Time To Invest in Food Systems Science

President Biden’s first budget request when he came into office called for significant investment to science with increased budgets to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the NIH office funding research on climate change and human health. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget alone would increase from $647 million to $4 billion to be spent on research, education, and outreach. This is a signal that science will no longer be swept under the rug.

On February 23, 2021, the World Food Prize Foundation released a statement penned by 24 of its Laureates—considered some of the world’s experts on food security—urging the Biden Administration to focus on alleviating hunger, poverty, and malnutrition around the globe. The Laureates called for investments to improve food systems—which feed us—but also are responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and the generation of diets that are linked to 6 of the top 10 risk factors of the global burden of disease. They urged the U.S. to strengthen and leverage alliances, play a leadership role in the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit this September, and refresh evidence-based policymaking. Others have called for the U.S. to transform the food systems as well including the Rockefeller Foundation and renewed engagement marking the 50th anniversary of the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. Some, including academics and former U.S. senators and the Secretary of Agriculture, has gone further to aim for a “moonshot” federal funding for nutrition research.

Can we now please stop using the word “moonshot”?

One way to do that is for the U.S. to invest more in food systems science and research. As several of us wrote in a recent Global Food Security Journal piece, research has a vital role in charting a positive and sustainable direction for global food security, nutrition, and health. At a time when facts, science, and evidence are under ever greater scrutiny, and even openly disregarded as suspect by some political and business leaders (we won’t mention any of the very obvious names), the rigors of research have never been more critical. Research can and does bring about wholesale changes in attitudes, political thought, and action.

Those of us who do research must see their role in terms of knowledge generation and the translation of this knowledge into a form that is relevant to decision-makers in government, business, and civil society.

Those who design, shape, and enact policies need to access the research they need in a digestible and accessible way. Failure to achieve this brings a very considerable risk of being ignored. Researchers must learn to sit at policy dialogue tables not set for them, but the table for the users of their research – that is, the policymakers. It is a table that many researchers are not accustomed to sitting at.

Food systems encapsulate the choices we make about which foods to consume and grow and how we transport, store, process, and market them. These choices profoundly affect outcomes we care about.  To date, the choices all stakeholders make, whether governments, foundations, businesses, civil society, or individual consumers, have relied on fragmented information on food systems, of variable quality, which is difficult to access or use. 

The Food Systems Dashboard is an open-access data platform to address these issues. Created by Johns Hopkins University, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and many other collaborators, it launched in June 2020, to attempt to boost the evidence-based decision-making on food systems. The Dashboard is designed to inform decisions that have positive effects on multiple social and environmental challenges simultaneously. Different food choices have different impacts on health, the environment, and livelihoods. There are trade-offs and synergies which need to be surfaced, navigated, and mitigated. For example, different foods have different nutrition values, greenhouse emissions, and different natural resource use implications. In short, the Dashboard is the beginnings of an ambitious “Google Map” for food systems. Let’s hope we make it as navigable and useful over the next decade.

Food systems must adapt and transform to deliver sustainable, healthier diets, and durable livelihoods without decimating the planet. Yes, that is a lot to ask! To do that, we need investment in science, evidence generation, and decision-making tools, like the Food Systems Dashboard, that enable data-driven decision-making in food systems. The Biden Administration has taken a bold step forward to invigorate the various fields of science in the U.S. In turn, the research community should rise to this challenge, and we provide a platform to challenge the status quo and take food system transformation in a direction we may have imagined but are far from realizing.

Taking the long view

This post is my first after what was

“a year like no other”

“one for the records”

'‘unprecedented.”

If you think I am being snarky, I both am and am not. 2020 was the year of feeling overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. Feeling interested and totally uninterested with each passing day. Existing in a time loop but sensing that time was running out. There has been so much analysis about how 2020 unfolded and many proclamations and celebrations of its end. I will not reopen those newly closed wounds. What worries me is 2021. The idea that the world will (have to) get better in the next 12 months is stunningly optimistic. With that in mind, here are my 2021 resolutions and they have absolutely nothing to do with food...

Managing expectations

2020 had some high moments and some incredibly low ones too. One of the high ones was the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Even with the vaccine(s), we need to manage our expectations of when the pandemic will end and if herd immunity is within our reach (imagine the challenge we face to vaccinate at least 5 billion people). We require a united global effort if we want to pull this off. So far, the response to the COVID-19 crisis has been splintered and now, the virus is doing what it is driven to do: it’s mutating, surviving, getting smarter. There has been an incredible amount of political polarization in handling the virus, and very few governments have embraced global cooperation and inclusion. Governments should not and cannot face inward. We will never get a handle on the pandemic.

We have been watching (too) many movies from the 1970s (the golden era of American cinema). It is so strange to see people drinking in crowded bars, having intimate dinner parties at people’s homes, taking bites and sips of shared food and drink, and kissing! It reminds me of a time when we were so alive. Will we ever go back? I don’t know. I plan to manage my expectations in thinking that this pandemic will be dusted and done by the end of 2021, or even 2022. We have a long way to go before this is over, and even when we get there, will we remember how we lived? We may need to watch the Godfather, Klute, Deer Hunter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Network—to remind ourselves that we had a time. And we may never get back to it.

Focusing on the small things

The world often seems to be on its knees, particularly with the sensationalized news feed that inundates us 24/7. Sometimes it is better to step back and re-focus our energy on the small things. The things we can change. The things that are asking to be appreciated. Maybe, the things that matter. I love these lines from Mary Oliver’s poem, Invitation:

it is a serious thing

just to be alive

on this fresh morning

in this broken world.

