Guerrero, Mexico

Luis Ángel Sánchez molds dough at a bakery in Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Guerrero, Mexico. Like many bakers in the region, Sánchez and his colleagues make bread by hand.

Roberto López climbs a palm tree to retrieve coconuts in San Francisco in Nayarit, Mexico. López explains that coconut palms, which take around 10 years to produce fruit, are the only trees with a fruit that provides both water and food.

María Judith Olivera prepares sugarcane guarapo, a sweet juice she sells to people visiting Calle Norzagaray in the historic district of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Olivera, who harvests the sugarcane herself, learned how to make guarapo from her family.

Kirumba, DRC

From left , Everine Kavugho, Kavira Kibwana, Marigeritte Rembeka and Kyakimwe Hangi prepare beans for a pre-wedding ceremony in the Kikimba district of Kirumba, Democratic Republic of Congo. Fried beans are a popular food at ceremonies in the region.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Sani Pariyar, 17, chops chicken at a shop in Jorpati, a neighborhood in Kathmandu, Nepal. Customers flock to the shop because they only sell local chicken, which they display out front. He says people consume the chicken mostly during festivals and on Saturdays.

Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Axel Cervantes, 11, prepares his favorite meal – sausages with potatoes, tomatoes and chipotle peppers – at his home in Puebla, Mexico. Axel learned to cook during the pandemic, when his mother had to take an afternoon shift at her job. “I used to be scared to light the stove, and I didn’t know how to use the blender,” he says. “Now I know how to make the meals I like, and I think they turn out really well.”

Nsumbi, Wakiso District, Uganda

Nambooze Vanesa, 5, blows on the fire that he and Semuguuma Shaban, 5, are using to prepare a dish known as tokotoko in Nsumbi village, in Uganda’s Wakiso district. Tokotoko is sometimes used as a game to teach children how to cook.

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Manuel Gómez works every night selling tacos, hamburgers, hot dogs, quesadillas and other items from his mobile cart on Avenida Chapultepec, a major road in Guadalajara, Mexico. He says sales have been down between 70% and 80% over the last two months, leaving him more worried about the economic situation than about the coronavirus.

Nansana Kabumbi, Wakiso District, Uganda

Joel Kamanzi, right, and Mukasa Arnold cut sugar cane to snack on in Nansana Kabumbi, a town in Uganda’s Wakiso district. The duo used to work for shops around town, but with nonessential businesses closed due to the spread of the coronavirus, they are now unemployed. Sugar cane is a cheap lunch and has enough sugars to keep them energized for the rest of the day.

Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico

Erika Martínez and Silverio Arango make bread to sell at the Mercado Alternativo Artesanal in Mazunte, a town in Mexico’s Oaxaca state. “The recipe is the same one we’ve been using since we started almost six years ago,” Arango says. “Except that we improved it by using sourdough instead of yeast.”

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico

César Aceves makes chiles en nogada at his restaurant, Mesón de la Cofradía, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico. The dish, which features stuffed poblano chiles and a walnut sauce, is offered during August and September because that’s when the ingredients are available.

San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca, Mexico

Rosa Martínez, 45, sells fish on the streets of San Pedro Pochutla, a city in Mexico’s Oaxaca state. “We are selling less than normal,” says Martínez, a single mother. “Before, I used to come every day. Now I come to sell every other day, but I have to come and sell, so I can take care of my children.”

Erdenet, Orkhon Province, Mongolia

Erdenetsogt Davaajav cooks mutton shashlik, a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, during Naadam, a national festival in Mongolia. During the festival, people visit the Central Stadium in Erdenet, a city in northern Mongolia, to watch wrestling, archery, anklebone shooting and horse racing. People also enjoy traditional foods, such as shashlik, airag (fermented mare’s milk) and khuushuur (a meat pastry or dumpling).

Mexico City, Mexico

Ángel Nájera Herrera sells sweet bread from a cart in San Jerónimo, a neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico. Nájera Herrera, 22, has sold bread, coffee and sandwiches from his cart for four years. He says his business has dropped off in recent weeks: On this day, he says, he only sold two coffees instead of the 40 or 50 he would usually sell before. The bread, however, is still popular.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Sharellie Vega passes ice cream to Juan Rivera, in black face mask, and Estefanie Figueras at Heladería Georgetti, an ice cream shop in Río Piedras, a neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Until recently, customers couldn’t enter the shop due to the coronavirus, but the business stayed open by using a side gate as a service window.

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

Lemanuel Colón ties a lure to his fishing pole on Playa Bramadero, a beach in Mayagüez county, Puerto Rico. Colón says that because his class and work were canceled as a result of the coronavirus, he’s decided to learn something new with his friend, Josecarlo Rivera. “It’s our first time trying to fish, to learn something different,” Colón says. “We’re helping each other, giving each other a hand.”

Tecámac, Mexico

Alma Soto stands in front of Tacos Lupe in Tecámac, in the State of Mexico. To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the taqueria has stopped allowing dine-in customers, made customers apply antibacterial gel at the entrance and required face masks. The shop also placed markers to indicate where people should wait for their orders, so they won’t stand too close together.

Kyadondo, Wakiso District, Uganda

Yassin Kakooza, 21, fries tilapia in a mix of cassava flour at his stall in Kyadondo, a county in Uganda’s Wakiso district. He says that this method preserves the flavor and removes the smell of burnt oil, making the fish more appealing to customers and increasing his sales.

Jinja, Uganda

Weriike Sam, 37 (white shirt), and Agwole Jeremiah, 13 (blue shirt), pluck feathers from a duck that they plan to cook for lunch in Jinja, Uganda, as neighborhood children look on excitedly.

Rusape, Zimbabwe

Lizzie Magadzire cooks sadza for a traditional marriage ceremony in Tandi, a village in Rusape, Zimbabwe.

Humacao, Puerto Rico

Eddie Cruz Rodríguez, 59, has been selling “granos,” a fried dish made of ground rice, water, salt, oil and a small piece of cheese, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, for the last 42 years. He inherited the business from his parents, Bartola Rodríguez Santana and Fausto Cruz, who founded a granos factory in 1950.

Mexico City, Mexico

Miguel Ángel Xochicale chops vegetables for salsa early in the morning at a taco stand in Colonia Albert, Mexico City. The taco stand is open 24 hours a day and is located outside the Portales metro stop, which keeps customers coming at all hours.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Lora Elmise prepares peanuts to be processed into peanut butter in a winnowing basket, or laye in Haitian Creole, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Kashi Shah cleans and cuts a rohu fish from the Koshi River for customers at his shop in Dhumbarai, a neighborhood in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shah says his customers prefer this local fish, in addition to carp and jalkapur. He purchases them from a nearby vegetable market.