Springtime, 2022. Covid-19 cases are thought to be declining, and government-mandated safety measures easing up. For many Canadians, a sentiment I often hear seems to capture an optimistic sense that we are all returning to normal.
None were spared. Men, women, and children sickened, took the disease and died in agony by hundreds, so that when the spring arrived and fresh food was procurable, there was scarcely a person left of all their numbers to get it. – an unidentified Squamish person describing 1770s smallpox epidemics.
Covid-19 upended our world. Almost every aspect of our lives was changed. The food system was plunged into chaos, offering uncertainty for many, acute danger for some.