Historicising global nutrition: critical reflections on contested pasts and reimagined futures

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a range of economic shocks, food systems shocks, public health crises and political upheavals across the globe, prompting a rethink of associated global systems. Prepandemic anticolonial movements that challenged hierarchies of race, space, gender and expert knowledge in global health took on new meaning in the context of the unequal impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as it moved through different kinds of spaces and distinct political contexts. In light of these dynamics, and the desire of many current practitioners in global health to reimagine the future, the need for critical analyses of the recent past have become more urgent. Here we challenge linear understandings of progress in global health—with a focus on the field of nutrition—by returning to consider a previous cycle of dramatic social, political and economic change that prompted serious challenges to the dominance of Western powers and US-based philanthro-capitalists. With a ‘global’ health and nutrition audience in mind, we put forward considerations on why a better understanding of the continuities and divergences between this past and the present moment are necessary to challenge a status quo that was, and is, highly flawed.

Aggressive measures, rising inequalities, and mass formation during the COVID-19 crisis: An overview and proposed way forward

“…Measures such as closing businesses and disrupting global supply chains ( 19 – 21 ) have taken a toll on the world economy, and on physical and mental health ( 10 , 22 , 23 ). As early as November 2020, the World Bank estimated that the COVID-19 crisis would push 88–115 million people into extreme poverty ( 24 ), and a sharp increase in food insecurity worldwide led to hundreds of millions of additional people at risk of starving and food-insecurity ( 25 – 28 ). These macro-economic consequences can worsen mental health issues ( 29 , 30 ) even cause fragmentation of society ( 31 ).…”

Aggressive Measures, Rising Inequalities and Mass Formation During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Overview and Proposed Way Forward

“…Measures such as closing restaurants and businesses and disrupting global supply chains (Chowdhury et al, 2021;Guan et al, 2020;Singh et al, 2021) have taken a toll on the world economy, and on physical and mental health (Santomauro et al, 2021;Schippers, 2020;Taquet et al, 2021). As early as November 2020, the World Bank estimated that the COVID-19 crisis would push 88-115 million people into extreme poverty (Yonzan et al, 2020), and a sharp increase in food insecurity worldwide led to hundreds of millions of additional people at risk of starving and even more people becoming food-insecure (Paslakis et al, 2020;Zetzsche, 2020;Oxfam, 2021;Nelson et al, 2021). These macro-economic consequences can lead to a steep increase in mental health issues (Jones, 2017;Nanath et al, 2022) and even fragmentation of society (Storm, 2021).…”