tellock saw a lot of food takeout packaging, utensils and plastic bags, and she began recruiting others to help her cover more ground. 

“i started cleaning my own neighborhood, then i ventured out to other areas and i eventually started to find such intense litter that i just could not do it myself,” tellock said. “so, i posted about it online and i started to gather some people to help.”

a communal effort

miranda carrico of the lake view east neighborhood was one of the first people to help tellock. both of them co-founded cleanup club chicago (cuc) in july of 2020, a volunteer group tackling litter pollution through land and water group cleanups, city outreach, and waste reduction advocacy. 

the environmental group has burgeoned to about 350 members from all over the city, carrico said. as of october, they collected 1,359 kitchen-sized bags of litter since their inception. cuc often collaborates with other organizations, companies, colleges, and wards like university of illinois chicago, dill pickle food co-op, and ward 25.

cuc has two group cleanups per month, running from april to november, and you can sign up here. tellock and carrico encourage people to always report litter issues through their alderman or 311 — the number that connects to city services like the department of streets and sanitation.

chicago generated 4.13 million tons of waste in 2020, but most recent data from 2018 reveals chicago’s average recycling rate is just 8.81%. cuc focuses on plastic litter, encouraging members to remove plastics from the environment whenever possible as the items can have detrimental impacts on habitats and animals like turtles and birds, trapping them, tellock said. 

“plastic pollution has some negative effects, especially on waterways and our soil,” tellock said. “along the river you can see very nakedly the impact that plastic pollution has on wildlife. it’s in their habitat, in their nests, they’re swimming in it.” 

a clean chicago

chicago has litter reduction initiatives, like the single-use foodware ordinance of jan. 18, which only restricts restaurant-caused plastic waste if patrons turn down disposable utensils. federally, the break free from plastic pollution act of 2021 is a proposed bill to reduce the production of certain products like packaging, paper, and containers. lastly, on the state level, the polystyrene foam ban bill seeks to prohibit stores from distributing disposable food containers made of the synthetic polymer polystyrene. yet, littering of this material continues with the lack of enforcement of these initiatives.

carrico said the pandemic increased the waste of single-use plastics and other items like gloves and disposable face masks, partly because the chicago parks district was not hiring maintenance workers, who typically target littering in parks across the city. 

carrico said cuc gives volunteers instructions and equipment like grabbers, gloves and buckets before each cleanup.

“we’re using eventbrite for people to sign up, which provides them instructions,” carrico said. “we will describe to them the goals of the cleanup, where we’re going and tips.” 

she added that the group holds activities like litter bingo and trash competitions to keep things engaging and fun.

tellock said the group is gaining many volunteers in communities across the city, especially south and west sides, so far doing work in humboldt park, pilsen, and hyde park, among others. tellock said cuc is a group that fosters community.

“i think it is a nice way to meet people that have a common interest in taking care of the community, and to get outside and do something productive with their time,” tellock said. 

in 2013, joe kath entered a mine and immediately spotted a bat with a white nose. this fuzzy, silvery mustache announced that white-nose syndrome, a deadly bat fungus thought to have spread from europe to north america by travelers, had inevitably invaded illinois. “it was kind of like a gut punch, but we also knew it was coming,” said kath, the endangered and threatened species manager at the illinois department of natural resources.

when covid-19 emerged seven years later, conservation researcher tara hohoff was instructed to stop handling bats. this pause in her work wasn’t implemented because the bats might give her the virus, but rather because she could transmit it to the bats. “i think there’s this fear of: what if we now introduce something else to these bats?” said hohoff, an associate mammologist at the university of illinois urbana-champaign and co-leader of the illinois bat conservation program.

six out of illinois’ 13 bat species are classified as endangered, subjected to a myriad of threats ranging from disease to clean energy to agricultural development. researchers across the state are working to protect bats, studying species abundance, activity and habitat to guide conservation practices. facing the aftermath of association between bats and covid-19 and a period of increased rabies cases from bat bites, conservationists are engaging in public outreach to gain support for an often criticized, yet critical, creature. “these organisms that we are so hard on are incredibly valuable to our persistence as a species on this planet,” said mark davis, a conservation biologist at the university of illinois urbana-champaign and co-leader of the illinois bat conservation program.

with mortality rates exceeding 90%, white-nose syndrome has killed about 7 million bats in north america since it was detected on the continent in 2006, kath said. the affected species include the federally endangered indiana bat and the northern long-eared bat as well as the “common” tricolored bat and little brown bat. white-nose syndrome has depleted over 90% of the northern long-eared, tricolored and little brown bat populations, according to the united states geological survey. given this devastating toll, the latter two species may soon be listed as endangered or threatened, kath said. 

clean energy-producing wind turbines deliver the second of a “one-two punch” against illinois’ bats, kath said. the red bat and the hoary bat forage at about the same altitude as the turbine blades, leading to mass mortalities. destruction of bat habitats for agricultural production is another major hurdle for local bats, davis said. “all of these factors have conspired together to make life as a bat in illinois really difficult in the past 20 years,” he said. 

the decline in bats presents a significant problem for illinois’ corn- and soybean-based economy. one study estimates that by eating insects that damage crops, bats save the agricultural industry approximately $23 billion in pesticide each year. “more pesticide application results in higher food costs to the average consumer, and then the ball just keeps rolling,” kath said.

the cascades will continue to reverberate. a dwindling bat population could lead to a boom in their disease-spreading mosquito prey and threaten the pollination and seed dispersal services they provide in other regions. “it sounds like hyperbole, but it’s not,” davis said. “the loss of bats from our ecosystems would be catastrophic.” 

illinois’ bat researchers are doing their part to keep catastrophe at bay. hohoff’s work focuses on recording bats’ unique echolocation calls to identify different species and map their distribution patterns. she uses ultra-fine “mist nets” to capture, examine and release bats to corroborate the species indicated by the acoustic signature. 

