Pandemics, Plagues, and Food Frauds

COVID-19 is here, and as of this week, plans for reducing its impact are starting to affect Americans’ day-to-day lives. Hundreds of events have been cancelled or suspended, including SXSW and the remainder of the NBA’s season. The stock market is basically a financial roller coaster due to global uncertainty in the face of COVID-19, and President Trump instituted a ban on travel from Europe, with the exception of the UK. However, the virus continues to spread in communities across the country.

In a public health crisis, it can sometimes feel like the food system is being reshuffled before our eyes. That’s why this week we are taking a look at how outbreaks, both past and present, shape the way that we eat.

We have stories about COVID-19's effects on NYC's Chinatowns, how World Central Kitchen mobilized to provide emergency food logistics for the Diamond Princess in Japan, the locust plague wreaking havoc in East Africa and South Asia, and why food fraud is so dangerous and hard to detect.

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