Abstract:The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in global food systems, as well as opening windows of opportunity for innovation and transformation. While the nature and extent of this crisis is rare, extreme climatic events will increase in magnitude and frequency, threatening similar societal impacts. It is therefore critical to identify mechanisms for developing food systems that are resilient to such impacts. We examine impacts of the crisis on UK food systems and how these further entrenched social inequ… Show more
“…Moreover, public health messages around COVID-19 have highlighted the interconnected nature of disease epidemics, food systems, and nutrition [ 128 ], emphasising the role of a healthy, well-balanced diet as a pragmatic risk management approach for the support of healthy immunity [ 129 , 130 , 131 ]. Further, public health messages during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the interconnected nature of disease epidemics, food systems, and nutrition [ 132 , 133 ]. Thus, a growing number of people have increased consumption of plant-based foods and reduced consumption of animal produce.…”
Eating less meat is increasingly seen as a healthier, more ethical option. This is leading to growing numbers of flexitarian consumers looking for plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) to replace at least some of the animal meat they consume. Popular PBMA products amongst flexitarians, including plant-based mince, burgers, sausages and meatballs, are often perceived as low-quality, ultra-processed foods. However, we argue that the mere industrial processing of ingredients of plant origin does not make a PBMA product ultra-processed by default. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to assess the changes to the gut microbiota of a group of 20 participants who replaced several meat-containing meals per week with meals cooked with PBMA products and compared these changes to those experienced by a size-matched control. Stool samples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The resulting raw data was analysed in a compositionality-aware manner, using a range of innovative bioinformatic methods. Noteworthy changes included an increase in butyrate metabolising potential—chiefly in the 4-aminobutyrate/succinate and glutarate pathways—and in the joint abundance of butyrate-producing taxa in the intervention group compared to control. We also observed a decrease in the Tenericutes phylum in the intervention group and an increase in the control group. Based on our findings, we concluded that the occasional replacement of animal meat with PBMA products seen in flexitarian dietary patterns can promote positive changes in the gut microbiome of consumers.
“…Moreover, public health messages around COVID-19 have highlighted the interconnected nature of disease epidemics, food systems, and nutrition [ 128 ], emphasising the role of a healthy, well-balanced diet as a pragmatic risk management approach for the support of healthy immunity [ 129 , 130 , 131 ]. Further, public health messages during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the interconnected nature of disease epidemics, food systems, and nutrition [ 132 , 133 ]. Thus, a growing number of people have increased consumption of plant-based foods and reduced consumption of animal produce.…”
Eating less meat is increasingly seen as a healthier, more ethical option. This is leading to growing numbers of flexitarian consumers looking for plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) to replace at least some of the animal meat they consume. Popular PBMA products amongst flexitarians, including plant-based mince, burgers, sausages and meatballs, are often perceived as low-quality, ultra-processed foods. However, we argue that the mere industrial processing of ingredients of plant origin does not make a PBMA product ultra-processed by default. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to assess the changes to the gut microbiota of a group of 20 participants who replaced several meat-containing meals per week with meals cooked with PBMA products and compared these changes to those experienced by a size-matched control. Stool samples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The resulting raw data was analysed in a compositionality-aware manner, using a range of innovative bioinformatic methods. Noteworthy changes included an increase in butyrate metabolising potential—chiefly in the 4-aminobutyrate/succinate and glutarate pathways—and in the joint abundance of butyrate-producing taxa in the intervention group compared to control. We also observed a decrease in the Tenericutes phylum in the intervention group and an increase in the control group. Based on our findings, we concluded that the occasional replacement of animal meat with PBMA products seen in flexitarian dietary patterns can promote positive changes in the gut microbiome of consumers.
