shelves.

Here, Brianne Donaldson, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies and chair in Jain studies at the University of California, Irvine, discusses how these disruptions in the supply chain have prompted shifts in our eating habits. Donaldson’s research examines assumptions in scientific, secular and religious worldviews that marginalize plants, animals and certain people—and often justify violence.

She also explains how, for many, the pandemic has led to serious contemplation of the deep connections among the US food system, farmers, consumers, health, and climate change:

The post The pandemic may change what we eat appeared first on Futurity.

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