My first taste of coronavirus deprivation was in the produce aisle.

Published on August 11, 2020

An Unexpected Gift of Ginger

by Mary Novaria
Getty/Dmitrii Ivanov







Like serotonin for your soul, ginger root during the pandemic can be a balm for anxiety—among its many other benefits. Mary Novaria spins a yarn about how the superfood brought her relief. 
Photo credit: Getty/Dmitrii Ivanov)

Before the first COVID-19 death in the United States, and before I learned of my neighbors’ inclination for hoarding toilet paper, I got my first taste of coronavirus deprivation in the produce aisle. 

It was the end of February, two weeks before the World Health Organization proclaimed the virus a pandemic. What would soon become an international nightmare and a horrifying domestic health crisis was weeks away. I was annoyed because there was no fresh ginger root at my local grocer. 

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