A creative response to food issues during the Covid-19 lockdown: Singing over the anger

Introduction. Food is an identifier and maker of class, culture and civilization (Coveney, 2014, p2) and its symbolic potential is powerful, both individually and collectively within society. Yet, because food sits at the intersection of multifarious disciplines, it feeds into a highly complex and often contradictory, nuanced and politically-driven social justice discourse. COVID-19 and the 2020 “lockdown” has ‘shone a light’ on all that is precarious within our food and health systems. The pandemic, which has been termed a ‘crisis on a crisis’, has forced yet more people into food insecurity (Loopstra, 2020) suggesting a further accentuation of social and nutritional inequalities when it comes to food access and availability. The aftermath of the pandemic is set to have catastrophic global implications, with long term social and economic consequences projected to reach ‘humanitarian disaster’ levels (Lancet, 2020).