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New York City COVID-19 Food Studies Web Collection

Call Number

MSS.607

Date

September 2020-ongoing

Creator

James Beard Foundation
Soul Fire Farm
Village Alliance (New York, N.Y.)
The Street Vendor Project
New York University
Minetta Creek Collective
Kumar, Thiru
Black Feminist Project
Black Chef Movement
Bentley, Amy, 1962-
32BJ Service Employees International Union
Tsai, Moonlynn

Extent

57 websites
in 57 archived websites.

Language of Materials

Websites are in English and some Spanish and Chinese.

Abstract

New York City COVID-19 Food Studies Web Collection is made of archived websites that detail the impact on COVID-19 on food communities in New York City and at New York University, beginning in 2020.

Historical Note

In March 2020, non-essential businesses throughout New York City closed in an effort to contain COVID-19, a respiratory virus that first identified in December 2019. The virus and the closures disproportionally affected systematically excluded groups, such as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, Asian American Pacific Islander, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Restaurants and other public venues were closed to indoor dining and could only offer delivery and take-out; later many closed permanently. Chinatown restaurants were harshly affected, not only due to closures, but due to an increase in anti-Asian racism and xenophobia. Street vendors also suffered, due to lack of commuters and minimal protections. Early in the pandemic, restaurants also provided free meals to essential workers and other food workers changed their business models to remain in business. In late March 2020, Congress passed the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) which, in addition to other government assistance, helped keep restaurants and small businesses open.

Closures also led to unemployment, which increased the need for food aid programs. Both governmental and mutual aid food programs sprung up to assist food insecurity, especially for children who depended on school meals and Black, Lantine, and immigrant communities whose food insecurity was excerabated by the pandemic. The NYU community also provided courtesy meal programs for food insecure students and quarantining and isolating students.

Summer 2020 also led to the expansion of outdoor dining as part of the New York City reopening program. Indoor dining returned in August 2020, which led to debate between the financial needs of businesses and minimizing the spread of COVID-19. In 2022, vaccine requirements led to conflict between diners and restaurants. As of this writing in June 2022, the pandemic is still an active part of life.

Arrangement

Websites are arranged alphabetically by creator.

Scope and Contents

New York City COVID-19 Food Studies Web Collection is made of archived websites that detail the impact on COVID-19 on food communities in New York City. It documents the effects of the pandemic on New York University's campuses and their surrounding food communities, their shifts in cultural, economic, and social practices around the city, and their organizing and response efforts, with an intentional focus on Black and Indigenous People of Color, Asian American Pacific Islander, and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Food communities documented in the collection consist of food workers, farms and their workers, food non-profits, food vendors, farmers' markets, private and community gardens, alternative food sources, mutual aid networks, community refrigerators and food pantries, restaurants, and soup kitchens. The collection focuses on issues of food justice and food scarcity through a lens of race and class. within NYU's staff and students and in the greater New York City community.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; New York City COVID-19 Food Studies Web Collection; MSS 607; Wayback URL; Fales Library, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Websites were selected by curators Jasmine Sykes-Kunk, Janet Bunde, Michael Koncewicz, Shannon O'Neill, Nicholas Martin and web archivist Nicole Greenhouse through the use of Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. The accession numbers associated with these websites are 2021.034, 2021.035, 2021.036, 2021.037, 2022.030, 2022.042, 2023.062, 2024.048, and 2025.003.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to technical or privacy issues, archived websites may not be exact copies of the original website at the time of the web crawl. Certain file types will not be captured dependent on how they are embedded in the site. Other parts of websites that the crawler has difficulty capturing includes Javascript, streaming content, database-driven content, and highly interactive content. Full-Text searches of archived websites are available at https://archive-it.org/organizations/567.

Facebook was inconsistently captured due to crawling technology limitations.

Google Drive documents were captured but do not playback.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Appraisal

Robots.txt (a piece of code designed to limit crawler activity within a website) was ignored. Unless noted, the collection was rescoped to allow for Google documents and videos embedded in the website.

Collection processed by

Nicole Greenhouse

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-29 16:10:07 UTC.
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

In September 2020, curators Jasmine Sykes-Kunk, Janet Bunde, Michael Koncewicz, Shannon O'Neill, and Nicholas Martin selected websites on New York City arts response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The collection was maintained by Nicole Greenhouse. Maintenance of the collection consisted of rescoping due to missing captured content, redirects and content drift, missing embedded materials (such as videos or attached Google documents and pdfs), and other materials created by selected entities that is related to the pandemic. The finding aid was created in Spring 2022 and description was standardized across the collection.

Revisions to this Guide

January 2025: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse to add additional archived websites and updated administrative information

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections

View Inventory

32BJ Service Employees International Union

Creator

32BJ Service Employees International Union

Scope and Contents

My Fast Food Story website includes photographs, a blog with worker testimonies, a video on Just Cause Laws, the campaign's Twitter feed, and ongoing campaign updates in the form of a news section. The website also includes a section that focuses on Chipotle and their history of worker abuses.

Historical Note

My Fast Food Story is a website from 32BJ Service Employees International Union that collects stories from workers across the fast food industry in New York City.

Food and COVID-19 NYC Digital Archive and Collection

Creator

Bentley, Amy, 1962-

Scope and Contents

The site captures the landscape of food topically as well as chronologically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics covered include food insecurity, restaurants, shopping, food stockpiling, grocery trends, Chinatown, and at home "feeding". The project also provides links to other collections and related articles.

