scholarly journals Gardening for Food Well-Being in the COVID-19 Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9687
Author(s):  
Esteve G Giraud ◽  
Sara El-Sayed ◽  
Adenike Opejin

“Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness”, is what millions of Americans strive for. The onset of COVID-19 has highlighted the disparities that exist among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, which are facing food access inequities. In this paper, we argue that engaging in growing food sustainably can improve food access, support food justice and enhance sense of purpose and well-being. We expand the notion of Food Well-Being (FWB) to include food producers—especially gardeners—and hypothesize that gardening has the potential to enhance FWB, regardless of the racial and socio-economic background. However, without policies tackling social and racial justice issues, structural barriers may hinder this potential. We use three studies to draw a rich profile of sustainable food gardeners in Arizona, USA and their well-being: (a) the children and teachers engaged in school gardens in the Phoenix metropolitan area; (b) sustainable gardeners and farmers in Phoenix and Tucson; (c) Arizona gardeners during the pandemic. The results show a connection between sustainable gardening and eudemonic well-being, and an impact on the five FWB dimensions (physical, intellectual, spiritual, emotional and social). However, without appropriate policies, funding and infrastructure, the impact might remain minimal, volatile and subject to tokenism.

Medwave ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (07) ◽  
pp. e8436-e8436
Author(s):  
Mariane Lutz

Food choice impacts human health and planetary sustainability. The feeding patterns that reduce risk factors for noncommunicable diseases and various mortality causes are recognized as healthy eating habits. The average world population is far from reaching these habits due to the lack of access to healthy foods and a high prevalence of malnutrition. Understanding the impact of healthy sustainable food systems is growing worldwide to reach food security for the global population and future generations. A systemic perspective of this concept includes the health and well-being of individuals and the environmental, economic, socio-cultural, public policies context, besides food, agriculture, and ecological sciences. We need to confront the menaces and challenges represented by the ongoing changes of our era, which strongly generate global food insecurity. This issue is relevant not only for human health but also for climate change and other threats, based on modifications in production, handling, and consumption of foods that consider health and welfare impact at individual and planetary levels. In this review, some key concepts related to healthy and sustainable food systems are presented.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D. Kirsch, MD ◽  
Eva Leidman, MSPH ◽  
William Weiss, DrPH ◽  
Shannon Doocy, PhD

Objective: On January 12, 2010, one of the most destructive earthquakes in history struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. This study aims to characterize the impact of the earthquake and humanitarian response on well being of the affected households as means of evaluating the effectiveness of response efforts.Design: A stratified 60 × 20 cluster survey was conducted in Port-au-Prince internally displaced persons camps (n = 600) and neighborhoods (n = 596) in January 2011. Clusters were assigned using probability proportional to size sampling and data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires.Results: The earthquake affected incomes in 90 percent of camp and 73 percent of neighborhood households (p 0.001); camp households were consistently worse off by most measures of economic and food security. As compared to camps, living in a neighborhood was associated with increased odds of better/same income status (Odds ratio, OR: 1.78, Confidence interval, CI: 1.25-2.53), employment (OR: 1.47, 1.01-2.14), and food access (OR: 1.83, CI: 1.33-2.52).With respect to earthquake impacts, damage to the home was associated with decreased odds of better/same food access (OR: 0.55, CI: 0.33-0.93) and injuries with decreased odds of better/same income status (OR: 0.57, CI: 0.37, 0.87).Within 1 month of the earthquake, 89 percent of camp and 46 percent in neighborhood households had received humanitarian assistance (p ≤ 0.001); however, receipt of aid was not associated with improved income, employment, or food access at 1 year postearthquake.Conclusions: The immediate impacts of injury and mortality had marginal influences on long-term household economic security, whereas displacement into camps was stongly associated with negative outcomes for income, employment, and food access.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Ambrosetti ◽  
Hans Dietrich ◽  
Yuliya Kosyakova ◽  
Alexander Patzina

In this study, we focus on the evolution of refugees’ well-being in the first years after their arrival in Germany. In contrast to other immigrants (e.g., labor migrants), refugees experience higher risks of unexpected and traumatic events and insecurity before and during their migration and face various legal and structural barriers in the receiving country. We contribute to the existing literature by exploring from a dynamic perspective possible pre- and postarrival determinants of refugees’ life satisfaction and self-rated health upon arrival in Germany and the development of their life satisfaction and self-rated health in the process of becoming established. Applying linear regression and panel models with recent longitudinal data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany, we find significant effects of prearrival factors, such as traumatic experiences and the complexity of migration, on both life satisfaction and self-rated health at the time of the first interview. Regarding postarrival factors, our results suggest that improvement in language proficiency and labor market status significantly shape refugees’ life satisfaction and self-rated health. The time-dynamic analyses reveal substantial improvements in life satisfaction upon the approval of refugee status and the transition from shared housing to private accommodations. However, we find no improvements in self-rated health due to legal status but rather deterioration effects due to long-term residence in shared housing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basanta Kumar Das ◽  
Aparna Roy ◽  
Sukanya Som ◽  
Ganesh Chandra ◽  
Suman Kumari ◽  
...  