kath also uses mist netting to survey bat activity during the summer. some bats are fixed with a radio transmitter, which sends out a signal that can be tracked to find the trees where they roost. he then performs emergence counts, tallying how many bats leave the roost in the evening to help measure local population levels and pinpoint critical habitats. in the winter, he monitors bats at hibernation sites like caves and abandoned mines. 

davis’ research involves analyzing the dna in a bat’s excrement, called guano, to determine its species and study its diet, which helps him understand how bats are using the landscape. 

collectively, this information can help prevent destructive land management and development projects, such as constructing a wind farm in an area with heavy bat activity or cutting down trees in areas with endangered species. 

while illinois’ bats haven’t turned the corner yet, the researchers have seen glimmers of hope. death rates due to white-nose syndrome seem to be slowing, davis said. europe’s bats eventually developed immunity to the disease, and davis is trying to find out if the same process is happening in north america now. to do so, he is analyzing bats’ genetic material before and after the arrival of white-nose syndrome to look for any mutations that might grant resistance to the disease.

habitat conservation projects have also brought good news. hohoff and davis partnered with the prairie conservation organization grand prairie friends to evaluate bat activity in habitats converted from agricultural fields and found that bats quickly returned to enjoy the restored land. kath collaborated with the mining company covia to stabilize the magazine mine at the southern tip of illinois, which has since become the second largest hibernation site for indiana bats in north america. 

working to save animals battling extinction is typically regarded with respect and admiration, but bat conservationists face the unusual challenge of unfavorable public perception of their advocate organism. “bats are a fairly maligned critter, and oftentimes, people have negative connotations associated with them,” davis said. 

in addition to media coverage linking bats to covid-19, bats have been at the center of a recent cluster of rabies cases. bats lead the risk of death from rabies in the united states, according to the cdc. every animal that tested positive for rabies in illinois in 2021 was a bat, but only 40 were identified in the entire state, according to the illinois department of public health. “not an awful lot of animals test positive, but enough to cause an impact on public health because rabies is a deadly disease,” said mabel frías, the assistant director of the communicable disease control unit at the cook county department of public health.

in the fall of 2021, three people in the united states—one in illinois—died after contracting rabies from a bat. two of the exposures were considered “avoidable,” and all three failed to receive the post-exposure prophylaxis (pep) injection that can prevent rabies before the onset of symptoms, according to a press release from the cdc. the release highlights the importance of avoiding contact with bats and receiving pep after a potential exposure. public health responses should focus on preventing disease transmission rather than eradicating bats, frías said. “the value of bats to our economy far outweighs the risk they present to human health,” davis said. 

still, in light of this bad press, illinois’ bat researchers have worked hard to garner investment in bat conservation. at the start of the pandemic, hohoff seized every speaking opportunity she could to remind people that the source of covid-19 hasn’t been confirmed and that it’s humans’ responsibility to erect barriers with wildlife. kath has collaborated with the illinois department of public health to develop seminars on how to minimize the risk of bat encounters. “we do a lot of work with the public to try to relay the message that we need to coexist with bats because our livelihoods depend on them,” davis said. 

in some ways, their efforts have already paid off. requests to place acoustic recorders on private property are largely successful, and some citizens are actively participating in bat conservation, identifying bat roosts and performing their own emergence counts. hohoff has noticed that her presentations tend to attract a younger audience that is excited about bats. “i do think things are changing,” she said. 

the team hopes their research, conservation and outreach work will help protect an underappreciated part of the environment. “i’m inspired to try to make some sort of a difference to ensure that these things that have captivated me throughout my life and that provide tremendous value to us as a species are around for future generations,” davis said. 

allen-charmley highlights the groundwork being done by individuals and organizations like digdeep, a community-led initiative that strives to find solutions to providing water to the thousands who are without it everyday on the navajo nation. allen-charmley connects with the navajo water project as well as a student change maker to learn just how much tó éí iiná, or water is life. not only does this mini-documentary display the effects of climate change in rural parts of america, it also spotlights how lack of accessible water within indigenous communities can be especially detrimental during a pandemic.

special thanks to the navajo nation, digdeep and the planet forward team for making the production of this video possible

––

correction: the lower third graphic which reads “jaden redshirt” should instead read “jaden redhair.”

editor’s note: this short film was produced as part of the planet forward-comcast nbcuniversal sustainable storytelling fellowship. 

when the world went on lockdown, nature got a reprieve, or so it seemed. dolphins swam in the hudson river, los angeles’ famed smog dissipated, and wild animals were reportedly reclaiming cities. the narrative presented in the media was clear: the covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 allowed nature and the environment a temporary reprieve. but how much did lockdown really impact air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions? and did animals actually move back into cities?

a year later, researchers around the world are examining data from the lockdowns and publishing their findings. did the natural world really make a brief comeback during lockdown? the answer is complicated.

“the pandemic is bad. it’s causing a lot of troubles for humankind,” said phil yang, a geospatial scientist and professor of geographic information science at george mason university. “but on the other side, this experiment is helping us to be able to observe how human activities have been impacting the earth, the environment and climate change.”

air pollution and lockdowns

for his part, yang looked at air quality in california before covid-19 and during lockdowns, publishing his results in the journal science of the total environment.

he and his multidisciplinary team at george mason university studied concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide (both of which are indirect greenhouse gases) and particulate matter, during the initial california covid-19 lockdown that lasted nearly three months, from march 19 to may 7.

the researchers found that both nitrogen dioxide (no2) and carbon monoxide (co) concentrations dropped significantly during the initial covid-19 lockdown, when compared to the same period for the five years prior. particulate matter initially dropped as well, before increasing significantly toward the end of the study due to california’s historic 2020 wildfires.

during the lockdown that ran from march 19 to may 7, 2020, co concentrations dropped by 49% compared to the three months before lockdown, while no2 concentrations dropped by 38%.

in previous years, concentrations of both co and no2 have dropped during the same period as covered in yang’s study due to seasonal changes, by an average of 24% and 22%, respectively. but the drops during the lockdown were much sharper.

globally, direct greenhouse gas emissions also declined. carbon dioxide (co2) emissions dropped by 2.4 billion metric tons, or down 7% from 2019, according to a study published in earth system science data in december 2020. this represents the biggest annual drop in co2 emissions ever recorded in modern times.

yang said he doesn’t believe this short-term drop in greenhouse gas emissions will contribute toward solving climate change in the long term. however, it has given scientists a new way to confirm something already known: that human activity is causing climate change.

lockdowns proved that when human activity tapered off, so did greenhouse gas emissions. from a research perspective, it wouldn’t have been feasible to ask an entire state, let alone the world, to enter lockdown for more than two months. but the onset of the covid-19 pandemic presented a unique situation.

