*This is part of our series on the nexus between COVID-19 and food systems.
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| Hibiscus tea and soup at La Khaima |
A few days ago, I spent two
hours on the phone with a friend in Shanghai, China discussing the zero covid
policy and how it affected his economic situation and his physical as well as mental
health. We also discussed the implication on the global value chain now that
China is gradually returning to normal. The two-hours conversation reminded me
of a pending writeup based on a documentation I did in December 2021. Please
get a cup of organic tea, a bowl of ogi (eko), or a warm cup of rooibos tisane
as you peruse the journey below:
On Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, I
arrived at the Guelph train station enroute to Montreal. At this point in time,
passengers are expected to provide hard copy or digital proof of vaccination.
Before boarding, the QR Code on our proof of vaccination and boarding pass were
scanned for all the passengers. After a brief stop at the Union Station in
Toronto to change trains, I arrived in Montreal and was able to check in to my
hotel just after 9 pm. On my way to the hotel, I was informed that restaurants
and bars were closed which later turned out to be a misinterpretation of the
government’s announcement. At the hotel, the staff on duty indicated that
because of COVID there would be no room service including housekeeping. I
discovered that there were also no room hand sanitizers. Guests were expected
to use a general sanitizer by the elevator. Furthermore, the hotel stopped
complimentary bottled water and there was no breakfast which had been part of
their service in 2018. Services have deteriorated significantly within three years,
and this is not entirely due to the pandemic.
I woke up the next day, Tuesday,
Dec 21, 2021, mentally ready to document the challenges faced by the food systems
in Montreal under the prevailing pandemic. Since there was no more breakfast by
the hotel, I had to visit Cora, a Canadian franchise for breakfast and lunch.
At the place, my proof of vaccination was also scanned before I was allowed
into the restaurant. All other regular restrictions expected in a restaurant
were also observed in the restaurant. A state of emergency was later declared
by the Quebec Government because of the increasing cases of COVID-19 even though
while passing through the streets of Montreal, the impact of the state of
emergency was not necessarily apparent.
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| Breakfast at Cora, Montreal |
Day three, Wednesday Dec 22,
2021. I started the day again with a Cora breakfast. Within less than my
breakfast hour, ten people were in the restaurant. Thus, the state of emergency
notwithstanding, some people were still willing to eat out. After my breakfast
I called La Khaima to book a space to experience Mauritania/Morocco cuisines.
Although the owner was not sure whether they would be open, people seemed not
to understand the state of emergency implications. After a brief discussion I
was able to get space for 5 pm. I decided to explore Montreal’s streets before
my dinner at La Khaima. My exploration led to more than an hour stop at a
specialty café, Café Olimpico, that is less than 200 metres to my destination.
People are social beings, and the café was a solace for people longing for
social interaction in a safe space. In this space familiarity trumped having a vaccine
passport. The space is trendy, cozy, homely and classy and the customers are
likely middle and upper class – those who could afford a latte for
more than $5. It is generally a white space though I met a young Congolese lady
studying law at a Montreal university. An indication that white is not
necessarily based on color, there is a possibility of color privilege based on
education. Did spaces become more class and race concentrated because of the
pandemic? The francophone lady wanted to be seen but she didn’t want to say she
is African. I am from here she said when I asked her country of origin.
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| Cafe Olimpico |
The music playing was very
soothing to the extent that I forgot that the pandemic was still around. Clover,
a Cloud based point of sale platform, was the payment system used at the Olimpico
café. People in this space seemed not to be bothered by, OMICRON, the strain of
COVID-19 creating havoc that time. Most of the people were working on their
laptops as seen in cafes such as Balzac’s coffee roasters and Starbucks. This
space was where I discovered that media can be a source of misinformation. I
totally forgot about the pandemic until I reached my hotel room and started
watching scary news updates on television. My takeaway from Olimpico was that restriction
may not go well with people even though OMICRON was then a challenge.
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| Cake and latte at Olimpico |
Before returning to my room, I
walked for around 10 minutes from Olimpico café to La Khaima, entering the
restaurant at 5:01 pm for my dinner. The cuisine for the night was Soup –
Lentil soup with turmeric and ginger and a three-course meal. 1st –
chicken with olives; 2nd – Beef with dates; 3rd – Mixed
vegetables with chickpeas + couscous. The mixed vegetables were a blend of olive,
okra, cabbage, carrot, chickpeas. The restaurant was designed in such a way that you felt you were in a desert tent. The air was filled with the aroma
of the cuisines from the Sahel and different music from Africa. The dinner
started with an appetiser, a hot hibiscus tea, served in a traditional kettle
to keep the drink warm. The owner took his time to educate me about the
cuisines and that the palatability of couscous is a function of the sauce. And
that slow cooking improves the taste and spreads the ingredients evenly. The
evening was pleasant and 30 people were at the restaurant while I was there.
The shock was that I was the only person of African descent in the restaurant
during my stay. Until today I still wonder why there were more non-Africans in a
restaurant serving African cuisines. Could it be the price? I observed the same
scenario in a Moroccan restaurant, The Sultan’s Tent and Café Maroc, in Toronto,
six years ago. Food is already globalized but it may become exclusive for
people of a certain class and/or education.
After my documentation, I returned
to Guelph on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. I left Montreal with the first train at
6.11 am, arrived in Ottawa at 9.30 am due to a delay as a result of cargo freight
obstruction on the rail. The stopover in Ottawa was to have a brief meeting
with friends and deliver their Christmas packs. I left Ottawa at 3.33 pm, arriving
at the Toronto Union station before 9 pm and took the 9.34 pm Go train to Guelph
(Metrolinx has improved rail connectivity to include cities outside the Greater
Toronto Area up to Kitchener).
This journey and other research
experience during the pandemic indicate that inequality has deepened, exclusion
is more prevalent, food shortages have increased and at times quality is
compromised. Furthermore, socialization was significantly curtailed, and income
was reduced because of layoffs and reduced hours. I hope we will be able to
manage random events better in the future.
Bamidele Adekunle|IRG &
ECVOntario|SEDRD|University of Guelph.