COVID-19 crisis interlinkage with past pandemics and their effects on food security.

BACKGROUND: Pandemics as health and humanitarian crises have exerted traceable impacts on food security. Almost all past and current pandemics have created a food crisis that affects a share of the global population and threaten global food security. With the more frequent outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases or pandemics, this paper looks at the various types of impacts from the current coronavirus crisis and past pandemics to identify their major impact on food security. SCOPE: To this effect, key strategies that could be put in place to ensure the efficient resilience of food systems before, during, and after the pandemics to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemics on global food security are recommended. The most recent effects of the current coronavirus crisis have been disruptions in the flow of farm labourers and inefficient farm operations leading to postharvest food losses. KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Modification of diets between social groups has also been observed. Future response orientations to prevent and mitigate the effects of pandemics on food security will consider pro-active and adapted policy, program, and institutional actions towards the systemic development of global food systems as an interconnected network.

AI dietician: Unveiling the accuracy of ChatGPT's nutritional estimations.

We investigate the accuracy and reliability of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence model developed by OpenAI, in providing nutritional information for dietary planning and weight management. The results have a reasonable level of accuracy, with energy values having the highest level of conformity: 97% of the artificial intelligence values fall within a 40% difference from United States Department of Agriculture data. Additionally, ChatGPT displayed consistency in its provision of nutritional data, as indicated by relatively low coefficient of variation values for each nutrient. The artificial intelligence model also proved efficient in generating a daily meal plan within a specified caloric limit, with all the meals falling within a 30% bound of the United States Department of Agriculture's caloric values. These findings suggest that ChatGPT can provide reasonably accurate and consistent nutritional information. Further research is recommended to assess the model's performance across a broader range of foods and meals..

Current coronavirus crisis and past pandemics - What can happen in post-COVID-19 agriculture?

Currently, there is an alarming increase in food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries throughout the world. This will be seen particularly in the countries of the Global South (developing countries). Many countries are trying to show efforts to keep agriculture, food industry and markets running, the supply chains and access to the markets and affordable food is still not secured. Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are going to/or already have affected the poor and other marginalised groups, mainly those with less purchasing power. It is necessary to mitigate the pandemic's impacts across the food system, enhance the resilience of food systems and avoid any potential food shortages. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of past pandemics and tries to synthesise the main lessons learned from these while also outlining visions of post-COVID-19 agriculture and the effects on food security.