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In a newly published paper, CUNY SPH researchers explore the intersection of the Covid-19 pandemic with two other persistent problems: food insecurity and diet-related diseases, a constellation they label the Covid-Food Syndemic. Their paper focuses on the Bronx, the borough with high rates of health problems and a devastating impact from the pandemic. Syndemics describe intersecting health conditions that have common causes and solutions.
In the report, Adjunct Associate Professor Robin Moon, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute Deputy Director Craig Willingham, Distinguished Professor Nick Freudenberg, and Shqipe Gjevukaj from Bronx Partners for Healthy Communities use syndemic theory to identify common causes of food insecurity, diet-related diseases, and Covid-19. They argue that this approach can inform and strengthen the synergies between community-based, activist-driven solutions and municipal government responses, thus reducing the burden of ill health in the Bronx.
“The business-as-usual approach to the serious health problems facing the Bronx today will doom continuing generations to poverty, inequities, and poor health,” Dr. Freudenberg said.
In the Bronx, the authors observed, the building blocks for an alternative approach—community activism, forceful government action, and integrated rather than siloed policy responses, are already in place. By leveraging these assets now, civil society, municipal government, and the flourishing social movements that are tackling inequity can lay the foundation for healthier, more equitable communities.
