Researchers from multiple institutions are hosting a free webinar about the impact of COVID-19 on food and agricultural systems. The session is aimed at anyone who is engaged in the food supply chain at any level. It is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST, Jan. 28.

This hour-long webinar is part of the “Lessons from COVID-19: Positioning Regional Food Supply Chains for Future Pandemics, Natural Disasters and Human-made Crises” project. The project receives funding through a new program area of the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative targeting rapid response solutions to the pandemic through applied research, education and extension activities.

The webinar will be led by Hikaru Peterson, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota. Cheryl Boyer, Kansas State University; Gustavo Oliveira, Li Zhan, University of California-Irvine; Lauri Baker, Christa Court, Angie Lindsey, University of Florida; and Michelle Miller, Andrew Stevens, Linsey Day Farnsworth, University of Wisconsin-Madison all serve as collaborators on the project and webinar.

The webinar will include a brief introduction of team members, a holistic project overview, survey tools used and example questions from the first survey, preliminary data from an environmental scan of available resources and insights from prior assessments of the impacts of COVID-19 on the Florida food system.

Webinar participants will also learn how they, along with their stakeholders, can participate in research through upcoming questionnaires. This webinar will be the first of four within this grant project.