This is an outdated version published on 2023-11-28. Read the most recent version.

Working Paper 8: The impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic at the Slow Food Movement

Thalita Kalix Garcia (Author)

Thalita Kalix Garcia holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University Rovira i Virgili, Spain, with a thesis entitled “Good, clean and fair food for all: Slow Food’s role in safeguarding food heritage in Brazil and Germany”. She is also a member of the BMBF junior research group “Food for Justice: Power, Politics and
Food Inequalities in a Bioeconomy” at the HCIAS of the University of Heidelberg. Within F4J, she has conducted some research stays with the project in 2020 and 2021 and participated in the online seminars and activities of the group. Thalita defines herself as an interdisciplinary social scientist and food activist with a background in anthropology, tourism, culinary arts, and social communication. Food and social movements are the focus of her research. This includes the study of food movements and the societal changes they demand/trigger, and the entangled inequalities of food production, distribution, and accessibility. Disputes over the creation, change, and application of public policies, as well as debates on the environment, care, and cultural heritage are also part of her research.

Identifiers (Article)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.60504/ffjwp.2023.1.101221

Abstract

The corona virus outburst was declared a global pandemic in March 2020, making many countries to go on lockdown in order to try to restrain it and avoid or dimmish the overwhelming of national health systems. As work and studies went online and social distancing became a safety rule, social movements also had to adapt themselves. Furthermore, food movements gained more relevance as one of the first concerns was to keep the food production and distribution worldwide despite the shutdowns. This paper aims to analyse the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Slow Food movement, how it changed the movement organization, agenda, and actions. It is based on empirical research in two countries: Brazil and Germany and it looks at three moments of the pandemic, from its first impact in 2020 till the adaptations and continuities in 2021 and 2022. This work relies on an on-site and virtual ethnography and is part of a broader investigation on the movement on both countries.