“we cannot do this type of experiment without the pandemic,” yang said.

animals run wild

reut vardi, a doctoral student pursuing a degree in urbanization at ben-gurion university of the negev in israel, also took the unique opportunity presented by lockdowns to study the absence of human activity.

in her 2021 study in biological conservation, she tested the claim that animals reclaimed cities during lockdown. in contrast with the media’s narrative in the early months of the pandemic, vardi found little evidence of animals invading cities.

“we do have nature in our cities … but suddenly covid has seemed to shine a spotlight on it because people have more time,” vardi said.

she said she suspects that with more free time during lockdowns, people were simply noticing already existing wildlife populations for the first time.

vardi used data from inaturalist, a nature spotting and reporting app, to compare animal sighting data pre-covid-19 and during the initial lockdowns in north america, from march to july of 2020.

vardi tracked reported sightings of black bears (ursus americanus), bobcats (lynx rufus), coyotes (canis latrans), moose (alces alces) and pumas (puma concolor), to determine if these animals were actually moving out of their existing habitats and reclaiming urbanized areas seemingly abandoned by humans.

vardi and her team indeed found that these animals were exploring new areas during lockdowns — but not in the way portrayed in early news stories. using night light as a proxy for urbanization, vardi found that the animals were actually venturing out in more rural areas.

“for four out the five species, the new area they were exploring, reported during covid, were actually in less urbanized areas. and for the most urbanized area [where] they were seen during covid, they were also reported to be seen there before covid as well,” vardi said.

the only animal that increased its exploration of urban areas was the puma, which vardi attributes to the cat’s shy nature. because pumas are usually very wary of humans, the lack of human activity may have encouraged them to explore deeper into urbanized areas at a greater rate than other wildlife.

“it’s more complex than what the media is trying to say. it’s not, we go in so the animals come out to play. nature is all over the city and we do need to notice,” vardi said. “i think the great thing covid did was to … help us understand that we need to manage this situation and design our cities in a better way, that can allow for coexistence.”

the environment post-covid

so while lockdown helped tamp down emissions, they didn’t move the needle on wildlife as much as reported. what, then, was the total impact on the environment? a team of scientists in india has weighed the potential positive and negative impacts of covid-19 in a study in environmental sustainability.

due to lockdowns, the researchers recorded that people were making more online purchases and food delivery orders. as a result, demand for plastic packaging materials increased significantly. for example, one plastic packaging company in spain saw sales grow by 40% during the pandemic, while in the u.s. the demand for plastic grocery packaging was expected to rise by 14%.

the study also raised the concerns over medical equipment disposal, reporting that at one point, the city of wuhan, ground zero of the outbreak, was producing an extra 240 tons of medical waste per day. compounding the issue is the fact that personal protective equipment (ppe) is commonly made of single-use plastic, potentially leading to a rise in plastic pollution.

another potential hazard, detailed in the paper, is the rise in soap use. if released into streams, rivers or lakes, soap creates a layer of foam on the water. the foam stops vital re-aeration for aquatic plants by 40% and prevents algae growth that’s vital to local ecosystems.

“although a few positive impacts of covid-19 on the environment were seen, these were the short-term effects induced largely by nation-wide lockdown,” the study says. “indeed, the pandemic is expected to pose long-term adverse effects on the environment in future.”

nevertheless, a number of conservationists say the covid-19 pandemic holds lessons for society.

“covid-19 came from an animal, in large part because of humans’ destruction to ecosystems,” said rachel golden kroner, an environmental governance fellow at conservation international. “situating humans as part of nature helps us think more holistically about our impacts.”

kroner said she noticed increased conservation efforts and interest from the public, the private sector and the government during this period.

“[people need to] keep that going, but in real ways. follow up this commitment with real actions,” she added.

she said a lot of this action comes down to passing legislation and increasing environmental funding, which in both cases the average person may feel they have little capacity to change.

“it’s that dichotomy, maybe a false dichotomy, about individual versus collective solutions,” kroner said. “as an individual, we can tap into making change at the collective level. we are all voters, we are all citizens, we all have representatives that we can elect, advocate to, call, write letters and make our voices heard. make it known that we care.”

beyond this, kroner suggested something less formal: simply talking to friends and family about climate change, threats to our environment, and ways they can reduce their impact and get involved.

citations:

friedlingstein, p., o’sullivan, m., jones, m. w., andrew, r. m., hauck, j., olsen, a., … zaehle, s. (2020). global carbon budget 2020. earth system science data, 12(4), 3269-3340. doi:10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020

ankit, kumar, a., jain, v., deovanshi, a., lepcha, a., das, c., … srivastava, s. (2021). environmental impact of covid-19 pandemic: more negatives than positives. environmental sustainability. doi:10.1007/s42398-021-00159-9

liu, q., harris, j. t., chiu, l. s., sun, d., houser, p. r., yu, m., … yang, c. (2021). spatiotemporal impacts of covid-19 on air pollution in california, usa. science of the total environment, 750, 141592. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141592

vardi, r., berger-tal, o., & roll, u. (2021). inaturalist insights illuminate covid-19 effects on large mammals in urban centers. biological conservation, 254, 108953. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108953

podcast transcription:

helen bradshaw  0:02 
what bat data scientist tina chang remembers most about visiting bats in virginia isn’t seeing the scary creatures of halloween stories, or even the sweet animals of children’s picture books. what she remembers is the overwhelming number of dead bats from white-nose syndrome.

