Announcing the SGM's New COVID-19 Resource Hub

Social Gastronomy uses the power of food to do good in the world. Our network of members around the globe has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our highly interconnected global food system – the very system that we at the Social Gastronomy Movement work on every day to make this world a more equal and less wasteful place, has met is greatest disruptor: the novel coronavirus. COVID-19 has spared no society or economy.

From the closure of businesses, the shutdown of tourism outlets, the breaks in the supply chain, and the sickness that affects those who unwittingly are contaminated by an invisible enemy, we are in a global crisis that affects not only businesses, but beneficiaries of programs that address the needs of communities of refugees, prisoners, entrepreneurs, and others, who are all feeling the pain of this plague.

Those in charge of growing our food, preparing what we eat, and the businesses arising from the food industry – services, restaurants, school feeding programs, job training programs, and grocery workers and truck drivers – are all now not only essential to our survival, but victims of the measures that have been enacted to mitigate the spread of this disease. The slowdown of the world’s economies is being felt in every corner of our planet.

In the last weeks, we have heard from so many of you from around the globe who are part of the larger Social Gastronomy family about ways you are affected by the pandemic. There have been stories from the field about how you are responding to restaurant closures, job layoffs, and loss of income. You have told us about the impact on food supplies you use, of shortages, and ways to overcome them. You have discussed ways in which our respective organizations are trying to help in small ways to ensure that people have access to safe and nutritious food. And that is why we are launching this resource hub. We want your voices to be heard, to share your experiences in your project, in your city, and tell us what you are doing to adjust to a new way of doing business.

In this hub, we will be posting stories, personal features, interviews, articles, and other useful information. The goal is to share this unique moment in the history of our times with the hope that you may find the words of friends and colleagues helpful to your own circumstances.

With my colleague Evan Caplan, a food writer, we will share this space with you. Together, we will give you a voice, and let those who contribute information and stories about how the Social Gastronomy Movement in your community is responding to this unprecedented crisis.  We welcome your comments and your contributions.

Johanna Mendelson Forman is the creator of Conflict Cuisine® a project that examines the impact of war and peace around the dinner table.  Her work focuses on the role of food among immigrant communities worldwide.  She is also a Scholar-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor at the American University in Washington, DC., and a well-known public intellectual who focuses on gastrodiplomacy and social gastronomy.

Evan Caplan is a communications and international development professional. He is also a freelance writer and currently serves as the food columnist at the Washington Blade. He focuses on the nexus of food, culture, and politics.