Food Equity, COVID-19 and the Future of Public Health with Expert Smriti Kirubanandan

In this episode Healthcare Strategist and Public Health Expert, Smriti Kirubanandan discusses food inequity, disinformation, Covid-19 and the future of public health with TCS futurist Kevin Benedict.

Covid-19 impacted all of us, while at the same time it highlighted the inequities in our communities. Food inequity, resulting from limited access to affordable healthy foods is a serious problem in many zip codes. Often zip codes that include lower income communities have less access to many important services including affordable and healthy foods, good education, quality healthcare services, broadband internet, and many other important community services.

When communities were hit with Covid-19, many zip codes that struggle with food inequities, that often results in higher levels of pre-existing conditions, had poorer outcomes and higher levels of hospitalization and deaths. Covid-19 revealed our public health challenges and our inequities with an intense spotlight.

Smriti has dedicated her career to educating our communities and leaders on these issues and finding ways to improve outcomes that enable people to live with dignity. The interview concludes with a look at how we can reduce inequities and improve lives now and in the future.

To learn more about TCS’s efforts to address food security, access to healthcare, COVID-19 and more, download our Digital Empowers report, “Technology as a Catalyst for Empowering Communities."

About the Reimagining the Future Series:
The Future of Business The Reimagining the Future Series, produced by the Future of Business team, helps our clients and partners see the combinatorial effects of science, technology, digital forces, and societal factors that are rapidly shaping our emerging future. The series provides inspiration, strategic ideas, actionable thought leadership, and guidance to better understand the transformational journey and its implications to help business leaders reimagine and position their organizations for the future.

About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 50 years. TCS offers a consulting-led, cognitive powered, integrated portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions. This is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 592,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 46 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $25.7 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, and is listed on the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. TCS' proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit www.tcs.com