tina cheng  0:20 
it’s really heartbreaking to walk in and see these sick bats. sometimes you would find carcasses in caves as well. and these were, this was especially devastating, going to some caves where are these biologists that come for years. they go to these spots and they know exactly where the bats are because they come back every year. and we would return with these researchers and not only with the bats not be there, but we would see bones on the floor. and that was also really heartbreaking.

helen bradshaw  0:54 
amid the bat linked pandemic that spread between people across the world, covid-19, bats in the us are facing an epidemic of their own with white-nose syndrome. since the discovery of white-nose syndrome in upstate new york in 2006, potentially 10s of millions of bats across the country have died. white-nose syndrome attacks hibernating bats in the form of a fungus pseudogymnoascus destructans, known as pd. this fungus then attaches spores of itself to the bats. these spores are what we see as the white fuzz on bats’ noses, hence the name. but how does a little white fuzz on a bat’s nose cause so much death?

rich geboy  1:34 
yeah, so that’s a great question.

helen bradshaw  1:37 
that’s the us fish and wildlife’s white-nose syndrome coordinator for the midwest, rich geboy.

rich geboy  1:43 
the bats themselves typically will acquire a white fuzz on their muzzle or on their wings. and as it grows into the tissue of the bat’s muzzle, or the wing, or the tail membrane, that will then become set in the effects of the disease.

helen bradshaw  2:05 
the effect of the disease, cheng says in blunter terms, is that it causes the bats to come out of torpor in the winter when they aren’t supposed to and…

tina cheng  2:14 
and then they burn through their fat reserves. and many of them die of starvation.

helen bradshaw  2:19 
but mammoth cave resource management specialist, rickard toomey, says there is hope in the form of vaccination. 

rickard toomey  2:27 
there are tons of people working on cures, mitigations, vaccines, probiotics, all sorts of different approaches, trying to do exactly that: make the bats more immune.

helen bradshaw  2:45 
cheng and geboy say these vaccines and probiotics have not been developed nearly as quickly as our own covid-19 vaccines or shown as encouraging of results.

tina cheng  2:55 
so there have been several probiotics that were under investigation and brought to different levels of trial. so i helped to work on one that’s a bacterial probiotic, it’s naturally found on the skin of bats. and the idea is just to try and amplify that on the skin of bats to provide some type of protection. there have not been any trials, including the one that i worked on, which has shown an increase in survival yet. it’s not to say that this type of intervention is not fruitful or worth continuing. but it has not yet shown really promising results. 

rich geboy  3:43 
there have been a number of scientists looking at this out of the national wildlife health center in madison, wisconsin, essentially trying to develop this vaccine. and with the eventual hope of leading to increased survival from bats. at this point, it’s not there, but they’re still in the development phase of that.

helen bradshaw  4:06 
but dissemination of these medicines would be tricky. america’s millions of bats can’t just book an appointment for a shot. 

tina cheng  4:14 
i think the idea was to get the vaccine in some kind of spray, and then to spray it on bats and then when they groom themselves, which they do quite a bit, then they would ingest the oral vaccine and get vaccinated.

helen bradshaw  4:28 
in the meantime, precautions have been put into action in places like mammoth cave. at this point, these measures are less so for keeping white-nose syndrome out as they are for keeping it in. park visitor alex weaver experienced the bleach bath journey firsthand.

alex weaver  4:43 
so as i saw the, the little thing that we walked through, i was i was kind of confused. i was like i just i don’t know what these are for. so i wasn’t sure if it was more for the protection of the people or agriculture outside of the caves. but after a little bit of questions, i realized this for the bats. i don’t really see too many bats while i was down there. but i figured they, they need protection just like anybody else. so it’s got to follow the little bat rules.

helen bradshaw  5:15 
anti-bat sentiment from the pandemic, and the fact that bats are the primary carrier of rabies in the state of illinois, aren’t helping awareness or support for a cure either. author and journalist david quammen, of outsider magazine and the new york times, says an international fear of bats has deep historical roots, largely based on false information.

david quammen  5:35 
in some cultures, there are these negative impressions of bats, fears of bats, because they are peculiar. they are mammals that fly. bats, in fact, do carry a lot of different kinds of viruses, of which rabies is the most famous and the most scary, because it has the highest case fatality rate. but the fact is that if we leave bats alone, then there’s very, very, very little chance of us getting infected with their viruses. there was a concern that this pandemic not be turned into another excuse for persecuting bats. because there is a high likelihood that this virus originated in a form of bat and the bat didn’t come looking for a human. humans, in some way, still undiscovered, put themselves in a situation where they, they gave the virus an opportunity to spill over from a bat into a human fatefully.

helen bradshaw  6:40 
even if an effective vaccine or probiotic is developed, and even if it’s successfully administered, it’s possible not all the bats can be saved in time. cornell says white nose syndrome has a mortality rate of 90 to 100% among some species of hibernating bats, meaning until a treatment is implemented, bat species like the northern long-eared bat are at risk of extinction.

rickard toomey  7:02 
in 2004, 2005, we had a big bath survey, and northern long-eared bats were almost 50% of the bats caught on the park in the summer. 800 bats were caught. post white-nose, we caught i think two of them. our catch rate on northern long-eared bats went down 99.7%. northern long-eared bats on mammoth cave national park are functionally extirpated.

helen bradshaw  7:39 
while some areas hit by white-nose syndrome have stabilizing populations of little brown bats, the future of north american bats is uncertain.

tina cheng  7:47 
there are other species that have not recovered, that are not stabilized, that have gone sometimes to zero, and will likely never come back.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

“when we first got furloughed, we thought it was only a couple months, like two months, three months,” kwong said. “and then they keep extending, extending, extending. the city opened back but the hotel didn’t have enough conventions, meetings, or tourists so they don’t have the revenue to call everyone back to work.”

the month he was put on furlough, george started volunteering at the san francisco marin food bank to help out his community. months later, in june 2020, the food bank hired kwong. he plans to continue working there even after he returns to his job at the hotel.

