Author Karl Taro Greenfeld on Eating During Pandemics

"A nearby global fast-food franchise became the author's chosen lunchtime refuge during SARS because of its perceived sanitation and mechanized processes: chickens were inspected, slaughtered, chopped, breaded and bagged on assembly lines, delivered to the store, and deep-fried at temperatures above 350°F, while staff wore rubber gloves and masks. The author ritualized a "SARS diet" of a nine-piece Chicken McNugget and a Diet Coke, valuing the chain's consistency (noting the same taste years later) and its decision to stay open through the outbreak as a comforting, reliable constant amid uncertainty." - Amos Barshad