Taking the long view

For those of us living in the United States, it is challenging not to get swept up in what is happening to our democracy and the unraveling of a nation. Indeed, the world is broken. Some would argue, we are on the verge of a collapse—all the signs of a very complex, stymied society are ever-present and when you throw a pandemic on top of the heap, it could all crumble. But we must remember that the president before (soon to be former) President Trump was President Obama. Talk about whiplash. And as Obama rightly said: “Two steps forward, one step back. The long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion.” Taking the long view allows us to see the ebbs and flows of democracy. Are we headed for a societal collapse? Maybe. But we still have a few solid years in us to undue made mistakes and chart a better path. We have it in us, much like the coronavirus does, to survive.

Enjoying the silence.

A group of scientists published a paper in Science calling 2020 the “great seismic quiet period.” Noise from transportation, industrialization and population movement and activity, in general, was significantly lower in 2020 than in previous years. Most of the seismic decreases were due to government responses to the pandemic – lockdowns, curfews and restricted movements. While these pandemic responses have been devastating economically, the world has become quieter. So, for now, as the pandemic rolls on, enjoy the silence.

Generating knowledge, dutifully and honestly

“Maybe working on the little things as dutifully and honestly as we can is how we stay sane when the world is falling apart.”

— Haruki Murakami

This quote by Murakami really speaks to researchers and scientists: Keep focused. Crowd out the noise. Discover. Be dutiful and honest.

But as Tony Fauci, head of the National Institutes of Infectious Disease of the United States gets the cold shoulder from our dear Potus, with attempts to undermine his evidence-based warning calls of a worsening COVID-19 pandemic here in America, it is hard to ignore the last part of that quote - the falling apart bit.

As researchers, we often keep our heads down and dig deep into the details with laser sharp focus to keep generating data and evidence for the greater good of science and knowledge. But we can no longer sit quietly behind our benches and laptops and blissfully hope that someone, anyone, will read that peer reviewed paper that you just published in Journal X. We need to be attuned to the political climate.

Speaking of publications, I was asked to contribute to an exciting, upcoming Johns Hopkins University Press publication COVID19 and World Order. In my piece, I make a series of technical recommendations on what it would take to achieve resilient food systems and potential measures to address our current pandemic and avoid catastrophic future zoonotic pandemics. I bring up this publication because none of the recommendations to fix food systems I made in the paper will stand on two legs with the current fractured and sclerotic global political enabling environment. In order for food systems to function effectively, equitably, and sufficiently during the pandemic and long after, the political environment must be one that embraces global cooperation and inclusion and minimizes political polarization and geopolitical competition. And we, as scientists and researchers, cannot remain silent, disengaging from the political process, however dismal it may be.

Politics matter for the world and for science, and now more than ever. Frank Fukuyama wrote: “Countries with dysfunctional states, polarized societies, or poor leadership have done badly, leaving their citizens and economies exposed and vulnerable.” It is not surprising that states led by populist, inward-facing leaders such as the United States, Brazil, and Mexico are not sufficiently addressing the pandemic. This has led to dire consequences for the citizens living in these countries with many who are struggling with food insecurity and high COVID-related morbidity and mortality.

The COVID-19 response has also displayed the weaknesses of the multilateral system and existing institutions. Within this, the “global food architecture” is often slow, outdated and needs 21st-century support and strategic know-how. One of those entities - the World Health Organization - has tragically and sadly just lost its support from the United States during a time in what may be one of the most crucial global health issues of the century. Multi-lateral cooperation looks perilous and science and the data that it bears is being undermined.

However, cooperation can happen in times of crisis - we have seen it before. Perhaps the UN Food Summit in 2021 can be a moment to create a global strategy for food governance that is nimble, modern, and inclusive, backed by an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-like body that provides evidence and science to support actions.

As the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Food Security Journal, my co-editors and I share our perspectives on the food security challenges that face humanity and lay out our vision and call for stronger food systems research and science in the 2020s. I think this piece comes at a critical moment in food policy with COVID and climate change, because the challenges and opportunities for food systems research that lay ahead are significant, requiring that high-quality science be translated into policy faster than ever before.

“Our vision is one in which research and science, and the evidence stemming from their application, not only inform food and environmental policy, but are adopted and mainstreamed into actions at the national, regional, and global levels.”

In the paper, we write: “At a time when facts, science, and evidence are under ever greater scrutiny, and even openly disregarded as suspect by some political and business leaders, the rigors of research have never been more critical. It is also important not to become disheartened by the slow speed of change in policy and practice, even when the appropriate course of action is clear ‘to us.’ Research can and does bring about wholesale changes in attitudes, political thought, and action, but change takes time.”

We argue that the food systems have transformed, but with that transformation, we are left with profound and widening gaps to address sustainability and equity. These gaps will make future food security and continuity of life on the planet difficult to say the least. As researchers, we will have to fill in those gaps to ensure we meet the demands of a growing population sustainably while co-existing in amity with the planet.

We also need to find the stitched pockets of progress and small glimmers of hope as the basis of our knowledge to move forward - dutifully and honestly.

In Africa, Covid-19 Threatens to Worsen Hunger

This is a cross-posted blog and originally on Bloomberg Opinion. The original can be read here.

The continent has some unique strengths, but food insecurity is a special vulnerability. 

“It is easy to see the beginnings of things and harder to see the ends,” Joan Didion wrote in “Goodbye to All That.” Her words resonate in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when no one has a clue whether we’re at the beginning, in the middle or near the end. In sub-Saharan Africa, not knowing is especially worrisome because it’s difficult to tell whether the continent’s fragile food supply systems will weather the strain.

 While the continent has made great strides toward economic security over the past several decades, Covid-19 could stymie that progress. Conditions vary greatly from country to country, but many struggles to ensure that their citizens have access to basic essentials: soap to clean hands, potable water and nutritious food to keep immune systems strong. Hunger and food insecurity have not gone away. Twenty-three percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa are undernourished. Because of the global economic fallout from Covid-19, the number of people worldwide facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million, the United Nations World Food Programme estimates, and much of that impact will be felt in Africa.