“working at the hotel wasn’t just a job, it’s what i like to do,” he said. “if people are happy with the food you make, you are happy too. same thing, when you serve the community, you help people and make them happy.”

as the covid-19 pandemic triggered a global economic crisis, many were out of work and unable to afford food. out of the 2.6 million people in california who lost their jobs between february and april 2020, 64% were in jobs in low paying industries which disproportionately employ people of color.

in early august, 2021, over a year into the pandemic, new covid-19 cases reached the highest daily average since january 2021––coinciding with the rise of the delta variant. in the united states, communities of color have been disproportionately hit by covid-19 due to economic inequities that stand to continue in a post-pandemic world while wealthier majority populations return to “normal life.” this trend held true in san francisco, where people of color, 54.8% of the population, accounted for 63.3% of total covid-19 cases as of august 28, 2021. the case rate was even more disproportionate at the beginning of the pandemic, from april 2020 through august 2020, when latinx residents accounted for over half of the cases each month despite making up only 15.2% of the population.

when california became the first state in the u.s. to issue a statewide stay-at-home order in march 2020, communities needed adaptation and expansion of food assistance initiatives. in response, the city of san francisco partnered with local non-profit and community-based organizations to minimize food insecurity through the pandemic. the city spent more than $80 million in the 2021 fiscal year to create new food security programs and initiatives, said susie smith, deputy director of policy and planning at the san francisco human services agency.

smith said that this budget “provided for continued support for food access through local food banks, programs for older adults with disabilities—people (who) were specifically being asked to stay at home—as well as meals for unsheltered people and meal delivery options for people (who) needed to isolate and quarantine.” 

the san francisco marin food bank partnered with the city government to pilot pop-up pantries which provide produce free of cost. 

“investing in the bank was our mass distribution effort,” smith said. “(the food bank) created a robust network—about 20-22 pop-ups across the city that the food bank had organized.”

meanwhile, the nonprofit meals on wheels san francisco delivered 2.4 million meals and served 16,460 individuals overall in 2020, three-times the number of people served in any prior year; the organization broadened their services beyond their pre-pandemic demographic of senior citizens, according to jim oswald, director of marketing and communications at meals on wheels san francisco. meals on wheels partnered with the city to become the intake for the isolation and quarantine line—a hotline for individuals to call if they were impacted by covid and could not get groceries. according to their blog, nearly 87% of meal delivery requests through the hotline are in african-american and hispanic communities.

another program, farm to family repurposed wasted produce from farms and delivered it to food banks. the federal and state governments expanded supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) benefits to increase access through pandemic electronic benefits transfer (p-ebt) cards, which repurposed the money towards summer meals for low-income students to spend on food. 

hilary seligman, professor at the university of california, san francisco, has studied food insecurity and hunger policy. seligman said, “this layered intervention is a quilt of things between school meals, women, infants, and children (wic) changes, snap changes, pop up pantries and farms to family. through all those things together, i think we really kept food insecurity rates much, much, much lower than they would have been.”

while the city of san francisco and local organizations innovated to serve food insecure populations, some initiatives were built for the short term and lacked the infrastructure to be durable, seligman said.

for instance, great plates delivered, a unitary federally funded california emergency food project, ended its food assistance program in california after 18 months. and farm to family, though federally funded, lacked infrastructure at the state level to be distributed fairly through the state of california, according to laura reid, director of communications at ca association of food banks. keely hopkins, communications manager at the san francisco marin food bank, said she recognized anecdotally that the food bank might not be serving certain demographics as well as others and that they hope to take a more data driven approach to inform targeted outreach in the future.

in a perfect world, seligman said, fewer people would rely on nonprofits and community based organizations for food.

“ideally, we would have a social safety net in place that was provided equitably to all people so that there weren’t people who fell through the cracks,” seligman said. “we’re not there.” 

local and state governments are limited in their ability to spend on social programs because they can’t run deficits, according to michael hankinson, professor of political science at george washington university. they can take out debt, but that starts to hurt them in the long run.

still, the pandemic brought broad attention to a pre-existing need for policies to address food inequity in the long term––and illuminated a path toward durable and equitable food policy initiatives, according to samina raja, professor of urban and regional planning at the university at buffalo and leading expert on building healthy and equitable food systems. 

“society at large felt there was a crisis because the wealthy and majority populations were bearing the brunt,” raja said. “that’s why everybody started paying attention (to issues of food insecurity). that kind of crisis already exists in my city in the black neighborhoods. i have elders, black elders, who are routinely without food, who are routinely without deliveries, who do not get calls from their social service workers. that is not new for them. in fact, some of them were like, ‘we know what to do, because we’ve seen this before.’”

she continued, “going forward, local governments would be smart by investing in (policies) and programs that center black communities and brown communities because they actually know what their neighborhoods need. the lesson from covid is when you move forward beyond the crisis points, remember that community networks are essential for developing thoughtful food policy.”

according to raja, one way to bring black and brown communities into the conversation is to establish black and brown-led advisory groups within local governments. this develops more infrastructure for food initiatives by ensuring communities of color are represented in policy deliberations. 

this method is being tested in baltimore, where the city government implemented a food policy council. resident food equity advisors work closely with city staff to provide recommendations that support the community with nutritious and culturally appropriate food.

raja recommended another solution involving the consultation of communities of color––reforming urban agriculture. this may come in the form of community land trusts that are controlled by black and brown households in black and brown neighborhoods. 

“(a land trust is) a specific mechanism that allows communities themselves to take control of land and decide how it serves the needs of residents and neighborhoods of color,” raja said. 

unless paired with policy measures to ensure affordable housing, increasing property value can be counterproductive for residents of low-income neighborhoods, who may be pushed out by increased rent or property tax. organizations like the dudley street initiative implement strategies that encourage development without displacement, raja said. 

entrepreneurial grant programs for black, indigenous, and people of color communities also aid in the prevention of food insecurity because they allow “black and brown communities, immigrant and refugee communities to start up their own food businesses,” raja said.

yet, according to seligman, these initiatives are easier to implement on the local and state level. california has already implemented a universal school lunch program, school meals for all. 

