NEW LONDON, Conn. — Weaknesses in national food-system supply chains were revealed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Local food systems offered innovative responses to issues of food access that centered around community economies.
In a new JAFSCD article, “Economies of community in local agriculture: New London, Connecticut, farmers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” authors Rachel E. Black (the corresponding author) and Adalie S. Duran draw on ethnographic interviews to examine the community economies that emerge from consumer-producer engagement and how these interconnected communities both exhibit resilience during periods of food insecurity and financial hardship. This work questions the broader sustainability of food production and distribution in the United States’ dominant food system.
KEY FINDINGS
- Resocialized economic engagements between producers and consumers strengthening the economic resilience of the local food system.
- Local food producers and distributors often contribute to the food security and wellbeing of their communities at their own expense due to lack of external support on a state and federal level.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
Beyond emergency measures, state and federal policies need to offer support to small-scale farmers in order to grow a strong and diversified local food system. Policy for small-scale farms should encourage projects and technologies that create connections between farmers and farmers and consumers. Additionally, campaigns to raise consumer awareness to the importance of supporting local farms need to be ongoing.
Read the full article here.
–JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by
Rachel E. Black and Dylan Turner
Connecticut College
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