The coronavirus health crisis has affected almost every part of daily human life – including what we eat.
Nearly a year to take social distance, many people enjoy foods that have long been forgotten or once rejected for taste, feeling or smell. Some have added healthy foods to their diet to strengthen the body’s natural defenses.
Home cooking activities are going on everywhere due to restrictions on restaurants and other food stores. People are increasingly exploring new food experiences in their own kitchens.
The joy of pears
Maeri Ferguson is a 31-year-old woman living in Brooklyn, New York. She got and repaired COVID-19 last year. But the disease damaged her taste and smell for months. Many of her favorite foods no longer satisfied her.
Ferguson can again feel sweet, salty and spicy, although many foods still have a strong taste, but not pears. The fruit was not part of her pre-COVID diet.
“I knew what a bad, unripe ripe taste was, but not a good one,” she said. Thanks to a gift from a friend, she pushed herself to find a good example. It was one of the first foods she could really taste again.
“I’m a complete convert,” Ferguson said. “I will never forget to bite into a juicy, red pear.”
Fermented foods
Fruit is simple pleasure. But guess food has also become popular. Fermented foods keep in the fridge for a long time, which is a help if you are going to buy food less often than before.
Anastasia Sharova, a chef in Stuttgart, Germany, runs Happybellyfish.com. The company is an online cooking school that works on healthy food. It added fermentation classes at the end of 2019. Then the coronavirus crisis struck.
Suddenly there is interest in making kimchi and sauerkraut, two types of fermented cabbage; and miso, fermented soybeans, increased sharply. In the past, Kombucha, a fermented tea, helped popularize home-made foods.
“Health became number one for many people last year,” Sharova said. She added that the fact that they were at home caused them to discover cooking. She said fermenting things is like a community activity done by families or in online classes.
Thirty-year-old Alicia Harper also discovered fermented foods. She is a nutritionist in New York City. She initially did not like the strong taste and smells of fermented foods.
‘Since I recently tried it again, my opinion has completely changed. I now loved the taste and smell, ”she said.
Anne Alderete from Los Angeles, California, now enjoys natto. Natto is made from fermented soybeans and is popular in Japan, but is considered unusual by many people.
“I’ve smelled it many times since I was half Japanese and lived seven years after university in Tokyo,” the 47-year-old said. But she never liked to eat natto before COVID-19.
‘I feel something virtuous if I eat natto because the health benefits are many, but also because it has brought me closer to my roots, ”Alderete said.
Comes and comfort food
Some experts believe that changes in the way we eat are also the result of more time to consider information about how food arrives at our tables.
Ryan Andrews is a dietitian who has written a book on plant foods. Ryan is also an advisor to Precision Nutrition, which trains nutrition coaches. He said many people learn painful truths about the food system.
Andrews said: “People have learned about the unsafe working conditions in meat packaging plants, the unfair wages of farm workers.” He added that other problems include diseases related to diet, cruelty to farm animals and the cost of industrialized agriculture. ‘
At the same time, research firm Semrush studied Google searches related to changing food interests during the COVID-19 crisis. Their findings suggest comfort food and some unusual combinations are still on people’s minds.
The company found a 17 percent increase in search for ‘peanuts and coke’ in December compared to December 2019. A 33 percent increase for ‘prosciutto and melon’ was found. And it found a 95 percent increase in search for “bacon and jam. ”
A service called WoodSpoon uses technology to connect people who cook at home with people who are willing to pay for a homemade meal. The company is based in New York. His principal, Oren Saar, spoke to the Associated Press. He suggested that before the health crisis, there was a strong interest in healthy, less processed foods. Thereafter, orders for bread, pasta and fatty meats increased.
‘In challenging times like these, the eaters are looking for authentic, homemade food, ”said Saar.
I’m Mario Ritter Jr.
And I’m Ashley Thompson.
Leanne Italy reported this story to Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in this story
comfort -A. a condition or feeling of not worrying, upset or unhappy, free from pain
guess –Adj. a chemical change in food (and some industrial materials) that changes the nature of the food and preserves it precisely
jam -A. a sweet, sticky food with fruit and sugar
challenging –Adj. difficult
authentic –Adj. eg, eg
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