“a lot of the policies in place for government programming systematically exclude people,” seligman said. “they are rooted in a desire from previous generations to limit access to that programming. and while there are efforts to unwind many of those policies, the federal systems tend to do this unwinding slowly.”

while community organizations provided short term solutions during the economic precarity of the covid-19 pandemic, those invested in food security may look ahead to the next renegotiation of the farm bill in 2023. according to seligman, 80% of the funds included in the farm bill are dedicated to federal nutrition programming, presenting a substantial opportunity to change the infrastructure of federal support for the food system across the u.s.

—

about this series: the planet forward-fao summer storytelling fellows work was sponsored by the north america office of the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (fao), and the fellows were mentored by lisa palmer, gw’s national geographic professor of science communication and author of “hot, hungry planet.”

specifically, edralin wanted to focus on food insecurity within the context of covid-19. her piece profiled the green bronx machine, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and workforce development.

edralin had pitched the topic for her short documentary because she had crossed paths with the founder of the green bronx machine at a conference in milan, italy, years ago and decided to reach out to see how they were handling the covid-19 pandemic in their classrooms.

the process of completing this film took about two months. we had to reshoot a lot because of minor details we would notice after we’d reviewed our footage, so this process required us to pay close attention to detail — and utilize a lot of patience! however, looking back now, we’re glad we took our time with it.

there’s a lot more to creating a documentary than just picking up a camera; creating a documentary is an art form that has a long process, but the final product is worth the effort. 

los angeles – the timing has been terrible for california farmworkers in 2020: wilting heat waves, wildfires spewing acrid smoke across the state and the persistent threat of covid-19. this triple threat looms large over the lucrative fall harvest of grapes and almonds, which for some seasonal laborers is the busiest time of year, until november.

kent e. pinkerton, a leading expert in farmworker health, has been worried about such a threat for a decade. the pandemic, which is expected to linger in california for months, could be an invisible killer in the fields.

“it is extremely difficult for those workers to be able to social distance themselves, and so i think it is incredibly important that the workers and those who are supervising the workers take into account some of the things that they can do to protect the workers from potentially becoming infected with coronavirus,” said pinkerton, who is the director of center for health and the environment and a professor at university of california, davis.

farmworkers say they’re vulnerable to the health effects of the novel coronavirus and wildfires, and have little means to seek treatment because many lack health insurance.

“unfortunately, we don’t have insurance, and that is one of the consequences we face as farmworkers. that is why we have to be prepared,” said veronica mota, a farmworker for 20 years and an organizer with united farm workers.

mota spoke about her children, calling them her motivation and inspiration. her daughter, who is in college and voting for the first time, is mota’s reminder to focus on herself.

“during high school, she was really into cross country, and she motivated me to have a will to live,” mota said. “when you live and work in this country, you get stressed and can stop taking care of yourself in a way. but when you look at your daughter and see that she runs and crosses a whole community, you say, ‘wow, if she can do this, so can i.’”

mota has worked in california, oregon and washington, all three affected by wildfires, and has experience picking all types of fruits and vegetables. the challenges of 2020 have created exceptional frustration and fear, she said.

“we feel abandoned and like we have no support. we work honorably, and if it weren’t for the work that we do, there wouldn’t be food on the tables,” mota said.

heat stress and exhaustion are detrimental and life-threatening side effects of hot weather – and often unavoidable. poor air quality harms everyone’s health, and farm work is time sensitive: waiting for skies to clear of smoke could mean a crop rots in the fields. but that type of exposure also can harm lungs and hearts, pinkerton said.

the coronavirus makes battling these threats even harder because keeping a safe distance while harvesting is nearly impossible.

“as advocates and an organization made up of farmworkers and their families,” said irene de barraicua of lideres campesinas, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of female farmworkers, “we know that they live in very crowded housing, we know that they carpool to work and we know that employers are maybe at times going to do anything they can to make it safer and enforce social distancing and maybe give masks … what they don’t seem to take responsibility for is that once their workers are leaving the workplace they see them gathering in groups or getting in cars together.”

testing positive for coronavirus strips undocumented workers of their income, particularly when they are forced to quarantine with family. without the stimulus check or california coronavirus aid to undocumented immigrants, which was first come, first served, many undocumented workers are left with little assurance. often, for fear of losing work, many workers whose crew may have a small positivity outbreak move to the next farm, de barraicua said.

from 2015 through 2016, 51% of all farmworkers had work authorization, according to the u.s. department of labor. of those 51%, 29% were u.s. citizens, 21% percent were legal permanent residents and 1% had work authorization through some other visa program.

california grew more than a third of the vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts in the country during the 2019 crop year, according to the california department of food and agriculture. the state accounts for more than 13% of the nation’s total agricultural value and is the leading state for cash farm receipts, according to the department.

in many parts of california, it is peak harvest season for the state’s leading crops. from the end of august through november, wine grapes, almonds and other mid-to-late season fruits are ready to harvest. in 2019, california’s top producing commodities were $6.09 billion in almonds and $5.41 billion in grapes, according to the california department of food and agriculture.

although big cities report bigger covid-19 numbers, 98% of american rural counties have reported positive cases and 75% have reported one or more deaths as of sept. 21, according to the national center for farmworker health. in nonmetropolitan areas, there have been 812,853 cases and 18,371 deaths reported as of sept. 22, according to data obtained from johns hopkins university.

fruits, nuts and vegetables are only part of california’s farming industry. one of the most significant coronavirus outbreaks among agricultural workers started on june 29 in livingston, where at least 392 employees tested positive and at least eight died due to the outbreak at the foster farms plant, according to the merced sun-star. due to more than 700 meatpacking and food processing plants experiencing outbreaks in the u.s., beef and pork production have declined by 40% during the summer of 2020, according to the national center for farmworker health.

in arizona, where the yuma area is a major producer of lettuce, the exact number of cases among farmworkers in yuma county is not reported, but “143 positive covid-19 cases in the county have occurred in or near farm labor camps,” according to the national center for farmworker health. overall, yuma county has reported 12,664 cases and 345 deaths as of friday, making it one of the top three counties in arizona for cases. one known outbreak happened on hickman’s family egg farm, in buckeye where five female prison inmates tested positive in june.

the pressure on these workers at the national level is tremendous, with demand for farm labor exceeding the actual number of farm laborers, said elizabeth strater, the director of alternative and digital organizing at united farm workers.

