The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries

Nemes, Gusztáv; Chiffoleau, Yuna; Zollet, Simona; Collison, Martin; Benedek, Zsófia; Colantuono, Fedele; Dulsrud, Arne; Fiore, Mariantonietta; Holtkamp, Carolin; Kim, Tae Yeon; Korzun, Monika; Manzano, Rafael Mesa; Reckinger, Rachel; Ruiz-Martinez, Irune; Smith, Kiah; Tamura, Norie; Viteri, María Laura; Orbán, Éva

doi:10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.022

Cited by 84 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…For many years, debates around local food systems in the Global North have been preoccupied with the ways in which even the most well‐intended initiatives end up supporting exclusions and injustices of neoliberal food systems (Goodman et al, 2012), while those centred on the Global South have been preoccupied with the capacity of local food systems to meet nutritional and economic needs of farmers. New empirical data from across the world has shown, however, that during the COVID‐19 pandemic local food systems contributed to food system resilience in a number of ways, including maintaining access to food during disruptions to mainstream food chains, and directly addressing food injustice and insecurity which the pandemic exacerbated (Béné et al, 2021; Dombroski et al, 2020; Nemes et al, 2021; Paganini et al, 2020; Zollet et al, 2021). As a result, across geographies, scholars are speaking up about the place of local food systems in transformative resilience of the food system as a whole (Altieri & Nicholls, 2020; Clapp & Moseley, 2020).…”

Section: Conclusion: Local Food Systems and Transformative Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Jones

Krzywoszynska

Maye

2022

Geographical Journal

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How to ensure resilience of food systems is a key concern in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Notably, there is a renewed interest in the role of local food systems from policy, academic, and third‐sector actors, who see those systems as a source of “bounce‐back” resilience, supporting existing structures, but also as sources of “bounce‐forward” transformative resilience. Both perspectives move debates around local food systems beyond the dominant focus on social exclusion (defensive localism). The capacity of the local food sector to provide either form of resilience depends on the resilience of the local food actors themselves, which has been little investigated to date. This paper addresses this important gap in scholarship through an investigation of the “bounce‐back” and the “bounce‐forward” resilience of local food actors in the UK during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We advance resilience scholarship by developing an analytical framework which combines attention to resilience characteristics (“what is there”) and to the systemic forces that enable and constrain their development (“how things work”). Attention to social capital, we argue, is crucial to understanding transformative resilience. We present rich qualitative data to illustrate the multi‐faceted impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on local food system actors in the UK. This is complemented with a review of relevant policy and third‐sector publications which contextualise local food system efforts. We conclude that while strong bonding and bridging capitals support the local food sector's persistence and adaptability, a lack of linking social capital, most visible as a “middle‐class image problem,” is preventing it from achieving a transformative role. We argue that the local food sector needs to form alliances which would move it beyond a single‐issue topic, and articulate local food as part of place‐centred community resilience strategies that foster social capacities.

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Section: Conclusion: Local Food Systems and Transformative Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Jones

Krzywoszynska

Maye

2022

Geographical Journal

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“…While these supports should remain in place as necessary, further attention to enhancing the resilience of food systems is also warranted to support the health of people, the environment, and economies. Indeed, supporting local farmers, urban agriculture, and home gardening have been identified as important strategies to help combat food crises that have arisen during the pandemic ( 40 , 41 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Patterns of Food Procurement Over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Canadian Online Household Survey

Nielsen

Labonté

Karamanoglu

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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IntroductionConsumer food procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic has been understudied. This investigation aimed to longitudinally evaluate food procurement patterns, concern of virus exposure in grocery retailers, and food access challenges over the pandemic among a sample of households in Quebec, Canada.MethodsOnline surveys were collected at three time points of the pandemic: first wave in spring 2020 (lockdown period), summer 2020 (deconfinement period), and second wave in winter 2021 (curfew period). Respondents were the household's primary grocery shopper (n = 491). Non-parametric tests and multivariable logistic regression were conducted to compare responses over time and to evaluate characteristics of respondents who regularly used no-contact grocery methods (store pick-up or home delivery).ResultsFrequency of in-store grocery shopping was lowest during the lockdown (once per week or less), and significantly increased over time to resemble pre-pandemic frequency. Concern of virus exposure in grocery retailers and disinfection/discarding of food packaging was highest during the lockdown, but significantly decreased over time. At all time points, use of public transit, walking or cycling for grocery shopping was associated with regular use of no-contact grocery methods (curfew odds ratio (OR): 3.13 (95% confidence interval 1.60, 6.14). Age (60 years+) was associated with regular use during the lockdown [OR: 2.27 (1.13, 4.59)].ConclusionAmong our sample, frequency of in-store grocery shopping was lowest and concern of virus exposure in stores was highest during the lockdown period. No-contact grocery use was associated with transportation mode and potentially with personal risk perception (age).

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“…While previous research in the context of food and farming indicates that ICT can support but not replace other forms of proximity (Townsend et al 2016 ; Bos and Owen 2016 ), the role of “virtual proximity” requires further investigation (Dubois 2018 , p. 11). Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has considerably accelerated the adoption of digital solutions in the agri-food sector (Nemes et al 2021 ; Apostolopoulos et al 2021 ), future research could focus on how an increased use of ICT affects proximity relations between SMEs and their community investors.…”

Section: Concluding Remarks and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community financing for sustainable food and farming: a proximity perspective

et al. 2022

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An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German organic agri-food sector involves citizens through different community financing models. While such models provide alternative funding sources as well as marketing opportunities to SMEs, they allow private investors to combine their financial and ethical concerns by directly supporting the development of a more sustainable food system. Due to the low level of financial intermediation, community financing is characterized by close relations between investors and investees. Against this background, we apply the proximity concept from economic geography to explore spatial and relational aspects of community financing in the German organic agri-food sector. Based on a qualitative multiple case study approach, we find that the relevance of proximity is twofold. While different forms of proximity between SMEs and their potential investors are key success factors, proximity is also considered as one desired outcome of community financing. Furthermore, our results reveal that the extent to which SMEs rely on particular proximity dimensions distinguishes two different approaches to community financing.

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The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries

Cited by 84 publications

References 42 publications

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Longitudinal Patterns of Food Procurement Over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Canadian Online Household Survey

Community financing for sustainable food and farming: a proximity perspective

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