Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented major disruptions in not just human interaction on a personal level, but also to food systems. Food insecurity has been exacerbated by the pandemic because of isolation, suspension of travel, and disturbances in food supply chains. This reflection paper highlights the challenges that two female immigrant doctoral students, a Ghanaian and a Zambian, have faced with respect to food access and a sense of community within the context of the pandemic. We use personal narratives to highlight the possible impacts that the pandemic has had on food (in)security, and on food as comfort and connector. We also describe the strategies that we have tried to employ to foster preexisting networks as a means of mitigating the effects of the pandemic. It is our goal that this reflection would provide the basis for the formulation of critical research questions related to food access and food insecurity of African immigrant populations.

摘要

COVID-19 大流行不仅对个人层面的人际互动，而且对粮食系统造成了重大破坏。由于隔离、旅行暂停和食品供应链中断，大流行加剧了粮食不安全。这篇反思论文强调了两名加纳和赞比亚女移民博士生在大流行的背景下在食物获取和社区意识方面面临的挑战。我们使用个人叙述来强调大流行对食品（不）安全以及作为舒适和连接器的食品可能产生的影响。我们还描述了我们试图采用的策略来培育预先存在的网络，作为减轻大流行影响的一种手段。