Abstract
In this article, we offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term ‘food system resilience’. In recent years, the concept of resilience has been extensively used in a variety of fields, but not always consistently or holistically. Here we aim to theorise systematically resilience as ananalyticalconcept as it applies to food systems research. To do this, we engage with and seek to extend current understandings of resilience across different disciplines. Accordingly, we begin by exploring the different ways in which the concept of resilience is understood and used in current academic and practitioner literatures - both as a general concept and as applied specifically to food systems research. We show that the social-ecological perspective, rooted in an appreciation of the complexity of systems, carries significant analytical potential. We first underline what we mean by the food system and relate our understanding of this term to those commonly found in the extant food studies literature. We then apply our conception to the specific case of the UK. Here we distinguish between four subsystems at which our ‘resilient food systems’ can be applied. These are, namely, the agro-food system; the value chain; the retail-consumption nexus; and the governance and regulatory framework. On the basis of this conceptualisation we provide an interdisciplinary research agenda, using the case of the UK to illustrate the sorts of research questions and innovative methodologies that our food systems resilience approach is designed to promote.
Highlights
Food provisioning, like that for other commodities, is today marked by the ‘detailed disaggregation of stages of production and consumption across national boundaries, under the organisational structure of firms or enterprises’ (Gereffi & Korzeniewicz, 1994)
We offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term ‘food system resilience’
While the concept of resilience has been used extensively used in a variety of fields, it is rarely applied consistently or holistically
Summary
Like that for other commodities, is today marked by the ‘detailed disaggregation of stages of production and consumption across national boundaries, under the organisational structure of firms or enterprises’ (Gereffi & Korzeniewicz, 1994). In the UK case, Dolan & Humphrey (2000; see Henson & Humphrey, 2010) use the example of the African horticultural sector to demonstrate that, in practice, retailers square the circle by using their economic dominance and market power to force the adjustment costs onto their suppliers, which have to accept low prices while meeting the high compliance costs associated with private standards From this perspective, one of perverse consequences on the proliferation of private standards, when combined with complex global supply chains, is to raise rather than lower the risks of food adulteration, as the horsemeat scandal illustrates (Abbots & Coles, 2013). Conceptualised in this way, governance provides us with a key analytical tool for mapping the structures that exist beyond the system boundary that need to be accounted for when addressing the resilience or otherwise of the subsystems of production, trade and consumption
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
