My name is Malcolm Deluca and I live in Queens, a borough of New York City. Queens is the most ethnically diverse borough in the world. There are over 800 different dialects spoken in Queens. One of the best things about living in Queens is that it is impossible to shield yourself from different human experiences. When you live in a place that is this diverse, you are constantly reminded that just because you may be financially comfortable there are often people across the street from you or a mile down who are not. The neighborhood I live in is considered to be upper middle class. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have had food pantries that have seen very long lines, surprising many of our neighbors. Because of the millions of jobs that have been lost due to Covid-19, food insecurity is no longer something you expect to see in just certain demographics.
One of the first things that helped my family get through the first few months of quarantine was my mom’s cooking. My mom is Brazilian and we grew up with some traditional dishes that have become comfort food. My mom also raises chickens in our backyard, which before Covid-19 was something she did just for her love of animals and desire to always know where our food came from. During quarantine, we understood the more practical benefits of raising your own food, when food might be scarce. Because of its incredible ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, I think there is no better place than Queens for Tristan Thakur’s project on food security.