“…This lack of systemic support for LFAs at a time of acute crisis compounded the physical and psychological toll of responding to the COVID‐19 pandemic. The sustained efforts of LFAs to work at capacity (and in many cases push beyond it by working longer hours) was widely reported by interviewees (see also Sanderson Bellamy et al, 2021). Those LFAs that saw a sudden increase in demand described their experience as being “traumatic,” “overwhelming,” “exhausting,” “stressful,” “a baptism of fire.”There were 4 of us [staff members] and 2 of the 4 said that they felt they should self‐isolate for various reasons, so it was basically left to me and one other guy to be packing fish for [everyone] … The phone didn't stop ringing and you picked up the phone and there was often very lovely old vulnerable people just so happy and grateful to be speaking to a person … And it was just like if I don't put the phone down on you now I haven't got the time to physically put the fish in a box that is going to a customer … You never had enough time in the day to do what you needed to do … I mean I had nose‐bleeds and was fainting and all that kind of stuff, I was really exhausted you know.…”
Section: Examples Of Lfas' Vulnerability and Its Causesmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…But as yet there have been no signs of a necessary food governance shift. Indeed, the COVID‐19 pandemic has re‐entrenched the government's reliance on the centralised food system and big retailers (Mitchell et al, 2020; Sanderson Bellamy et al, 2021).…”
Section: From Resilience To Transformation?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…However, some have stressed that, post‐pandemic, LFS should go further, and become the engine of transformative resilience for the food system as a whole. In this perspective, LFS should not just be seen as an element in “bouncing back,” but as a resource for “bouncing forward” into a more socially and ecologically just and beneficial food system (Altieri & Nicholls, 2020; Clapp & Moseley, 2020; Sanderson Bellamy et al, 2021). These calls signal an important move in debates around local food beyond critiques of defensive localism (Winter, 2003), and situate strengthening local food geographies (Kneafsey et al, 2021) as a contribution to social economies (Sonnino & Griggs‐Trevarthen, 2013) and community resilience.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Immediate analyses focused primarily on global and just‐in‐time supply chains, arguing they have shown high levels of resilience, adapting well after an initial disturbance (Hobbs, 2020; Moran et al, 2020; OECD, 2020). More systemic analyses have, however, drawn attention to how the pandemic heightened pre‐existing food system inequalities, notably food poverty, food insecurity, and food injustice (Barker & Russell, 2020; Dombroski et al, 2020; Power et al, 2020; Sanderson Bellamy et al, 2021). Considering the well‐documented negative social and ecological effects of dominant food systems (De Schutter, 2017; FAO et al, 2020; Foley et al, 2005), the successful bounce‐back of the supply chains has indeed been interpreted as undesirable resilience (Zollet et al, 2021), signalling a lock‐in into unsustainable mechanisms and structures (Oliver et al, 2018).…”
How to ensure resilience of food systems is a key concern in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Notably, there is a renewed interest in the role of local food systems from policy, academic, and third‐sector actors, who see those systems as a source of “bounce‐back” resilience, supporting existing structures, but also as sources of “bounce‐forward” transformative resilience. Both perspectives move debates around local food systems beyond the dominant focus on social exclusion (defensive localism). The capacity of the local food sector to provide either form of resilience depends on the resilience of the local food actors themselves, which has been little investigated to date. This paper addresses this important gap in scholarship through an investigation of the “bounce‐back” and the “bounce‐forward” resilience of local food actors in the UK during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We advance resilience scholarship by developing an analytical framework which combines attention to resilience characteristics (“what is there”) and to the systemic forces that enable and constrain their development (“how things work”). Attention to social capital, we argue, is crucial to understanding transformative resilience. We present rich qualitative data to illustrate the multi‐faceted impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on local food system actors in the UK. This is complemented with a review of relevant policy and third‐sector publications which contextualise local food system efforts. We conclude that while strong bonding and bridging capitals support the local food sector's persistence and adaptability, a lack of linking social capital, most visible as a “middle‐class image problem,” is preventing it from achieving a transformative role. We argue that the local food sector needs to form alliances which would move it beyond a single‐issue topic, and articulate local food as part of place‐centred community resilience strategies that foster social capacities.
This article explores the fundamental right to food, examining its legal framework, its relationship with other human rights, and the efforts being made globally to improve this right. It begins by looking at international and national laws that protect the right to food and examining their importance in ensuring food security and sovereignty. It then explores how food rights intersect with other rights, such as health, education, and labor, revealing the interrelated web of human rights. The article further highlights how the right to food is closely tied to the objectives of reducing poverty and promoting social justice, which are crucial components in the collective effort to achieve food security for all. Additionally, it evaluates the effectiveness of current policies and strategies in promoting the right to food, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa. The novelty of the article is that it brings into perspective, the encumbrance of food sovereignty in sub‐Saharan Africa and concludes with potential solutions.
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