 At the same time, obesity and noncommunicable diseases (heart disease and diabetes for example) are rising in many low-income countries, Africa included, and both are proving to be serious complications for people infected with Covid-19. Much of the continent is also still dealing with other complex infectious diseases – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other neglected tropical illnesses – that will make it more difficult to treat Covid-19 infections.

 As it expands on the continent, Covid-19 will put further stress on already strained health systems – with limited numbers of ventilators and proper beds, minimal personal protective equipment, and, in some places, too few health care workers.

At the same time, food supply chains are starting to falter. Lockdowns in 30 African countries have made it very challenging for farmers to sell their goods in markets or for workers to get to fields. Food assistance is not always making it to those most in need. Many informal markets – the infamous wet or open-air markets, where most Africans shop for food – are closed, further imperiling food insecurity and threatening malnutrition. Reports from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition’s offices in Nigeria and Mozambique noted that prices of food, particularly the fruits and vegetables, have increased significantly.

In many African cities, social distancing and self-isolation are a recipe for disaster. Slums and informal settlements are overcrowded and lack basic services such as running water, cooking facilities, and electricity. And even if people infected with the coronavirus had safe places to isolate, some feel they must work to keep their families fed. Commutes to work often involve overfilled buses and long traffic jams – which increase the spread of disease.

With global unemployment rising, remittances worldwide are also are expected to fall – by 20%, or nearly $110 billion, according to the World Bank. In sub-Saharan Africa, they may drop by 23%. This will push more people to go to work, increasing their exposure.

To be sure, African countries have a few things working in their favor. For one, they have experience with massive infectious diseases – HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and polio, to name a few – and public health systems have been strengthened over the last decade. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been hard hit by Ebola, but there are signs of progress with a declining case load in early 2020.

 In the current crisis, African governments can take some early lessons from the rest of the world that has been grappling with the pandemic a month or two longer, and work to keep the food supply moving. The continent is still 60% rural, and many urban Africans have close ties to the countryside, owning land or family plots. With luck, lower population density in rural areas may slow the spread of Covid-19, allowing farmers to continue to grow food, that is if they can get access to seeds and the technologies needed to plant and harvest. Support to food producers is an absolute necessity to keep the continent food sufficient.

 Sub-Saharan Africa is also fortunate to have a relatively young population, which may make it better able to weather outbreaks of Covid-19 with less hospitalization and death.

 Still, it remains hard to see the end. Some people hypothesize, with little evidence, that Africa may not be hit as hard as other places because of its warm climate. Perhaps, they say, the spread will be slower in Africa, and that will buy extra time. Given how easily Covid-19 has spread in other warm places such as Singapore and Thailand, that’s not something to count on.

 To ensure that Africa doesn’t starve and that it can weather the Covid-19 storm, it is essential to make sure people are guaranteed access to food, water, soap, masks, and cash transfers to support their families. The poorest and most vulnerable should be the priority. World governments with their donor partners, including the World Bank and the World Food Programme, will be counted on for support over the next four months. Businesses who make food products need support as well. We must all help make sure they come through.

19 days of COVID cuisine: Cooking to combat cabin fever

My better-half, who does all the cooking in this casa and serves as the main hunter-gatherer-forager for all things food, wrote a post on his 5cense blog, but gave me the permits to post it here too. He goes into our food life in the times of COVID and how he gets by with a recent diagnosis of Ménières disease. He tries hard to practice what I preach in my professional life, ensuring we eat as sustainably as possible, and have zero food waste. Right now, these principles are harder for everyone, with the strained global food supply trying to keep up as the economy slows. For those already suffering from food insecurity and uncertain employment, the struggles are immense and we can’t even begin to comprehend the sacrifices and hardship. We feel so incredibly lucky to be able to put food on the table every night and are trying to support our local food system and community as best we can.

Please go and support your local farmers and CSAs (see who we support below), restaurants and food banks. They need us more than ever.

Virtual Sourcing
Don't know how y'all get your food, but this is problema #1 these days, 'specially for car-less folks like us that are used to the Italian way of doing things—buying fresh stuff every day for what you're gonna eat that night. By the time we went to the market a few weeks ago, most everything had been hoarded (btw, the TP shortage phenomena has an EZ answer—a Tushy bidet attachment... toilet paper is a filthy habit anyway). We have a Trader Joe's a block away, but seems to be a cesspool for Corona right now (+ no, not the beer). And when u go on Fresh Direct the time slots are always taken... so what u gotta do is wake up (or stay up til) 12:01am when they release time slots for the next day + then be patient thru 15 minutes of tumbling hourglasses or spinning wheels as everyone in the country is also refreshing their browsers over + over like you are. On the 2nd or 3rd night we got lucky + scored a rez for a week later.

Fresh Direct lets u modify your cart up until the night before your delivery so just put whatever in there to book a slot and then keep adding as u wait a week for your time to come up... of course lately they are out of most everything + even if u do manage to get some stuff in your cart, by the time they deliver ⅓ of your items are missing + the recommended replacements are ridiculous like in loo of raisins they suggest maraschino cherries, or low-sodium Goya black beans instead of the regular (which we've probably eaten more of then any other food item in el mundo (we brought cases of 'em to Rome, along w/ 5 or so kilos of Maseca)... spose u can just add your own salt + here's a tip: squeeze a lime into the can so u don't waste all them juices + gook stuck to the side of the can. And sure, u can boil your own, but we're lazy + DiY beans give us gas (tho pressure cookers help) + they were out of the dried ones too.

Whole Foods on the other hand has the opposite approach—u can reserve only 2 days in advance for delivery, but they release slots throughout the day, so if u keep ⌘-R'ing the screen u might score a delivery w/in a few hours. They don't let u update your cart tho + their bait + switch tactics are more extreme... yesterday we went to buy butter, Jasmine rice + paper towels but ended up w/ a few bottles of cava, organic blueberries + Engine-2 Rip's (only cereal we can find w/o added sugar or oils), but none of what we originally ordered (they don't tell u until after checkout that they are out of these things), tho guess we did score a few bags of Peet's Major Dickason's (no other coffee will do for us).