“given the context of the labor shortage, this time of year in california, especially when you are talking about high sensitivity or high investment crops like wine grapes, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on everybody’s part to get those crops in, regardless of what the air quality is like,” strater said.

many undocumented workers are afraid to be deemed essential workers, especially in counties hit hard by the coronavirus and wildfires. de barraicua said many of the undocumented workers she speaks with were scared to work for fear of having to show a police officer an essential worker letter from their employer.

lideres campesinas listed education surrounding the virus as one of the organization’s main concerns in its letter to the governor in april. this concern now extends to education about fires, heatwaves and smoke exposure. language and cultural differences often are barriers to health information, which is concerning because undocumented farmworkers typically are more vulnerable to poor health resulting from lack of access to care, de barraicua said.

mota, as someone who advocates for the rights of farmworkers and organizes events to spread awareness, said united farm workers has done everything possible to distribute the appropriate protective equipment and educate laborers on the best ways to stay safe.

the high levels of wildfire smoke along the west coast typically contain carbon based particles, and toxic materials or irritants might be in the smoke from the destruction of buildings and dwellings. pinkerton said all smoke can be “an irritant and potentially injurious to the lung.” eye and throat irritation, coughing and sneezing are symptoms related to particulate matter exposure.

properly fitted n95 masks offer the highest degree of protection against inhalation of the particles, pinkerton said. the maximum recommended use of n95 masks is eight to 12 hours, and they should not be worn for multiple work shifts, according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

labored breathing is a side effect of those wearing properly fitted n95 masks, and as the mask clogs with particles over time, it may become even more difficult to breathe, pinkerton said. he and other experts recommend work to be reduced to shorter time periods, and that it’s done in a nonstrenuous way.

mota said many farmworkers are not offered the proper equipment to do their jobs safely.

“because i work under a union job, it’s the union that brings those resources to the farmworkers, like me, to help us be protected in the work conditions we are in.”

the reuse of masks presents a significant risk of contact transmission from touching the surface of the contaminated respirator and can add additional discomfort to the worker when worn for too long, the cdc said.

the california department of food and agriculture directs farmworkers unable to obtain personal protective equipment to contact their county office of emergency services branch to provide information on lack of supplies.

mota, who has appeared in a campaign advertisement and has had a couple of encounters with california sen. kamala harris, who’s now the democratic vice presidential candidate, said farmworkers have received a lot of support from her.

“she focuses on the well-being of the farmworkers,” mota said.

mota also praised current california gov. gavin newsom’s state relief program to provide $500 to undocumented workers who were not eligible for federal stimulus funds.

strater said that united farm workers and harris emphasize that there is “no worker justice without climate justice.” the impacts of climate change may alter the path of agriculture’s future, including the lives of workers, even though weather has always been a concern.

with climate change there will be differences in agriculture, and among those different outcomes, a shift in the social population of workers may be one of the most intriguing. pinkerton explored the idea that workers might question their future in agricultural work.

“it could be a need to change the type of crop that is being grown, just simply because the weather is different than it has been in the past. there may be concerns about water use through droughts or desertification of lands that also creates some issues with agriculture,”  pinkerton said.

“i think also what we may see is a shift in the social population. the workers … where do they go? where do they find work?”

—

this story originally was posted at cronkite news, and features additional reporting. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

phoenix – rows of cardboard boxes containing corpses line the walls of refrigerated storage containers, waiting for charred human remains to be cleared from the incineration chamber to make room for the next body.

the cremations continue through the night in a scene that has unfolded across america as covid-19 deaths have risen to more than 540,000 over the past year.

in arizona, where 16,842 have died in the pandemic, the smoke and the hum of crematoriums working overtime have left some neighbors desperate for relief from the odor and pollution.

arizonans opt for cremation more frequently than the national average, with 67% choosing that option in 2020, according to a july 2020 report from the national funeral directors association.

the national cremation rate reached 56% last year, an increase from 47.9% in 2015, the last reported year. the rise was fueled by the covid-19 death toll and pandemic restrictions, the low cost of cremation services and the flexible timing for funeral arrangements with cremated ashes.

some condo owners in east scottsdale have taken notice of unexpected wafts of smoke and a lingering odor coming from the nearby paradise memorial crematory near 93rd street and shea boulevard.

“the smell was so unbearable that everybody needs to run into their houses,” said retiree marlene dove, who moved there in september. “if you have guests, they have to come in or they put things over their heads and their faces to keep the smell out.”

her complaint is among 20 filed in maricopa county regarding crematorium smoke from feb. 27, 2020, to march 2, 2021. records from maricopa county air quality show the complaints include black or brown smoke and a “horrible odor.” some residents claimed the emissions gave them sore throats.

“i understand that you have to take care of the dead,” dove said. “but i also understand you have to take care of the living.”

last april, maricopa county air quality lifted a regulation prohibiting crematoriums from operating past sunset, giving them more time to cremate the increased number of covid-19 deaths. that lift, which was extended in june and again in december, is in effect through may 31.

according to arizona department of health services data, the state saw surges in covid-19 related deaths during the summer and winter, with a single-day high of 173 deaths reported jan. 18.

the occasional smoke coming from crematorium chimneys is an inevitable byproduct of the cremation process, said james ahearne, coo of messinger mortuaries, the company that oversees paradise memorial crematory.

