The Intelligence Brief is our weekly compendium of food and drink news sourced from outlets all over the world, including right here at home.

Hey, folks. Our nation-wide fight against the Covid-19 pandemic continues without let up this week. Provincial numbers continue to show promise and indicate that social distancing is helping to “bend the curve.” Keep it up! In the meantime, we continue to cover how the outbreak is impacting the hospitality industry both locally and abroad…

Several local restaurants have been finding ways to support the community through these challenging times. For example, six chefs joined forces to deliver soup to isolated residents. Also, the folks at Say Mercy and Dachi are preparing daily staff meals. (Every purchase includes a $2 donation to the food bank; they’re also offering donated meals to those in need). Further, here’s a list of restaurants that are offering free meals to frontline workers and first responders.

Meanwhile, in the US, restaurants are finding hope as small and large charity organizations purchase meals to be donated to hospitals to feed medical staff testing for and treating the virus.

As restaurants continue to face unprecedented challenges through this pandemic, a few are selling off prized bottles of wine to try to stay afloat.

Food and Wine’s Vinny Eng calls on our collective empathy to protect and care for restaurant workers through trying these trying times.

“We must act swiftly to protect workers, especially those closest to harm and unable to ride out the storm. We have gone too long undervaluing the emotional and communal labor that makes growing, supplying, and eating food possible. These industries rely prominently on the labor of immigrants (many of them undocumented), women, and communities of color. Many of those workers are now not only lacking in wages, but also healthcare because coverage is tied to employment.”

A very helpful guide from the folks at Vox on how to grocery shop safely during the Covid-19 outbreak.

If you are a restaurant worker, the folks at Eater would like to hear about how the pandemic has affected you.

The folks at Liquor.com have compiled a list of all the amazing ways bartenders are supporting one another through these chaotic times.

A must-read article from The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner on the sneaky tactics of large food delivery apps that are using the pandemic as a way to boost profits.

“If you are ordering delivery while in quarantine (despite ongoing wrestling with all of these questions, I so far still am), the simplest way to insure that restaurants are getting as much money as they can, at a time when they desperately need all they can get, is to eliminate the middleman entirely. Don’t use DoorDash or Caviar or Postmates or Uber Eats or Grubhub or Seamless or Delivery.com or Waitr: just pick up the phone and call the restaurants directly.”

Perhaps the issues identified by Rosner would be solved if Vancouver had its very own food delivery app.

If you need a bit of a pick-me-up this week, try checking out celebrity cooking videos to boost the spirits.

You may also want to check out some of these virtual tours offered by select distilleries, breweries and wineries around the world.

The New York Times publishes a photo essay the records the countless emotional signs left on closed storefronts around NYC.

The list of local restaurants offering takeout and delivery options is ever-growing. Check-out the full list here for the most up-to-date options.

Hometown hero Ryan Reynolds donates $10k to the Canadian Professional Bartender’s Association with an additional promise of 30% of sales on all bottles of Aviation Gin sold in April going to support bartenders affected by Covid-19.

The local food scene mourns the sudden loss of local food legend Nathan Fong.

A reminder that there are still substantial ways you can help the hospitality community through this crisis. These are people that can’t work from home. They are hourly wage earners who often have fewer extended benefits and paid sick time. If you’re looking for ways for ways to support our local hospitality industry and employees:

– Purchase gift cards to use at a later date.

– Order food for pick-up or for delivery (keeping social distance during pick-up).

– Make sure to tip your delivery person well (in many ways, they are on the front lines).

– Support your local food bank. This pandemic is increasing the number of people facing food insecurity. They ask that you prioritize financial donations over food so as these can be made online.

– Engage with local restaurants, bars and cafes on social media. Share photos and leave words of encouragement and support.

– If you do need to go grocery shopping, consider supporting a local small business (they’re also often less busy than the larger grocery stores and have more supplies in stock).

– Buy restaurant/bar merchandise online if available (ie: t-shirts, hats, tote bags). Helen Rosner has compiled a list of great F&B merch on her IG Stories.

– If you have private events booked at any local bars/restaurants, consider postponing rather than canceling.

– Check in with your friends who are bartenders, servers, dishwashers, cooks, etc. and ask them how you can best support them through this.

Above all, hang in there!