48
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
through closer grower–consumer interaction which would also lift up the community
spirit and strengthen social cohesion.
2.7 Tackling the Menace of COVID-19
In the face of a planetary crisis like COVID-19 pandemic when the scale of produce,
the transportation of food gets affected how will the world deal with it is the moot
question? The critical issues that are intricately related are—food security, food
safety and food nutrition; which need to be addressed in the light of sustainability.
Lockdown refers to limited free movements and activities for people to address
specific risks, threatening loss of human lives. Lockdowns are generally preventive
in nature which anticipates danger and its degree of strictness in protocol depends
on the gravity of the threat. Emergency lockdowns are implemented when due to
a looming danger, abrupt restrictions are imposed discontinuing regular activities.
There might be continuous or periodic lockdowns depending on the intensity and total
duration. Though lockdown in some cases is referred to as ‘mass quarantine’, there
is a difference between lockdown and quarantine. While lockdown involves society
in general, quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who are not
really ill but have high chances of contracting the disease due to high exposure. China
(on January 2020) followed by Italy, Spain, France, UK, New Zealand, India, South
Africa (March 2020) took the lockdown measures at various stages of infectivity
[31].
It was estimated that the average distance covered for urban food supply in megacities are between 800 and 1500 km [2] which might face many hurdles during the time
of pandemics. So, the COVID situation destabilises food security in urban areas both
directly by unsettling the food systems through muffled movements and indirectly
by limiting physical and economic access of the urban residents during lockdown
phases. The perishable food items like fruits, vegetables, raw meat, etc., are difficult
to stock for a long time, so to procure all these during the time of restricted movement the informal local markets are the only fallback option. If the local sources
are unavailable then the urban middle and lower class are forced to opt for highly
expensive supermarket alternatives which are scarce.
Though the initial shock wave of COVID-19 has been absorbed to certain extent;
following the guideline of FAO (2008) governments at all levels despite all odds has
tried to maintain the food value chain uninterrupted. To ensure food security, many
of the national authorities of Asia and Latin America have arranged for food rations
(India, Indonesia) or have provided monetary allocation for procuring food (Peru,
Singapore) but this cannot be a long-term solution as the local food supply needs
to be stable, with minimal supply interruptions and has to be within reach for the
growing urban population of these regions. The tackling techniques for COVID-19
are bringing the world together by creating ‘social distance’ among them in unprecedented manners. The connections through commuting, travelling are being restricted
while technological connectivity is on the rise. Though there have been no official
B. Anindya and K. N. Sekhar
through closer grower–consumer interaction which would also lift up the community
spirit and strengthen social cohesion.
2.7 Tackling the Menace of COVID-19
In the face of a planetary crisis like COVID-19 pandemic when the scale of produce,
the transportation of food gets affected how will the world deal with it is the moot
question? The critical issues that are intricately related are—food security, food
safety and food nutrition; which need to be addressed in the light of sustainability.
Lockdown refers to limited free movements and activities for people to address
specific risks, threatening loss of human lives. Lockdowns are generally preventive
in nature which anticipates danger and its degree of strictness in protocol depends
on the gravity of the threat. Emergency lockdowns are implemented when due to
a looming danger, abrupt restrictions are imposed discontinuing regular activities.
There might be continuous or periodic lockdowns depending on the intensity and total
duration. Though lockdown in some cases is referred to as ‘mass quarantine’, there
is a difference between lockdown and quarantine. While lockdown involves society
in general, quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who are not
really ill but have high chances of contracting the disease due to high exposure. China
(on January 2020) followed by Italy, Spain, France, UK, New Zealand, India, South
Africa (March 2020) took the lockdown measures at various stages of infectivity
[31].
It was estimated that the average distance covered for urban food supply in megacities are between 800 and 1500 km [2] which might face many hurdles during the time
of pandemics. So, the COVID situation destabilises food security in urban areas both
directly by unsettling the food systems through muffled movements and indirectly
by limiting physical and economic access of the urban residents during lockdown
phases. The perishable food items like fruits, vegetables, raw meat, etc., are difficult
to stock for a long time, so to procure all these during the time of restricted movement the informal local markets are the only fallback option. If the local sources
are unavailable then the urban middle and lower class are forced to opt for highly
expensive supermarket alternatives which are scarce.
Though the initial shock wave of COVID-19 has been absorbed to certain extent;
following the guideline of FAO (2008) governments at all levels despite all odds has
tried to maintain the food value chain uninterrupted. To ensure food security, many
of the national authorities of Asia and Latin America have arranged for food rations
(India, Indonesia) or have provided monetary allocation for procuring food (Peru,
Singapore) but this cannot be a long-term solution as the local food supply needs
to be stable, with minimal supply interruptions and has to be within reach for the
growing urban population of these regions. The tackling techniques for COVID-19
are bringing the world together by creating ‘social distance’ among them in unprecedented manners. The connections through commuting, travelling are being restricted
while technological connectivity is on the rise. Though there have been no official