Historical Note

The Food and COVID-19 NYC Digital Archive is a curated digital collection of materials, photos, personal narratives, menus, media articles and more, began in the spring of 2020 as a NYU food studies graduate seminar class project, and evolved into a space capturing the food experiences of New Yorkers as they navigated the traumas of the COVID-19 pandemic through 2020 and into the spring of 2021. While the ongoing pandemic will affect NYC food for years, this archive documents a full year, from March 2020 through March 2021.

Black Chef Movement

Creator

Black Chef Movement

Scope and Contents

The Black Chef Movement website provides links to ways that individuals can participate in their work through volunteering or donations, and it links to the Black Chef Movement's social media which documents their daily activity. The Black Chef Movement's website includes a calendar that indicates when and where they will be offering free food to on-the-ground activists, movement workers, or anyone in need of a meal.

The Facebook page of the Black Chef Movement documents the daily activities of the organization, including when and where they will be set up to feed on-the-ground activists, movement workers, and anyone in need of a meal. It is also where the organization makes calls for volunteer support and where they document via photos and video their actions. The Facebook also highlights Black chefs who are participating in the movement through the use of profiles.

Historical Note

The Black Chef Movement is a network of Black and brown chefs that work to fight food injustice in urban communities through the preparation and distribution of meals to those in need of mutual aid.

Black Feminist Project

Creator

Black Feminist Project

Historical Note

"The Black Feminist Project enriches the lives of, restores agency, justice, joy, and health to Black Womxn, girls, and non-men, often referred to as marginalized genders or MaGes and the children they care for - with an emphasis on mother-led families." The Black Feminist Project operates several ongoing projects including the Black Joy Farm, a "radical food growing green space in the South Bronx;" a food pantry program, a dinner series, and fundraising campaigns.

James Beard Foundation

Creator

James Beard Foundation

Scope and Contents

As response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the James Beard Foundation created resources and the Chef Advocacy Toolkit available to restaurant owners and operators.

NY Dosa

Creator

Kumar, Thiru

Historical Note

The Twitter/X feed for the NY Dosa cart, ran by Thiru Kumar, in Washington Square Park.

Minetta Creek Collective

Creator

Minetta Creek Collective

Historical Note

Minetta Creek Collective organization seeks to connect members of the Washington Square Park community with free food, classes, and events, and runs a free farmstand on Wednesdays.

Food Security at NYU

Creator

Murphy, Bridget
Parekh, Niyati

Scope and Contents

This article details research conducted by affiliates of the Institute of Human Development and Social Change at Steinhardt.

Food Insecurity Resources

Creator

New York University

Scope and Contents

Resources at New York University and beyond, collated by the Department of History, offering resources for NYU students experiencing food insecurity.

Creative Kitchen: Recipes for Families to Fuel Their Body and Mind

Creator

New York University

Historical Note

This cookbook represents a collaboration between students in the Department of Art and Art Professions and the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. The cookbook, which is intended to provide healthy, low-cost recipes and art activities to bring families together, was distributed to NYC public schools in 2020.

NYU Courtesy Meals

Creator

New York University

Scope and Contents

This page describes the courtesy meal program for students experiencing food insecurity at NYU.

NYU Eats

Creator

New York University

Scope and Contents

NYU Eats page describes dining options available to NYU students on campus. This page includes social media content from NYU Eats.

Soul Fire Farm

Creator

Soul Fire Farm

Scope and Contents

The Soul Fire website acts as a place where the collective shares resources, programming, their book Farming While Black, and more to introduce visitors to the work that they do. It includes videos, linked Google Docs, and an online newsletter. The Soul Fire Farm Twitter/X feeds documents Soul Fire's daily activities and connections with various food justice communities. It regularly addresses issues of food scarcity, white supremacy and racism in foodways and food systems, labor issues for farmworkers, and food sovereignty. The Soul Fire Farm Youtube Channel contains videos from their Liberation on Land series and other videos from the Farm.

Historical Note

Soul Fire Farm, established in 2010, is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system.

The Street Vendor Project

Creator

The Street Vendor Project

Scope and Contents

This website documents the work of the Street Vendor project, inclusive of their ongoing campaigns, reports they've produced detailing the conditions of street vendors' works and lives, and their annual award (the Vendys), and a semi-regularly updated blog which provides more narrative and analysis.

The Twitter/X feeds for the Street Vendor Project provides more regular updates on their day-to-day work, their solidarity with other service industry workers, the work and condition of street vendors during the global pandemic crisis, and actions of street vendors to support individuals facing food scarcity during COVID-19.

Historical Note

The Street Vendor Project is a membership-based organization that works to build community and power for street vendors through legal representation, small business training, and legislative advocacy.

Heart of Dinner

Creator

Tsai, Moonlynn

Scope and Contents

This website documents the efforts of Heart of Dinner, an organization cofounded by Ying Chang and Moonlyn Tsai. The website includes a short video documentary, photos of community members, calls to action including requests to support the organization's GoFundMe and requests for individuals to send notes and decorate bags for community members.

Historical Note

Heart of Dinner is an extension of #LOVINGCHINATOWN, launched by Chang and Tsai in response to COVID-19 "to counter the racism and isolation the Asian-American immigrant elderly have been experiencing throughout the pandemic." Heart of Dinner works with restaurant partners to provide meals and care packages to communities members facing food scarcity and isolation as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Village Alliance List of All Businesses and Operating Status

Creator

Village Alliance (New York, N.Y.)

Scope and Contents

This Google sheet lists Greenwich Village businesses that are operating, along with a list of links to their websites.

Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012