HCP’s Taiyang Zhong publishes paper in the journal Land with Jonathan Crush on online food purchasing in China. It examines the relationship between the rapid growth of online food purchasing and household food security during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The study demonstrated that online food purchase was especially important to certain households, including, somewhat paradoxically, those that were more food insecure. It mainly played a role in reducing the decline in food intake caused by wet market closures and mobility restrictions, but the e-commerce platforms experienced problems in delivering a sufficient variety of food, containing rising food prices, and expanding delivery.
The paper is included in the Special Issue on “Impacts of COVID-19 on Urban Food Security” edited by Jonathan Crush, Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango and Jeremy Wagner. The Special Issue is accepting new submissions until December 31, 2022.