Survey reveals an increase in vegetable intake during pandemic
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The study is believed to be the first multi-continent research undertaken on the impact of COVID-19 on eating habits.
How we shop for food, cook and eat has changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, an international survey led by Queen’s University Belfast has revealed.
Positive changes such as an increase in home-cooking and cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients were recorded. However, there were also negative trends, such as a reported increase in saturated-fat intake.
A spike in bulk buying – which causes pressure on already-stressed food systems and can lead to shortages, triggering further panic-buying – was also observed during the study.
The Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen’s University Belfast has joined forces with Belfast-born Great British Bake Off star Andrew Smyth to bid for a place in a UK-wide festival celebrating arts and scientific creativity.
The IGFS-led consortium has been shortlisted for the next stage of the Festival UK 2022 competition, being one of just 30 successful bids, whittled down from almost 300.
The team comprises:
Food scientist Prof. Chris Elliott OBE; Behavioural psychologist Prof. Moira Dean; and International Events Co-ordinator Tomas Bamford from IGFS;
Jamie Oliver’s team, including producer Greg Burke and chief content officer Zoe Collins;
Northern Ireland born aerospace engineer, TV presenter and baker, Andrew Smyth;
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the futility of having two strategies on one island. While islands such as New Zealand and Taiwan have kept the virus under control, the lack of alignment on either side of the border in Ireland did not help curtail the disease.
Ian Marshall, a beef farmer from Markethill in Co Armagh, and a former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, knows all about the importance of alignment between the two jurisdictions. “It’s difficult if you have a policy that stops halfway across the field and then introduce a different policy in the other half,” he told Ulster Business.