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Abstract

n behalf of the JAFSCD staff and community, I would like to extend condolences to anyone in the JAFSCD community-our shareholders-who have lost family members or colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are with you. We also wish anyone who has contracted the virus our best wishes for a speedy and full recovery, and hope for a better future for those whose lives have been turned topsyturvey by the pandemic.On May 26, 2020, the United States officially reported losing 100,000 individuals, many of whom were vulnerable to this plague-especially the poor, people of color, the elderly, and essential workers. This represents a moral and systemic failure for the world's richest country. As Americans are cobbling together an assortment of food provisioning strategies, what we are witnessing is a demonstration of just how fragile American food security is in a time of crisis. However, as you'll see in this open call issue, COVID-19 is also highlighting our strengths and creativity, and what we can build on in a future food system that contributes to our overall health, well-being, and social resiliency.In response to the need for timely information, we are launching a year-long call for submissions on COVID-19 and the food system. We are fast-tracking for publication commentaries from researchers and Voices from the Grassroots essays from non-academics. In addition, we are calling for peer-reviewed papers to be submitted this fall (see details at https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/call-for-papers). OOn our cover: Like many local food venues around the U.S. and world, the Ithaca (New York) Farmers Market (https://ithacamarket.com/) moved quickly to enable sales to continue safely in early spring as the COVID-19 pandemic grew.