Giving Compass' Take:

• Danielle Nierenberg highlights the existing programs that chefs and food advocates are doing around the U.S. to help people in need during COVID-19. Additionally, Food Tank is still convening experts in food justice via interviews and podcasts to sustain coverage on food and agriculture during this time. 

• How can Food Tank's coverage help donors understand food issues for the most vulnerable during a pandemic? 

• Learn more about coronavirus and food access. 

As many of you may be experiencing, the world seems very surreal right now, with runs on grocery stores and quiet streets. Schools and restaurants shut down. Farmers and farm and food workers wondering when their next paychecks will come. There are countless farmers markets that won’t be open this weekend or even this month. So it might seem like there’s not a lot of good news out there. But the joy of working on food and agriculture issues, for me, is that I know so many amazing heroes.

Take Chef José Andrés, who shut down all of his Washington, DC, restaurants to open community kitchens for those who are struggling to eat during this time. Or Chef Amy Sins in New Orleans, who is working to package meals for the elderly this week. Or ROC-United, who reminds us that restaurant and hospitality workers are on the front lines of preventing not only COVID-19, but also other infectious diseases, and they deserve our respect and a living wage.

Other heroes can be found everywhere: Arcana in Boulder, CO, has established a sliding-scale community meal service that starts at $0, and they are raising funds to support food service workers. Chef David Heide of Liliana’s Restaurant in Fitchburg, WI is offering jambalaya and soup for $5 and donating food to those without the means to pay. The Atlanta nonprofit Giving Kitchen is providing financial assistance to food service workers and connecting them to all social services they require. Farms are repurposing their land to offer childcare and meal services, the National Young Farmers Coalition is inviting farmers to share concerns and solutions to sustain themselves, and companies like FreshDirect are donating meals, trucks, and volunteers to make sure food pantry clients still get meals.

Read the full article about food justice during coronavirus by Danielle Nierenberg at Food Tank.