Daily Bread for a Fortnight
If ever we was gonna write a cookbook, it wouldn't be about singular recipes but the flow from 1 day to the next... about efficiency, variety, conservation of resources, adaptability + yes, 1-pot meals cuz we're fundamentally lazy. Rule #1 would be don't follow recipes. Just get creative w/ what u got, analyze the contents of your fridge in the order of when it will go bad + then figure out what u can concoct so nothing gets wasted... can't remember when the last time something in our fridge went bad. Most every meal ends up being a unique dish, tho there are a few general patterns that repeat. Rarely does a week go by that we don't have tacos, so we start w/ a batch of salsa. Choice of peppers might vary (+ sometimes we opt for green tomatillos) but usually, it's habaneros, cilantro, white onion, lime + roasted Roma tomatoes (5 makes enough to exactly fill our container)... the only problem is that there was no cilantro (a problem we are well used to, living in Italy where they regard cilantro as worse than old man b.o.) so we did the unspeakable + used basil + parsley. When we ordered habaneros from Fresh Direct last week we thought we were getting 6, but ends up we got 6 bags... so really like 40-50 habaneros. No problema, we roasted all of 'em w/ our stovetop roaster (w/ fan on high!) + then added a bit of olive oil + lime (to make it pasty) + put it in the freezer so whenever we need roasted habanero (which is always) we can just nuke it for 10 seconds then take a spoonful. While we were mucking up our food processor (Breville... highly recommended) figured we may as well whip up the jerk + pesto sauces (read on). Ideally, this prep day should coincide w/ the day u get your goods, which this time around conveniently fell on April 1.

April 1: Vongole—this is another dish in high rotation, if not weekly then every fortnight, being that clams are our bedder-½'s favorite food (she's got a tattoo as proof) + low on the food chain, low carbon footprint (unless u get them from New Zealand... which we must admit, them cockles are tasty). Our custom is to make this for whenever she comes back from a trip, which used to be often, but seeing as no one is traveling these days we make 'em just because. Ain't much to do w/ vongole (or linguine 'Congolese' as our iPhone calls it)... soak the clams 1st thing in cold salted water (our seafood monger in Rome used to tell us how much salt per liter but we forget) in the sink + apologize to them 1 x 1 for the trauma they endured being scooped from the sand + shipped thru whatever supply chain to your home (hopefully your seafood monger knows better not to seal the bag so they can breathe). Rub each 1 down + if they are slightly ajar they should clench close when u massage them otherwise they ain't no good. If u squeeze 'em a bit u can sorta tell.

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If we had a baguette we would of made garlic bread to "fare la scarpetta con le vongole" (mop up the clam juices w/ the bottom of your shoe) but apparently everyone's hoarding baguettes (which at least makes more sense then guns + TP) so instead we just took regular sliced (whole grain sourdough) bread + smeared crushed garlic + olive oil (butter is also out of stock, so we're rationing the little that we have) + put it in the oven. Then put the water on to boil.

In another pot (a janky non-teflon 1 cuz it might get scratched up by the clams) put some chopped garlic, olive oil + white wine... we like to put sum sorta cherry tomatoes (ideally those nippled piennoli from the slopes of Mt Vesuvius) but alas, out of stock, so instead we chopped up some red peppers (sweet minis). At the same time u put the pasta in (linguini or spaghetti for vongole... nothing else will do) put the poor little clams in the pot w/ the lid on. Make sure to under-cook pasta, we just drain against the side of the sink to not have to wash a strainer then add lots of fresh chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, ground pepper, salt + a squeeze of lemon, then dump the clams (cook long enough for them to all open) + juices on top + hold onto the pot u used to steam the clams cuz u can use that for the discarded shells. We didn't take a photo of the vongole cuz we didn't know then we'd write this post + we're more into eating our food then taking pictures of it. We also had a salad (use them greens while their fresh) w/ avocado + red onion. We've been trying not to drink during the week, but hard to have vongole senza vino bianco.

April 2: Gnocchi Pesto—fresh basil should also be made into pesto as soon as possible... it doesn't mean u have to eat it that day, but at least make it. As we mentioned, we also made the salsa + jerk sauce at the same time to save on cleaning. Often humus gets worked into this routine, but not this time. Pesto is e-z p-z.. throw basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil + pecorino romano in the food processor + voilà. Most recipes probly call for parmigiano but our time in Rome has biased our buds. Sometimes we squeeze a squirt of lemon into the mix. ½ of the pesto we'll put in a jar (top off w/ a layer of olive oil so it stays green + unoxidized).

We chose gnocchi cuz we had pasta the night before + also cuz the last time we went to Trader Giotto's they were out of all the pastas except gnocchi. While the gnocchi were boiling (if u have gnocchi w/ tomato sauce u can cook them right in the sauce + save a pot) we sautéed a bit of shrimp + mustard greens (often we'll throw chick peas in for protein, but the shrimp suffice this time) then add the gnocchi + mix in the pesto last, after the heat is off. Again, w/ a salad + unfortunately sliced bread instead of a baguette to mop up the oily remnants. Pesto is hard to eat w/o vino rosso, but we can't drink red wine this time of year w/ our allergies + we ain't sposed to be drinking anyway during the week. We usually also have sparkling water but SodaStream is taking forever refilling our cannisters... so it's tap water straight up, w/ a squeeze of lemon (April is the month they chlorinate the water in DC (gotta keep them pipes clean living in the swamp) which smells gross but u can't really taste it). Again, we didn't take photos of the final product, tho here's the pesto sauce we haven't used yet, along w/ the salsa we haven't tapped into either.

