Connecting in the Age of Coronavirus
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(March 15, 2020) Beware the Ides of March. Perhaps Shakespeare foresaw the world in 2020. Who knows? But here we are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. And it will not be confined to one day. We’re an environment and gardening program. We can’t speak for health professionals. But perhaps we can offer a little advice about connecting in the Age of Coronavirus.
We have become aware that, for at least a few weeks, perhaps months, our mission will change a little bit. That’s because with the introduction of COVID-19, our collective world has suddenly changed.
For instance, we were planning to broadcast next week from the Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier. It has been canceled.
We have been promoting the One Earth Film Festival, scheduled to run through today. The last few days of events were scrubbed, though there are some virtual screenings through the end of today.
And today was the day that we were going to talk to folks from the Spring Symposium at the Allen Centennial Garden in Madison, Wisconsin. That event has been postponed as well. However, we’re still going to talk to a couple of people who were involved in that event. And we might learn something about these interesting times.
Benjamin Futa is executive director of the Allen Centennial Garden. He’s from from South Bend, Indiana and has a passion for connecting people to plants, and one other, through public gardens. His background is in landscape architecture and sustainability studies from Purdue University and Indiana University South Bend.
Jennifer Jewell is the owner/operator of Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden, a weekly public radio program & podcast. She explores how and why we garden and what we mean when we garden. It is listed under “philosophy” on Apple Podcasts, which tells you all you need to know.
Rebecca McMackin is Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City. Rebecca ecologically manages the flora and fauna of 85 acres of parkland habitat consisting of native woodlands, freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, and ornamental gardens.
The three of them join us on the show this morning. All of us are diving into new territory, so strap in. The ultimate answer, for the moment at least, might be to wash your hands every chance you get and to cancel everything. Stay safe, everybody.
Coronavirus and social distancing
Speaking of connecting in the age of coronavirus, I received an email from Dr. Teresa Horton today. She is Associate Professor of Research in Evolutionary and Ecological Approaches to Health and Development (E2HD) in the Department of Anthropology at the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. (Whew!)
She chairs the steering committee for the something called the Nature, Culture, and Human Health Network, which is a regional coalition of people and organizations. NCH2 Network connects people with interests in investigating and applying knowledge about the health benefits of nature to improve the health and well-being of our communities. They strive to create connections between the environmental and public health communities.
Today, Horton wrote to Peggy and me about their latest work to minimize the impact of “social distancing.”
COVID-19 is the disease caused by a novel corona virus identified in 2019. It is highly infectious. Because it is caused by a novel virus, no one has immunity to it. This is why governments all over the world are asking their citizens to practice social distancing. Social distancing creates space between people and helps slow the spread of the virus. Slowing the spread of the virus is essential to prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Although social distancing is necessary, but it can have unintended consequences, one of which is social isolation. Social isolation is the lack of social, emotional, and spiritual supports that humans need. In this time when we are being called on to create physical space among us, it is important that we maintain social and emotional connections by whatever means we can.
We also need find ways to bring joy, variety, and some physical activity to our lives. One way to do that is to get outdoors and enjoy the natural world. Buildings and programs may be closed, but gardens, forests, prairies, and shores are still open. They are places where you can go, do something different, and maintain the needed physical distance for social distancing. Additionally, research has shown that spending time outdoors in nature helps reduce stress and strengthen our immune systems. Being physically active outdoors lowers stress, sunshine promotes vitamin D production, and you will sleep better, because you have been both physically active and your circadian (internal) clock has been exposed to bright, natural light. Plus, volatile organic compounds (phytoncides) released from some plants, especially coniferous trees, may boost immunity.
Please, do what is needed to maintain the personal space and hygiene recommended by public health officials to stop the spread of the virus, but also do what is needed to maintain the mental health of friends, neighbors, and others, including yourself, in your community. Let’s be a strong community with strong social connections and let’s do it outside.
Teresa Horton joins us today to address the challenges of COVID-19.
The end to carriage horses in Chicago?
This story is not about connecting in the age of coronavirus, but there are still other issues that deserve attention. You might have seen this headline in the Chicago Tribune in the past week.
A City Council vote next week could ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of Chicago
The city’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Wednesday unanimously approved the ordinance, which would effectively take carriages off the streets by Jan. 1. The measure halts the issue of new licenses and bars operators from renewing existing licenses. The city’s 10 current carriage licenses, each of which has a $500 annual fee, would expire at the end of the year.
Or this one in Block Club Chicago.
A majority of the 334 violations issued to horse-drawn carriage operators last year were for allowing horses to work when it was too hot or too cold, [Alderman Brendan] Reilly said.
“We have given you lots of room to shape up,” Reilly said, addressing the carriage owners. “You have failed miserably.”
Or this one in the Northwest Indiana Times.
Chicago’s horse-drawn carriages may clip clop into history
If the City Council votes in favor of the ban, Chicago would join cities such as Salt Lake City and Camden, N.J., that have already banned horse-drawn carriages.
This move follows a horrific spectacle in New York City, where a12-year-old mare named Aisha collapsed in Central park and was later euthanized.
If a carriage horse ban in Chicago comes to pass this week (and it could be delayed by the coronavirus emergency), the catalyst might well be the New York City incident. Ultimately, however, it will be largely because of the work of the Chicago Alliance for Animals. The person who has been at the helm of that organization and out on the streets monitoring the horse-drawn carriage industry is Jodie Wiederkehr. Wiederkehr is campaign director for the Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA), and founder and executive director of the Center for Ethical Science (CFES).
She has been on our show a number of times and she returns today to talk about what might be the final chapter in a sad saga about animal rights in Chicago.