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented human health crisis in recent global history with rippling social and economic effects. The outbreak in India has resulted in emergency lockdown in the country for more than two months and that caused decline in the fish catch has severely affected the life and livelihoods of the fishers. The wetlands offers tremendous scope for expanding both culture and capture based fisheries for livelihood security of fishers. They also play a key role in socio-economic development by generating employment and livelihood in the studied regions. In the present study a systematic rapid assessment was conducted to find the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on floodplain wetland fisheries in India to evaluate the impact of lockdown on wetland fisheries production, income and food access. We undertook a rapid telephone survey with 176 wetland fishers in 3 states. Fishers of three Indian States Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam lost 20, 25, and 9 fishing days respectively. Fish harvest during March to May was 32, 44 and 20 percentage lower respectively than the previous year in Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. Fishers of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam lost income of INR 10000/-, 12500/- and 4500/-due to lockdown. Demand supply gap during the lockdown led to the in 20–40 percent increase in farm gate price of fishes at the wetland level. The wetland fisheries potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ‘eradication of poverty’; ‘zero hunger’ and ‘good health and well being’ have also been considerably impacted due to this pandemic. The paper discusses several magnitudes of immediate impacts of lockdown on floodplain wetland fishers livelihood, income and food access, highlights issues and suggests strategies, advisories and decisions support to mitigate the impact.


GeroPsych ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M. Solberg ◽  
Lauren B. Solberg ◽  
Emily N. Peterson

Stress in caregivers may affect the healthcare recipients receive. We examined the impact of stress experienced by 45 adult caregivers of their elderly demented parents. The participants completed a 32-item questionnaire about the impact of experienced stress. The questionnaire also asked about interventions that might help to reduce the impact of stress. After exploratory factor analysis, we reduced the 32-item questionnaire to 13 items. Results indicated that caregivers experienced stress, anxiety, and sadness. Also, emotional, but not financial or professional, well-being was significantly impacted. There was no significant difference between the impact of caregiver stress on members from the sandwich generation and those from the nonsandwich generation. Meeting with a social worker for resource availability was identified most frequently as a potentially helpful intervention for coping with the impact of stress.


Crisis ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Reisch ◽  
Petra Schlatter ◽  
Wolfgang Tschacher

This study assesses the efficacy of the treatment approach implemented in the Bern Crisis Intervention Program, where particular emphasis is placed on the remediation of suicide ideation and suicidal behavior, and depression, fear, and phobia are generally considered to be contributing factors. Four questionnaires addressing psychopathology, emotional well-being, social anxiety, and personality were administered prior to and after the treatment of 51 patients over a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The reduction of symptoms contributing to suicidal ideation and behavior was interpreted as indirect evidence of an antisuicidal effect of the program. Significant improvements were found in the psychopathology ratings, with depression and anxiety showing the largest reductions. The impact on personality and social phobia, however, was only moderate, and on average patients still exhibited symptoms after attending the program. This residual symptomatology points to the necessity of introducing a two-step therapy approach of intensive intervention targeted at the precipitating causes of the crisis, augmented by long-term therapy to treat underlying problems.


Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Martin Wurst ◽  
Isabella Kunz ◽  
Gregory Skipper ◽  
Manfred Wolfersdorf ◽  
Karl H. Beine ◽  
...  

Background: A substantial proportion of therapists experience the loss of a patient to suicide at some point during their professional life. Aims: To assess (1) the impact of a patient’s suicide on therapists distress and well-being over time, (2) which factors contribute to the reaction, and (3) which subgroup might need special interventions in the aftermath of suicide. Methods: A 63-item questionnaire was sent to all 185 Psychiatric Clinics at General Hospitals in Germany. The emotional reaction of therapists to patient’s suicide was measured immediately, after 2 weeks, and after 6 months. Results: Three out of ten therapists suffer from severe distress after a patients’ suicide. The item “overall distress” immediately after the suicide predicts emotional reactions and changes in behavior. The emotional responses immediately after the suicide explained 43.5% of the variance of total distress in a regression analysis. Limitations: The retrospective nature of the study is its primary limitation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that identifying the severely distressed subgroup could be done using a visual analog scale for overall distress. As a consequence, more specific and intensified help could be provided to these professionals.


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