Global Food Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 and the Ukraine War on Foodways and Health Connor Ahrendt Course: Foundations of Health and Healing Professor: Alice Baldwin-Jones Student: Connor Ahrendt Essay: Global Food Crisis: The Impact of COVID-19 and the Ukraine War on Foodways and Health
Assignment: For this assignment, students were asked to research the global food crisis, focusing on converging disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the
Ukraine war. Research included assigned readings, educational videos and group discussion.
The Covid-19 pandemic affected the entire world. According to the article by Lawrence Haddad and Saskia Osendarp, it created three different crises in the world, an economic crisis, food system crisis, and a health crisis. The article calls this a triple threat that has had a significant impact on nutrition. There has been a limited supply of food and a rise in costs for what is available. World hunger has been on the decline for the last decade. Unfortunately, the covid pandemic has caused a steady increase again. Of course, the main focus was on trying to avoid getting the virus and surviving the crisis. However, people in the United States have no idea of the actual impact the pandemic has had on World Hunger. According to David Beasley, the director of the World Food Program, hunger rose 18 percent during the pandemic. Grocery prices have risen 8.6 percent over the past year. The Forbes article discussed the food chain disruption in
great detail. It explained how limited workers and those available were at risk for covid. Food distribution was affected, and therefore food was not being processed. Meat plants closed, many animals were slaughtered due to lack of distribution, crops rotted, and packaging was hit hard. Food banks were low, and people at the poverty level were left starving. The United States was also affected. Many people lost their jobs and were faced with severe physical and mental health issues. It is true that many people did not have enough food to feed their families. The low-income levels were hit the hardest. Luckily the majority of the middle and upper class were concerned over the low supply of just certain items like toilet paper, but that pales compared to the people who were starving. Our country does waste a tremendous amount of food. It is so sad to think of how much food gets thrown away in a local restaurant on any given evening. There needs to 51