“every crematory will smoke, if they tell you they don’t, they’re lying,” he said. “it’s just the way it is.”

last year, paradise memorial crematory – one of the largest in the state – cremated 6,868 bodies, an increase from 6,071 in 2019, before the pandemic began. from the start of 2021, paradise memorial already has cremated 1,931 bodies, ahearne said, with much of those coming in january after the holidays. if the trend continues, 2021 could outpace last year.

ahearne said a walk-in freezer used to store bodies at paradise memorial had 60 to 70 bodies backlogged in january, waiting to be cremated.

by 2030, the cremation rate in arizona is expected to reach nearly 80%, the national funeral directors association says.

nationally, the median cost to bury an adult in a traditional ceremony is $7,640, according to the association. in arizona, it’s $6,906.

cremations cost an average of $6,645 nationally, with a cremation casket and urn, and about $5,812 in arizona, according to the association.

there’s also the convenience of cremating now and organizing a service later at a particular destination, said barbara kemmis, executive director of the cremation association of north america.

with travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines in place for many states throughout the pandemic, cremation extends the time frame for grieving families to make decisions for the deceased.

as covid-19 cremations surged across the country, so did neighbor’s complaints about smoke and sore throats.

“that’s completely a danger when they’re overwhelmed and trying to do as many cases a day to return those cremated remains to loved ones,” kemmis said.

issues with smoke coming from paradise memorial crematory are not new but have seemingly worsened throughout the pandemic, said david dubner, 79, who has filed multiple complaints with maricopa county and is dove’s neighbor.

“there’s not just been puffs but pouring smoke, sometimes for up to five, six minutes. (it) covers the whole area,” dubner said.

three years ago, paradise memorial crematory expanded the number of cremation ovens on their premises from three to six, ahearne said, and plans to add another in the next five or six months.

“what we’re trying to do here is cremate as many as we have to for our clients and not smoke at all,” ahearne said. “and unfortunately, sometimes we do.”

throughout the pandemic, said gregg busch, funeral service manager at neptune society in tempe, the increased number of covid-related deaths and cremations has forced staff members to work into the night and put employees at risk of covid-19 infection.

“everybody is shorthanded and everybody is struggling to keep up,” busch said.

“organizations like our own – which focus entirely on cremation – have been overwhelmed by the pandemic,” said busch, who has more than 40 years of experience in the funeral industry. “not only just the number of deaths that have occurred but also in the fact that our staff and our employees have many times become infected, which puts us even farther behind with low staffing.”

this wasn’t the first time crematoriums extended hours of operation to keep up with an increased number of deaths, he said, but “nothing compared to this.”

“it was certainly a difficult time during the h1n1 pandemic,” busch said. “the covid-19 pandemic is much more.”

an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people worldwide died from the h1n1 “swine flu” pandemic in 2009, its first year of circulation, according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

in about the same time, more than 2.5 million people worldwide have died from covid-19, according to the johns hopkins university of medicine.

dove tries to escape the emissions from paradise memorial crematory by keeping her windows and doors shut – or leaving her complex. she has stopped inviting people to her home, and some of her neighbors refrain from using their patios, she said, because they never know when the “smell is going to hit.”

“we’re not unreasonable people,” dove said. “we just need a break from this once in a while. i mean, it’s just continuously going.”

crematorium emissions depend on the materials burned in the chamber, according to a 2020 canadian study, such as natural gas used to fuel incineration chambers and particulate matter and heavy metals, such as trace amounts of mercury from dental fillings.

the cdc says obesity increases likelihood for severe illness and death from covid-19, and bodies weighing more than 200 pounds generate more smoke than those weighing less, ahearne said. paradise memorial crematory processes heavier bodies in the morning and the lighter ones in the afternoon and evening to limit visible pollution.

“the size of people that are dying of covid are larger people,” he said. “weight has a lot to do with the ability to cremate somebody, and when you can cremate them. when you have a lot of heavier people, you do those first thing in the morning.”

no matter the materials burned, or the weight of the deceased, crematoriums are allowed to release smoke visible up to 20% opacity in the air, according to maricopa county air quality regulations.

the hazardous visible aerosol particles, referred to as particulate matter, that crematoriums emit is of “minimal” concern compared with the pollution caused by vehicle traffic or backyard bonfires, said philip mcneely, director of the air quality department.

the county sets crematorium emission standards and includes regulations to test for machine efficiency, times of operation and allows for 2,500 tons, or 5 million pounds, of total material to be burned within a 12-month period. all complaints are individually investigated by the department, mcneely said.

although rare, accidents and machine malfunctions do happen, ahearne said.

a power outage march 2 interrupted an active cremation at paradise memorial and sent black smoke billowing from the chimney for 5 to 10 minutes while the system shut down, ahearne said.

“that was the worst i’ve seen,” he said. “i’ve been doing this for 50 years and it was just terrible. but once it starts, there’s nothing we can do.”

system malfunctions are not unique to paradise memorial crematory and similar situations have been reported at other crematoriums in the phoenix area.

one funeral director in sun city reported a thermocouple, a sensor used to measure temperature, malfunction and told county investigators that “black smoke was visible for about 10 minutes” during a cremation, according to county records. the thermocouple was replaced and the investigation has been closed.

despite unexpected malfunctions and the increased of cremations, the accompanying emissions still have significantly less of an environmental impact on total air quality than unregulated fires that burn at lower temperatures around 600-900 degrees, said leif abrell, an associate research scientist with the arizona laboratory for emerging contaminants at the university of arizona.

burning trash or wood used in a bonfire increases “the potential for other noncarbon dioxide pollutants” to be released into the atmosphere compared to county regulated, high-temperature burning at crematoriums, abrell said.

“that’s why one person burning trash in their backyard at a low temperature can kind of obliterate a whole bunch of work that’s done by other people (operating) at high temperatures according to regulation,” he said.

although vehicle traffic and backyard fires of of greater concern for county regulators, dove and dubner are waiting for relief from both the pandemic and the smoke wafting from the crematorium chimney.

“you can’t be inside during covid,” dove said, “because you’re not supposed to be in a closed area with people, and you can’t sit outside because sooner or later the smell is going to come up.”

ahearne said the number of cremations is incrementally decreasing, and lasting relief may be on the horizon as vaccines reach more arizonans and fewer people test positive for covid-19.

“hopefully this pandemic thing will calm down and get back to kind of normal,” he said.

—

this story originally was published on cronkite news. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.