During this COVID-19 pandemic, food security and safety should be one of the main focuses since, more than ever before, people want food delivered to their homes. Since the global economic lockdown, most persons who are quarantined have no intention of leaving home to buy food and contracting the novel coronavirus. The worst case scenario would be having contaminated food delivered to your doorsteps which give you a food-borne illness that is worse than COVID-19. Farmers all over the world have put in more work to make food available in their country since importation of food has been reduced. Persons who are currently working from home have more time available to tend to their backyard garden, start a crop farm or simply raise livestock. This is also an avenue for entrepreneurial opportunity since the main needs of people in this pandemic are food, water, and shelter. The opportunities for entrepreneurs are in the areas of farm businesses, water businesses and real estate businesses.
The Medical Laboratory has a lot to contribute to the area of food safety especially as it pertains to food microbiology and food biochemistry. It is always important for farmers to have an understanding of how food impacts humans both positively (biochemistry) and negatively (microbiology). Biochemistry highlights the nutritional value of food such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc. while Microbiology highlights the possibility of pathogens in food which can cause disease. That is a simple way of how the Medical Laboratory has an impact on the farming and food industry. Pasteurization is a process used by some food companies to kill any possible pathogens that might be in food products such as milk or eggs. Salmonella is one pathogen that is the frequent cause of food-borne illness. Farming is one entrepreneurial path that Medical Technologists can take post COVID-19.
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