University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, February 4, 2021
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Food insecurity in the age of COVID-19 By Anna Feldman STAFF WRITER
You’re at the local grocery store when you realize that the only fruits and vegetables available are on a small display shelf. There’s just a few apples, oranges and tomatoes, all of which are overpriced and already overripe. The rest of the shelves are filled with processed foods. You sigh, grab the packages that look the healthiest and make your way to the checkout line. The city of Madison is home to one of the strongest farm-to-table movements in the country. However, even before COVID-19, while some had access to locally grown foods, many residents struggled to put healthy food on their table. A lack of fresh produce is a common reality in some Madison neighborhoods, particularly in neighborhoods with lower socio-
economic statuses. According to the USDA, there are seven areas labeled “food deserts” in Madison, although that is a term that some people in the food justice community find stigmatizing of the neighborhood, and prefer to use the term “food apartheid.” This means that a third of the people living in these areas are more than a mile away from a grocery store or healthy food retail outlet. Most of them are located on the South side of the city. The absence of fresh food retail space or affordable options in these areas makes it that much more difficult for people to access nutritious foods. Sarah Karlson is the Farm and Education manager at Badger Rock, one of Madison’s community organizations that works to fill the gap in providing fresh produce to its
surrounding residents and families. Located on the south side of Madison, Badger Rock is home to a Neighborhood Center, an urban production and education farm, a community garden and Badger Rock Middle School. Karlson is a huge advocate for food sovereignty, which is defined by the USDA as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Before Badger Rock, the neighborhood lacked a location for community gathering and green spaces. To help with increased food insecurity from COVID-19, Badger Rock started a food pantry where they distribute what they grow as well as food donated by
the Community Action Coalition and Second Harvest pantries. Karlson describes Badger Rock as a “POC-forward space,” with 80% of its student population coming from the surrounding neighborhood. Its program is a part of Rooted, a non-profit organization that works to create healthier neighborhoods in Madison. “The root of everything we do is relationship-building,” Karlson said. “And the tools that we use to do that are food.” Similarly, on the UW-Madison campus, F.H. King promotes sustainable agriculture and has gained a focus on food justice in the past few years. The student-led organization runs a garden plot at the Eagle Heights Garden where they use environmentally friendly methods to grow a variety of organic fruits, vegetables and
other plants. The main goal of the club is to educate people on sustainability, F.H. King Outreach Director Cooper Hamilton said. “And [to get] free, fresh produce directly to students.” The organization receives its funding from the Associated Students of Madison (ASM), UW-Madison’s student government, to distribute their produce in their weekly Harvest Handouts throughout their growing season. Their largest handout gave produce to roughly 200 people, and Hamilton believes that for some of them, this was their only access to fresh produce that week. “We don’t discriminate on who comes to get it. If an adult passes by the stand, we’ll hand it out to them,” Hamilton said.
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Instructors, students feel excitement, frustration returning in-person By Sophia Vento STAFF WRITER
This semester, UW-Madison is offering a mix of remote and in-person courses to its over 45,000 enrolled students both on and off-campus. In-person classes adhere to public health guidelines while seating no more than 50 students, but often fewer. Students attending in-person classes and living in the Madison area also have to maintain their COVID-19 testing schedule as they will have to show their Badger Badge in the Safer Badgers app to enter campus spaces starting Feb. 10, according to a Wednesday email to the campus community. Nete Schmidt, a Faculty Associate in the German, Nordic and Slavic+ Department opted to hold some of her courses in-person this semester. “Since we switched to online classes, I have been impressed with the resilience, resourcefulness and dedication of my students,” said Schmidt. “Even though it is easy to have small group discussions in various ways — thanks to all our technology and help with technology — I still prefer being with my students and sharing the ambiance of a classroom,” Schmidt said. “While it is not a return to normalcy, it resembles a more normal classroom situation where we are all together as physical persons rather than presences on a screen.” When determining whether to hold her classes in-person, Schmidt considered three main components: direct student engagement, participation and interaction. “I decided that I would prioritize student presence in the classroom,” said Schmidt. “I am very grateful for the fact that we can easily maintain
safe distances and that all students are wearing masks, sanitizing and taking the situation seriously.” Schmidt acknowledged that even in trying to accommodate all students, she is excluding some students from her classes given the current situation. International students, unable to enter the United States, as well as students uncomfortable with coming to campus due to COVID-19, are among those unable to take courses happening in-person. “Some students have dropped my classes this past week,” explained Schmidt. “They shared their concerns about feeling unsafe in buses or on campus, and I completely respect their choices.” Schmidt addresses the issue of students’ potential isolation and quarantine periods by maintaining “the benefit of the full classroom instruction” for those unable to attend class. Acknowledging that this accommodation may be perceived as a hybrid model, Schmidt instead regards it as “added personal communication” with students, includ-
ing virtual office hours. Some students, like sophomore Emma Dahl, have experienced issues with accommodations for in-person classes. Both she and her roommate are currently trying to isolate themselves after a recent COVID-19 exposure, affecting Dahl’s ability to attend an in-person class. “We have been told since the start of this virus that if you are exposed to someone, you need to isolate yourself to protect others from an increase in the spread,” explained Dahl. “While this is a wonderful practice in theory, having in-person classes that are not recorded or live streamed is putting students in a situation where they must choose between their education and the health and wellness of others.” University guidance advises professors and instructors to be flexible with students in situations relating to COVID-19 that either prohibit them from attending inperson classes or participating in remote courses.
Unlike Schmidt’s plans for modifications, Dahl’s professor has made it clear that there is no scenario in which the lectures and in-class materials will be posted online. A recent post from a class discussion forum — posted by the professor of Dahl’s course — reads: “We will not be providing video recordings of any in-person lectures that you may not be able to attend … [and] we are unable to accommodate requests for making these recordings available for today’s in-person lectures or future lectures.” “I personally think that it is scary to think students might be sitting next to me in class after being exposed because they were afraid of missing a lecture,” said Dahl, who has been getting testing often to try and detect if she has contracted the virus from her recent exposure. “I am overjoyed with the possibility of in-person classes. It finally feels like school again,” said Dahl. “What I do mind is not giving students the option to stay home if they feel ill or have been around someone who is ill.” Despite the limitations, Schmidt
GRAPHIC BY LYRA EVANS
— like Dahl — is eager to be back in the classroom. “I have enjoyed seeing students, faces and eyes, and it has been great to have students engaging actively in class-discussions, even class groupwork where they still keep their distance but also manage to form small groups,” emphasized Schmidt. “It has been truly energizing, and I sincerely hope it will continue this way.” As of Wednesday, according to the UW COVID-19 Response Dashboard there was a 0.7% average positivity rate over the past seven days, with an average of 33.6 new cases per day. According to a Jan. 7 letter from university officials, the university is planning for the resumption of inperson classes next fall. Completely remote instruction will not be offered as the university seeks to pivot back to primarily in-person instruction. “We’re not simply going to return to the old normal,” said John Zumbrunnen, the Vice Provost of Teaching and Learning and a Professor in the Department of Political Science. “Some things will be different, and better. But in-person interaction and engagement are still going to be at the core of a UW-Madison education.” Although an emphasis on in-person instruction will be at the forefront looking forward, some courses may remain online, according to Zumbrunnen. With this in mind, Schmidt looks to the rest of the spring semester and next fall with anticipation — wholeheartedly hoping that the pandemic will be curtailed, allowing in-person instruction to continue. “I truly hope we can build the community that I find to be an essential part of the university,” she stressed.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”