IN THIS ISSUE: The impact of COVID-19 on the food system

First paragraphs: In April 2020, the world was at the beginning of what would become the worst pandemic since the emer­gence of HIV/AIDS. One year later we have lost nearly 3 million souls to COVID-19. Disproportionately impacted have been lower-income families and individuals who provide the backbone of the global food system—farmworkers, processing-plant workers, food-service and restaurant workers, and many others who provide life-sustaining food for all of us. Over the last year, organizations and governments have worked feverishly to maintain food supply chains, and—after some adjustment—alternative food networks throughout the world came to our rescue. We are not out of the woods yet, and new variants of the coronavirus are evolving that appear to be stag­nating our return to normalcy. Yet, with a year of experience under our belt, we now know more about maintaining food supplies during a pandemic, and what we need to do to prepare for the inevitable future crises. Researchers and organizations around the world managed to collect data during the first year of the pandemic, through interviews, surveys, secondary data analysis, and observation, to learn more about impacts and coping strategies. . . .