Our Food and the Pandemic

Consumers have always changed their eating habits and adapted their behaviour to external shocks. So what about the current Covid-19 pandemic? This is the question that the GDI’s CEO David Bosshart and his guests will discuss in an exclusive webinar.

During this pandemic, there seem to be two distinct groups of consumers: those who now have more time to cook and eat healthy food every day, and those who are falling back into patterns from the 80s of consuming fast, processed and rather unhealthy food.

But consumers’ eating habits are not the only thing to have been influenced by the Covid-19 crisis. The entire value network is in disarray. Factories need to shut down production because of the virus. Workers may lose their jobs. Farmers have to shoot or gas their livestock because the big meat plants are closed. And supermarkets run out of stock or need to ration their high-demand products. This shows just how fragile global food production is. Which is why we have to look at the global food system as a whole.

In our webinar, we will consider the Next Normal in food production and consumption, and discuss major questions about the long term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic:

How will the pandemic affect our eating habits in the long run?

Will we eat healthier or will we soothe our souls with comfort food?

Will lab meat prevail over plant-based alternatives?

What might be the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic on global agriculture?

Will the crisis boost local production and would the world be able to ensure local supply in future scenarios?