Household responses to COVID-19 in different corners of the world represent the primary health care that communities have relied on for preventing and mitigating symptoms. During a very complex and confusing time, in which public health services in multiple countries have been completely overwhelmed, and in some cases even collapsed, these first-line household responses have been quintessential for building physical, mental, and social resilience, and for improving individual and community health. This editorial discusses the outcomes of a rapid-response preliminary survey during the first phase of the pandemic among social and community contacts in five metropolises heavily affected by the COVID-19 health crisis (Wuhan, Milan, Madrid, New York, and Rio de Janeiro), and in twelve rural areas or countries initially less affected by the pandemic (Appalachia, Jamaica, Bolivia, Romania, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia, Turkey, Pakistan, Cambodia, and South Africa). We summarized our perspectives as 17 case studies, observing that people have relied primarily on teas and spices (“food-medicines”) and that there exist clear international plant favorites, popularized by various new media. Urban diasporas and rural households seem to have repurposed homemade plant-based remedies that they use in normal times for treating the flu and other respiratory symptoms or that they simply consider healthy foods. The most remarkable shift in many areas has been the increased consumption of ginger and garlic, followed by onion, turmeric, and lemon. Our preliminary inventory of food medicines serves as a baseline for future systematic ethnobotanical studies and aims to inspire in-depth research on how use patterns of plant-based foods and beverages, both “traditional” and “new”, are changing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our reflections in this editorial call attention to the importance of ethnobiology, ethnomedicine, and ethnogastronomy research into domestic health care strategies for improving community health.

中文翻译：

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应对大流行？自制植物性食品和饮料对于社区应对COVID-19的重要性

在世界不同角落，家庭对COVID-19的反应代表了社区用来预防和减轻症状的主要卫生保健。在一个非常复杂而令人困惑的时期，多个国家的公共卫生服务已经完全不堪重负，在某些情况下甚至崩溃了，这些第一线的家庭应对措施对于建立人的身体，心理和社会适应力以及改善人的能力至关重要。个人和社区健康。这篇社论讨论了在大流行的第一阶段中，在受到COVID-19健康危机严重影响的五个大城市（武汉，米兰，马德里，纽约和里约热内卢）的社会和社区接触中进行快速响应的初步调查的结果），在最初受到大流行影响较小的十二个农村地区或国家（阿巴拉契亚，牙买加，玻利维亚，罗马尼亚，白俄罗斯，立陶宛，波兰，格鲁吉亚，土耳其，巴基斯坦，柬埔寨和南非）。我们将我们的观点总结为17个案例研究，观察到人们主要依靠茶和香料（“食品药品”），并且存在明显的国际植物喜爱，并受到各种新媒体的欢迎。城市侨民和农村家庭似乎已经重新利用了以植物为基础的自制疗法，这些疗法在正常时间用于治疗流感和其他呼吸道症状，或者只是考虑健康食品。在许多地区，最显着的变化是生姜和大蒜的消费量增加，其次是洋葱，姜黄和柠檬。我们对食品药品的初步清单是将来进行系统人类植物学研究的基准，旨在激发人们对基于植物的食品和饮料（传统的和新的）的使用方式在此期间和之后如何变化的深入研究。 2019冠状病毒病大流行。我们在这篇社论中的思考提请注意民族生物学，民族医学和民族美食学研究对改善社区健康的家庭保健策略的重要性。