April 3: Jerk Chicken—we haven't been talking much about what we eat the rest of the day.... if we have leftovers from the night before we skip breakfast + eat those for lunch. Or we eat a late breakfast + skip lunch, or just snack on whatever throughout the day. Lately we've been into smoothies + while we haven't resorted yet to frozen berries, we got some for the day when we can't get 'em fresh.

'Jerk' is 1 of those vague words that to us means whatever u find laying around, but usually entails roasted habaneros (which we already mentioned we have a frozen stash of) + green onions... those are the only 2 real requirements, + oh, spose allspice is must-have to be jerk. If we have pickles on hand (which we do) we'll pour some of the briney water into the mix, or capers w/ some of the juices they're soaking in,... soy sauce, ponzu, whatever salad dressing u might have, lime, vinegar, salt, pepper, spices, etc. Baste the chicken in this concoction overnight (we did all this the day before). Then all u got to do is fire up the grill + throw 'em on.

Actually, shuck the corn + put those on 1st cuz they take longer. Then put the meatier breasts + legs before the wings + smaller pieces... tho we couldn't get a whole chicken, all we could get was 2 legs + a package of wings (if we wanted organic, free range). We don't do chicken that often btw, maybe once a month. It's the only animal we eat that doesn't live in the ocean. We justify it cuz it's low on the food chain + comparatively resource-efficient, but fact is it's delicious. Roasted corn doesn't need anything, perhaps just a squeeze of lime. And again, a salad, while the greens last. Washed down w/ Pilsner Urquel. We got tired of waiting for SodaStream so canceled our order + put on a bandanna + braved the hardware store to exchange our cannisters. After dinner mixed sum gin into our limey soda water (it was Friday night after all)... nursing our Japanese gin to stretch it for as long as we can.

April 4: Tacos—we've eaten tacos probably more than any other dish in our lifetime, at least once if not twice a week. We had a bit of leftover chicken so grilled it up w/ sum mushrooms, green onions + a few types of peppers (dare we use the word fajitas?). We actually scored some tortillas (albeit small "street" style ones) otherwise we would of made our own. And whipped up a batch of guacamole... + the salsa, sour cream, jack cheese (sadly they were out jalapeño jack) + a bottle of pilsner.

April 5: Risotto—take the bones you've been collecting from the chicken, along w/ whatever else (we keep a pot in our fridge for scraps), the tips of onions, celery, etc. + add water to boil. The longer they simmer the better. This week we made risotto w/ the broth, but the last time we made vegetable bean soup + the time before that pozole.

While the broth simmers start chopping up stuff for the risotto... this time we put garlic, eggplant, shitake mushrooms, a few frozen shrimps, mustard greens (add last) + green chilies. Fortunately we have 10 kg of frozen roasted Hatch chilies we got last September... we still have about 5 kg left. Roast the garlic + briefly toast the risotto then start adding stuff. We just put the strainer right on top + pour the broth straight in. Set the risotto simmering, stirring often. Once the stuff in the strainer has cooled (spraying a bit of cold water thru helps) we like to get in there + wring all those juices out, squeezing the remnants to a pulp. Broth-making should correspond w/ the day before garbage day so these remnants don't stink up your kitchen or attract vermin. When it's near to done grate some pecorino in. We served it on a bed of arugula since we had some to use up.

April 6: black bean tostadas/tacos—we had a few leftover broken tortillas that we put in the oven to make tostadas + since we don't have any more tortillas we made our own from Maseca... again, plenty used to doing this since they don't have tortillas in Rome or Nairobi (not corn ones anyway). We still have salsa from a few days ago + grated some cheese + diced up some peppers, green onions, arugula, cilantro, sour cream, etc...

April 7: Penne Pesto w/ shrimp, mushrooms, peppers on a bed of arugula (using rest of pesto sauce made a few days ago).

April 8: Veggie-burgers /w fries + babaga-humus—scraping the bottom of the fridge so dipped into the freezer to dig out some Engine-2 Pinto-Habanero Burgers that we've been meaning to try since we like their cereals so much (all simple plant-based ingredients w/ no added oils or sugars). Grilled up some onions, mushrooms + peppers to put on the patties + also a slice of NY sharp cheddar cheese. Roasted some potatoes in the oven (w/paprika, rosemary, garlic, salt + o'bay). While we had the oven on, roasted an eggplant + mixed it w/ some humus (why not... humus + babaganoush have basically the same ingredients): chick peas, tahini, olive oil, lemon, fresh parsley, habanero paste, sesame seeds + the roasted eggplant). Celery + pickles. Washed down w/ a bottle of Cava since our bedder-½ got promoted to full professor (she was already tenured + endowed, but technically "assistant" prof before) so we were celebrating. The verdict on Engine-2 Pinto-Habanero "burgers"? Consistency was weird, soft + mushy + falling apart, but w/ all the fixings + mayo + mustard it's all tasty.

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Oh yah, the cookies... those are the professor's doing. We don't bake... at least not baking that necessitates following a recipe.

Eating + drinking w/ Ménières
Didn't sleep so well + woke up w/ our head pounding/spinning, maybe on account of the cava + cookies. Last year we were diagnosed w/ Ménières disease + our doctor said no salt, alcohol, caffeine + basically every food item listed here that we love. But life's too short! Would rather be dizzy + lose hearing in 1 ear than eat unsalted beans. Especially since there's been no conclusive studies demonstrating that this even helps, it's all just anecdotal speculation. A few months ago we started to keep a food journal to see if we could identify any triggers, but barometric pressure, allergies + lack of sleep seem to have more of an influence than diet... tho salt, sugar + alcohol certainly doesn't help + eating a lot in 1 meal after fasting all day doesn't bode well for us either. In particular we've noticed we don't do so well w/ wine (especially red, but even whites now). We're okay w/ beer (as long as it's low alcohol %... not these crazy high-octane IPAs they make nowadays), in fact we sleep + feel even better if we have 1 or 2 beers. Really it's about moderation in everything, keeping fluid levels at an even keel, don't eat a bunch of salt 1 day + then no salt the next + don't binge on anything all at once, but eat consistently throughout the day. Our Ménières is probably acting up cuz it's allergy season (this time last year we were really hating life). Yesterday we went for a run (only cuz it rained all night) + when we got back our legs felt + looked like we got bit by 100s of mosquitoes all at once, in addition to sneezing attacks + itchy bloodshot eyes. So avoiding the outside world is something we should be doing anyway for the next month, regardless of COVID.

