Just Transition or Just Transitioning? Potentials and Limitations of Urban Growers’ Adaptations to the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic short-term shocks to global and local food supply chains. Research thus far has examined increased consumer demands, yet there is a lack of research on the impacts, adaptations, and perceptions of local growers and farmers. In this paper, we analyze 59 interviews conducted with urban growers across the DC metropolitan region to understand how local urban and suburban growers responded and adapted during 2020–2021. We use the “just transition” framework, which currently lacks empirical applications to the food system, to explore how transformations in a regional food system could further social sustainability and equity in the larger food system. We find that the growers faced a multitude of challenges in diversifying and scaling up their distribution system, as they implemented changes mostly independently without much institutional support or coordination. Growing commercially, for donation, or personal consumption resulted in different sets of challenges and adaptations. Our study demonstrates the need for more critical, empirically-driven assessments of the “just transition” theory, specifically its implementation mechanisms and processes, as the growers’ variant adaptation strategies underscore both the potential and limitations of ensuring the equitable transformation of a regional food system through grassroots efforts.