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COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

Publication ,  Journal Article
Calder, RSD; Grady, C; Jeuland, M; Kirchhoff, CJ; Hale, RL; Muenich, RL
Published in: Environmental Science and Technology Letters
August 10, 2021

Food, energy, and water (FEW) sectors are inextricably linked, making one sector vulnerable to disruptions in another. Interactions between FEW systems, viral pandemics, and human health have not been widely studied. We mined scientific and news/media articles for causal relations among FEW and COVID-19 variables and qualitatively characterized system dynamics. Food systems promoted the emergence and spread of COVID-19, leading to illness and death. Major supply-side breakdowns were avoided (likely due to low morbidity/mortality among working-age people). However, COVID-19 and physical distancing disrupted labor and capital inputs and stressed supply chains, while creating economic insecurity among the already vulnerable poor. This led to demand-side FEW insecurities, in turn increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 among people with many comorbidities. COVID-19 revealed trade-offs such as allocation of water to hygiene versus to food production and disease burden avoided by physical distancing versus disease burden from increased FEW insecurities. News/media articles suggest great public interest in FEW insecurities triggered by COVID-19 interventions among individuals with low COVID-19 case-fatality rates. There is virtually no quantitative analysis of any of these trade-offs or feedbacks. Enhanced quantitative FEW and health models are urgently needed as future pandemics are likely and may have greater morbidity and mortality than COVID-19.

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Published In

Environmental Science and Technology Letters

DOI

EISSN

2328-8930

Publication Date

August 10, 2021

Volume

8

Issue

8

Start / End Page

606 / 615

Related Subject Headings

  • 4105 Pollution and contamination
  • 4004 Chemical engineering
  • 1002 Environmental Biotechnology
  • 0907 Environmental Engineering
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management
 

Citation

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Calder, R. S. D., Grady, C., Jeuland, M., Kirchhoff, C. J., Hale, R. L., & Muenich, R. L. (2021). COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 8(8), 606–615. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00291
Calder, R. S. D., C. Grady, M. Jeuland, C. J. Kirchhoff, R. L. Hale, and R. L. Muenich. “COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics.” Environmental Science and Technology Letters 8, no. 8 (August 10, 2021): 606–15. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00291.
Calder RSD, Grady C, Jeuland M, Kirchhoff CJ, Hale RL, Muenich RL. COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics. Environmental Science and Technology Letters. 2021 Aug 10;8(8):606–15.
Calder, R. S. D., et al. “COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics.” Environmental Science and Technology Letters, vol. 8, no. 8, Aug. 2021, pp. 606–15. Scopus, doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00291.
Calder RSD, Grady C, Jeuland M, Kirchhoff CJ, Hale RL, Muenich RL. COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics. Environmental Science and Technology Letters. 2021 Aug 10;8(8):606–615.
Journal cover image

Published In

Environmental Science and Technology Letters

DOI

EISSN

2328-8930

Publication Date

August 10, 2021

Volume

8

Issue

8

Start / End Page

606 / 615

Related Subject Headings

  • 4105 Pollution and contamination
  • 4004 Chemical engineering
  • 1002 Environmental Biotechnology
  • 0907 Environmental Engineering
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management