April 9: Shrimp Tacos w/ Guacamole—Re-up day... got our Fresh Direct delivery this morning... this as we learn that the Trader José's near our house closed cuz an employee got COVID, so now we'll be even harder pressed to get food in our hood. We made shrimp tacos cuz 2 of the avocados we're really soft so figured we may as well make guacamole + the shrimp weren't frozen so best to 'em sooner rather than later. Made another batch of fresh salsa for the week.

April 10: Mushroom Gorgonzola Stroganoff—we have no clue how a proper stroganoff is made, this is based more on the Hungarian Mushroom soup recipe we remember from Moosewood (back when we was a hippie child in the '80s we admit to using that cookbook). Sauté some mushrooms (a mix of cremini + the regular ones) + onions + garlic in white wine, olive oil + butter. We couldn't get sour cream so used Greek yogurt. Spice w/ salt + pepper + most importantly paprika + fresh parsley. Oh yah, and this time we sprinkled some crumbled gorgonzola in which gave it a nice zest.

April 11: Linguini Vongole—1 of the professor's students was going to Whole Foods w/ a car today + asked us if we wanted anything (spose this is the 2020 version of giving the teacher an apple) so we gave her a list of things including vongole, so repeated day 1's clam-fest only this time w/ linguini + we had little kumatos to throw in. Not only was this student kind enough to do our shopping but she souprized us w/ other goodies we didn't ask for such as burrata, so included that in our meal.

We were going to do a whole fortnight of food getting us thru lock-down, but seems the cycle is starting to repeat + we have friends in Naples asking to swap recipes, so we'll go ahead + post now... u get the idea, it's not about knocking your socks off w/ 1 meal, but sustaining yourself thru the week, month + also eating to sustain the planet. W/ the nearby Trader Joe's closed cuz of COVID it's getting harder to shop (supposedly the queue at the nearby Whole Food's is 2 blocks long). We're losing sleep staying or waking up at midnight to get a delivery rez on Fresh Direct only to find out they are all booked in advance + seems all food delivery services are overwhelmed. On the other hand, there is tons of food going to waste cuz the chain is severed from farmers that normally supply restaurants + business besides supermarkets, or the mom + pop specialty farms that supply farm-to-fork restaurants. We signed up for a local CSA (Earth N Eats) so we are getting a bunch of fresh stuff on Friday. There's also lots of otherwise thumb-twiddling restaurants getting involved in distributing (uncooked) food (at least in DC). So we're set for at least a few weeks, here's what our fridge looks like at the moment:

Next Week's Menu
As mentioned, we don't follow recipes or plan meals in advance (+ or even grocery lists) but we have a vague notion in the back of our head that gets inspired day off based on the status of food in our fridge in the order it will go bad (not a drop or leaf of any food item above will go to waste). But here's some other e-z to make meals that usually find their way into the mix:

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• Pozole—while the authentic version is complicated (+ involves pig feet) we have our own version that can be made in minutes. Ideally u do this w/ broth u made, but in a pinch u can use 1 of them boxes (+ veggie broth if you don't do chicken). Grill up onions + garlic, add roasted Hatch green chilies (we have them frozen, but u can get them canned, tho they're not nearly as good/spicy), oregano, a can of hominy, black beans + voilà. Mexicans garnish w/ cabbage, onions (white), pork, radish, lime + chili sauce... we modify this sometimes w/ whatever leafy green, green onions, grated cheese + chicken, if we have it.

• Quiche—quiche is another great way to use things up, just grill up whatever u have on hand, add 4 eggs (2 per pie) + grated cheese... basically an omelet in a pie crust. We only make pie crusts if we have to (like in Italy where u can't buy them frozen) but what a pain in the ass when u can just buy 'em frozen. If u don't have a pie crust, u can always make breakfast for dinner... we often do a Mexican version of this w/ huevos rancheros + black beans + home fries.

• Pizza—same thing we said about pie crusts applies to pizza dough... much easier to get frozen + thaw + roll it out out day of. U also need to an oven that can crank up to 450° if not 500°+ ... ours never seems to get hot enough to get a crispy crust (+ we never forked over the dough for a proper pizza stone but use a metal 1), but maybe also cuz we load it up w/ veggies (usually lots of mushrooms) + cheese, to try to make a meal of it. We also often pile arugula on to turn it in to a sort of pizza salad. Otherwise, if we want a proper pizza we leave that to the professionals (same could be said about sushi).

• Cevicherashi—while we don't usually make sushi ourselves, we often do a Mexican/Peruvian hybrid that we already documented here. Or a Polynesian take on this is poisson cru (basically the same thing but w/ coconut milk).

• TJ's Thai Lime + Chili Amondless Larb—it's easy to fall prey to the Asian stir-fry, face it, we all have + it's never the same as when u go to a good Thai or Chinese restaurant. Maybe 1 reason is that it usually requires liberal doses of fish sauce which stinks your house up to high hell. But the classic stir-fry is always a good way to use up those fresh veggies + Jasmine rice is a nice change from pasta. One secret we have (being that we consume mass quantities of those Trader Joe's Thai + Lime Almonds) is we re-use all those leftover spices (lemongrass, kaffir, etc.) once we've eaten the almonds + yes, u sorta have to plug your nose + use fish sauce, that's the dirty secret to Thai cooking. When we 1st got turned on to Thai food in the '80s in San Jose, we got the cook from our favorite restaurant drunk so she'd reveal her secrets + evidently cooking w/ vodka is also key. If we don't use shrimp, our stir-fry dishes often end up a bit larby, w/ lime, scallions, cilantro + ground chicken or turkey or crumbled tofu, tempeh or we've even tried this w/ beyond burger.

