School Food Programming across Canada during the COVID 19 Pandemic: Program Reach and Modalities

In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread school closures and a consequent pause in school food programs (SFP), stakeholder groups soon found alternate methods for delivering meals and snacks to students. This paper examines the breadth of school food programming in Canada during the pandemic. SFPs collectively offered meals (breakfast was most frequent), food boxes, and gift cards and average weekly distributions were over 10,000 meals. In most cases, the programs provided enough food/coupons to feed multiple or all household members. Almost half the programs received funding from provincial/territorial governments and around two-thirds received charitable contributions.Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Pandemic-Era WIC Participation in Wilmington, Delaware: Participants' Experiences and Challenges.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants faced unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic including financial concerns, a national infant formula shortage, and rising food costs. To mitigate these challenges, the United States Department of Agriculture implemented WIC program waivers and flexibilities aiming to simplify program operations (e.g., remote appointments and food package substitutions). However, little is known about WIC participants' perceptions of these changes and their impact on in-store benefit redemption. As such, this study aimed to characterize how pandemic-related events impacted Delaware WIC participants' shopping experiences and program perceptions. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 51 WIC participants in Wilmington, Delaware. Survey measures included demographic questions, the Hunger Vital Sign, and open-ended questions regarding WIC program participation experiences during the pandemic. Data were analyzed using a hybrid inductive and deductive coding approach. The results demonstrate that WIC participants benefitted from the pandemic program's flexibilities. However, they continued to experience burdensome shopping trips as well as concerns about their ability to feed their families due to infant formula shortages and inflation. These findings indicate the importance of extending existing WIC flexibilities and providing continued support for both participants and WIC-authorized retailors.

WIC Participants' Perceptions of the Cash-Value Benefit Increase during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Recent changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Cash-Value Benefit (CVB), which provides participants with money to spend on fruits and vegetables, have the potential to reduce disparities in healthy food access and food insecurity that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have examined how the changes to the CVB allotment that occurred during the pandemic influenced WIC participants' perceptions of the benefit or their fruit and vegetable purchasing and consumption. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 51 WIC participants in Wilmington, Delaware. Survey measures included demographic questions, the Hunger Vital Sign food insecurity screener, and open-ended questions regarding perceptions of the CVB increase and its influence on participants' fruit and vegetable purchasing and consumption. Data were analyzed using a hybrid inductive and deductive coding approach. The results demonstrate that higher CVB allotments increased WIC participants' purchasing and consumption of fruits and vegetables, increased the frequency of their shopping occasions, and enhanced their dietary variety. Our findings also suggest that WIC participants highly value the increased CVB. Consequently, maintaining the increased CVB allotment could improve the nutritional outcomes of low-income mothers, infants, and children participating in WIC.

Pandemic stress and the role of resources in expatriate-local interaction adjustment: an extension of Berry's model

Purpose The literature on expatriation rarely considers environmental stressors beyond cultural differences or interaction adjustment from the standpoint of host country nationals (HCNs). The authors develop a typology of expatriate-HCN interaction adjustment in response to a call to investigate the conditions under which pandemic stress facilitates cohesion or division among culturally diverse colleagues. Design/methodology/approach The typology is based on Berry's acculturation model, developed with conservation of resources theory and extended with the dual-concerns problem-solving framework from the conflict management literature. Findings The authors propose that expatriate and HCN perceptions of resource adequacy to cope with pandemic stress shape their choice of adjustment mode, and that contextual resources, including those provided by the organization, are critical. An Integration adjustment mode characterized by perceptions of adequate contextual resources and collaborative problem-solving is proposed to be most beneficial in the context of a pandemic to foster cohesion among culturally diverse colleagues, while a Separation mode characterized by perceptions of inadequate contextual resources and competitive problem-solving is proposed to foster division. Theoretical and practical contributions are provided. Originality/value The study takes a novel interdisciplinary approach to develop a contextualized typology of interaction adjustment between expatriates and HCNs. It contributes to the literature on managing multinational enterprise stakeholders in high-risk environments and offers insights into the formulation of international HRM policies and practices during a pandemic that are applicable to other high-risk contexts.

Food insecurity in a pandemic from a pediatric cystic fibrosis care center

Introduction: A potential barrier that many people in the cystic fibrosis (CF) community face is the lack of reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. Food insecurity is associated with anxiety, depression, stress, low medication adherence and poor disease management. People with CF are vulnerable to food insecurity due to the cost of care as well as the need for increased caloric intake. One study suggests that the overall rate of food insecurity in the pediatric CF community is as high as 26.3 percent (McDonald CM, et al. ICAN. 2009). Overall health outcomes improve when families and patients have access to and an adequate supply of nutritious food. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Children's Mercy-Kansas City CF Center (CMKC) discussed the need to assess for food insecurity but had not established a standard approach. When the pandemic began, the CMKC Team escalated efforts due to concerns for patient and family financial well-being, realizing that the pandemic could result in job loss and school closures with decreased availability of school lunches. The Team initiated a standardized process to assess all patients with upcoming clinic appointments and all patients who were considered high risk, which was defined as a BMI <25 percentile or weight-for-length <25 percentile. Methods: The Hunger Vital Sign (HVS) is a validated, 2-question tool used to identify households at risk for food insecurity. An affirmative answer to either question suggest that food assistance may be necessary. Beginning April 20, 2020, the CF clinic social worker (SW) or dietitian (RD) sent the HVS tool in a private message to the family through the electronic medical record using the Cerner Patient Portal. If the family was not enrolled in Cerner Patient Portal, a phone call was placed to the family. All results of HVS were recorded in a secure electronic database. Results: Since April 2020, the HVS has been used to assess 109 families. There have been a total of 67 responses, with two positive. The families were provided with food resources. Additional discussion with known at-risk families suggested that food resources were needed in six households. Resources provided to families consisted of Walmart gift cards, Healthwell COVID-19 ancillary fund and food pantry lists. Conclusions: The CMKC Team developed a standardized approach to utilizing HVS during the COVID-19 pandemic. This ensured that the Team was consistently assessing for food insecurity during the pandemic. Despite only having one positive screen to date, this tool has allowed our families to feel comfortable having dialogue regarding financial concerns and food insecurities. Families not experiencing financial concerns or food insecurities have provided positive feedback about knowing our Team is “asking tough questions and helping those that need food.” The CMKC Team will continue to use this tool and incorporate it into social work and dietitian annual assessments.

Covid-19, cocooning and vitamin d intake requirements

The purpose of this report is to clarify what constitutes best practice on vitamin D supplement use, particularly among older adults, who are at highest risk of Covid-19. On Friday 3rd April, three reports were published on how vitamin D may protect against Covid-19. Two reports are aligned with national and international guidelines on vitamin intake requirements for health: one looked at the importance of vitamin D adequacy in protecting children from respiratory illness but included important advice cautioning against high dose vitamin D;the other is from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) that looked at specific ’at risk’ groups for vitamin D deficiency in those over 50 years in a representative sample from the 26 counties. TILDA provides a strong evidence base for intervening in older adults with supplemental vitamin D (10 µg to 20 µg daily). A third report advises that every adult should take high doses of vitamin D (20 µg to 50 µg daily) in order to protect against Covid-19. The authors make no mention about other sources of vitamin D in adults. This creates confusion at a time when there is widespread fear and anxiety about the Covid-19 pandemic. The following provides a review of the evidence and summarises best practice regarding vitamin D nutrition to protect against Covid-19.