• Casarecce Carciofi—we got some artichokes coming friday in our CSA so we'll likely make a variation of this, hopefully they'll have the stems on them cuz them's good eating. Basically we follow the recipe for carciofi ala Romana (steam w/ garlic, mint + lemon) + rather than waste those juices the artichokes were simmering in, we take the artichokes out, mash up the stems (hopefully they're soft enough) + garlic + then maybe add mushrooms or whatever else + put the pasta in there + add pecorino Romano to stretch your artichokes into a meal.

• Anything Goes Mulligatawny—googling now this doesn't resemble the mulligatawny recipes we see on Inurnet, but it's usually what we call our goulashy vegetable soups. The inspiration goes back to 2 decades ago when we used to stand in line at the Soup Nazi in Hell's kitchen (before he sold out + franchised + had to drop the "Nazi") + it was pretty much just like in Seinfeld (except u stood in line outside, rain or shine), u had to know the drill or get scolded. And it was well-worth it. My favorite was his mulligatawny, which seemed more Persian than Indian. And we'll use a dollop of sour cream or yogurt instead of coconut milk (as we think did the Soup Nazi). Regular players in our mulligatawny include: lentils or chick peas and/or whatever beans, celery, carrots, squash or pumpkin, onions, potatoes or faro, etc. but really this all hinges on your broth. We might spice it w/ a bit of curry powder or rosemary + tarragon + usually there's habaneros involved or some other chilies.

Bon appétit! And wash those hands.

It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends.

At least, that is what Joan Didion wrote in “Goodbye to All That.” She was referring to herself when she moved to New York City and unexpectedly stayed for a good long while. Maybe too long.

I have been thinking a lot about what she wrote, feeling the palpability of those words as we mark our 30th day in self-isolation amidst a global COVID-19 pandemic, without a clue to where we are within it. The end is indeed abstruse. Are we at the beginning of it? Are we in the middle? Or nearing the end? It is harder to see, know, or predict when this will all resolve, and no Jim Morrison, the end is not always near.

We saw COVID coming for a while now. We had early lessons of historical pandemics in which many of us mortal souls perished. The Plague (killing 200+ million), the Spanish Flu (killing 50+ million), and HIV/AIDS (killing 25+ million and still going on). The visual below shows the impact of these pandemics killing 25 to 35% of the total global population. We have also been warned over the last two decades that more and more zoonotic diseases — i.e. animal to human transmitted diseases — are coming and creeping into our food supply. Think avian and swine flu, SARS, and MERS.

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Then there are other infectious diseases that are downright scary, but seem to be contained to certain regional epidemics. Think Ebola and Zika. These have never quite made the jump to be classified as a “pandemic” which is classified as a disease impacting every country in the world, yet.. Then there are the insidious, neglected and tropical diseases like river blindness, Leishmaniasis, and Guinea worm that impact people living in the poorest areas of the world. And Dengue and malaria continue to wreak their widespread havoc. The warnings were and are persistently there.

The beginning of COVID-19 was surreal, yet predictable to witness, much like watching the beginnings of Steven Soderberg’s movie Contagion (a virus that spread from China to the rest of the world via air travel, killing 25% of the global population, which stemmed from a bat to pig to human food system zoonotic transmission). Noticing events unfold mid-to-late December in China, as it quickly made its way through some Asian countries, and then slammed into Italy, were obvious signs that this virus moves fast and stealthy, and does not discriminate. And it was coming for everyone, leaving no one behind. Observing the way governments responded to tampering down the virus has been mixed, with the U.S. being way too slow to move and react, and with a “president” who not only doesn’t understand the science but doesn’t care to learn and listen to the experts (like the great Tony Fauci) who surround him reluctantly. Now, the country is reeling from the highest number of cases and deaths in the world.

We also had knowledge and evidence of how such a pandemic would unfold and how the food system is particularly vulnerable to being the source and breeder of these zoonotic type diseases. Now one might wonder if COVID-19 is truly a zoonotic disease. Its origins are being debated in the scientific literature. While there are some thoughts that the virus originated from a wet market in Wuhan, scientists are still unclear about its origin. Did it come from animal and if so, which one(s)? Did it really come from a seafood market or from food at all? There are many early assumptions that it came from snakes or pangolins. The science is leaning towards snakes not being the source. Viruses have a hell of a time jumping from warm-blooded to cold-blooded back to warm-blooded. And it is thought overall that COVID-19, like SARS, is a mammalian virus. There was one article in late January 2020 in the Journal of Medical Virology that though some of the genetic code of the COVID can be found in two snake varieties, but that has been discredited.

There is an interesting article in Nature that is trying to determine its origins. The starting point is the genome: 80% of the COVID-19 genome is shared with SARS and 96% with bat coronaviruses. They hypothesize that the origin of COVID-19 is either natural selection in an animal host before zoonotic transfer (bat to pig or bat to pangolin) OR (ii) natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer (so human to human, i.e. SARS to COVID).

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I am going to write more about zoonotic (also known as zoonoses) diseases for a new blog series myself and some stellar colleagues are curating on COVID-19 and nutrition. Still, for now, it is of the utmost importance for the global community to prevent these food-borne zoonotic diseases in the future. Scaling up a “One Health” approach is one way to prevent future pandemics.

Humans co-exist with animals - as companions for our overall wellbeing, as producers of food, and as a source of livelihoods. This interface between animals and humans and their shared environments can be a source of disease too. Those who work on One Health work at this interface to prevent zoonotic diseases from spreading by considering animal, human, and environmental connections.

But here we are, with each day running into another, wondering if tomorrow will be different or more of the same. For now, we are stuck in this endless cycle of a beginning. But maybe this is a new beginning - one of a new reality, a new way to see the world and our place in it, and a new appreciation of what we have and a profound sadness and empathy for those who have less or have suffered loss, in every shape and form. The question is, when the end is near, or even better yet, comes and COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror, what will we be as a human society then? Hopefully, one that is better informed, ready, and resilient for the next one.

The COVID-19 Crisis and Food Systems: Addressing threats, creating opportunities

Lawrence Haddad, Jess Fanzo, Steve Godfrey, Corinna Hawkes, Saul Morris, and Lynnette Neufeld

With the spread of COVID-19, we find ourselves plunged into a global health crisis. By most accounts, we are only at the early stages of the pandemic so it is going to reshape economy, society, and politics, probably permanently.

Pre-COVID-19 crisis, many families the world over already spent a lot of time and energy thinking about getting access to food. During the crisis, the most vulnerable face the rapid loss of their income - spent mainly on food - and this is an immediate threat that should be prioritized. For many others, simple access to shops has also become very worrying and needs swift attention. Even the wealthy are increasingly thinking about food access at this time.

But are governments, businesses and civil society thinking enough about food access and the wider food system?

How will the crisis shape the food system if we do nothing? And what can we do in the context of the crisis to get the food system in better shape to improve the consumption of nutritious foods for all, especially the most vulnerable?

We desperately need to focus on the operation of food systems at the moment because we know that the quality and quantity of the food we eat is the number one risk factor in the prevention of general mortality and morbidity. If we forget the food system right now, the COVID-19 health crisis will unwittingly use the food system as a catapult to have an even bigger impact on the global burden of disease. If we think and act to change the food system right now, we can reposition it to be more effective at delivering affordable nutritious food during the crisis, and perhaps even after the crisis.

What are the probable effects of COVID-19 (and the efforts to control it) on the food system which shapes our access to nutritious food?

It is difficult to say for sure, but in this table we share some thoughts on the potential impacts throughout the food system of COVID-19 (and the response to it), and some ways of mitigating the impacts. We do this for high- and low-income contexts, which may well exist within the same countries. Many of our suggested actions are responses to immediate needs, but many would have positive impacts well after the crisis is under control.

What are the main threats? We are of course worried about food prices, especially for more nutritious foods, which are already more expensive than staples and unaffordable for many people, especially those on low incomes who already spend much of their money on food. More food staples will be consumed as a result of price hikes, but likely also more, unhealthy, highly processed foods that are cheaper, have longer shelf lives and may provide comfort in tough times. In addition, increased food price volatility (due in part to hoarding and cross border impediments) generates uncertainty and makes it more difficult for food system actors to take all manner of decisions.

We are also deeply worried about negative income shocks on the most vulnerable, through the loss of livelihoods as the demand for certain services collapses and certain production systems are disrupted due to affected workers. Farming, in particular, seems very vulnerable given the older age profile of farmers and the mortality pattern of COVID-19 as well as the sector’s common reliance on mobile workforces. This vulnerability, if realized, will mean less food produced and weaker non-farm rural livelihoods and higher food prices for all, wherever we live. Physical distancing will have an impact on the costs of moving food around, within countries and across borders leading to more food loss and emptier markets. Lapses in food safety, which potentially started all this in a wet food market in Wuhan, will likely exacerbate if no action is taken. 

What are the probable effects of COVID-19 (and the efforts to control it) on the food system which shapes our access to nutritious food?

But there are opportunities. Healthier foods build immune systems throughout life but especially among vulnerable ages, including early life and the elderly, and so there is a window of opportunity to make the case for safe nutritious food. Diabetes and other non-communicable diseases are risk factors for COVID19 mortality and additional attention should be given to preventing the former because of the latter. 

We expect to see food safety move strongly up the policy priority list because of the origins of COVID-19. Social protection programs should be more linked to promoting the consumption and production of nutritious food, not just preventing food insecurity. We expect the prevention of food loss, especially fresh food, during storage and transport to gain a greater profile. The aging of farming capacity will be treated more seriously, with efforts increasing to make farming more profitable and appealing to younger generations.

We can see opportunities for reshaping public sector messaging, not only about hygiene but about nutritious food consumption and preparation. Will there be new opportunities to disrupt food transport by using shared economy models capitalizing on any underutilized haulage capacity to lower costs? Will we see more financing facilities for investing in nutritious food production, processing, storage, distribution and retailing? Will civil society become more organized and active about the provenance of food and about the behavior of businesses and governments in ensuring the provision of affordable food? 

Social protection programs should be more linked to promoting the consumption and production of nutritious food, not just preventing food insecurity. © Unsplash

Finally, will we see greater collaboration between government and the private sector during the crisis spill over into a reshaped narrative post-crisis about how the two sectors - public and private - can work better together to improve access for all to safe nutritious foods?

This is the first of a series of blogs that we will put out in the coming months. We have asked Nutrition Connect to set up a COVID-19 and food systems site and we would like to encourage our partners, colleagues, friends, and fellow travelers to post blogs, opinion pieces and research reports and papers that are relevant to this topic on the site, with full organizational recognition and lots of cross-posting. 

The COVID-19 health crisis is here. Let’s work together to stop it turning into a food crisis and further exacerbating disease burdens.

Governments, communities, and businesses around the world are showing astonishing energy and innovation to cope with COVID-19. The short-term priority is to stabilize food systems and keep trade open – all people working in food systems from the farmer to the check-out supermarket agent are critical to keep the food system moving. But it is in times of great crisis that fundamental reforms are born. The United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the advance of the welfare state were developed in the darkest days of the Second World War.

So let’s stand by our neighbors, critical workers, and communities today. Let’s also work to reshape our food systems for tomorrow - to deal with the new COVID-19 crisis as well as the much bigger diet-related health crisis; one that has been with us for decades. 

Download the mitigation and adaptation table here.