Working across boundaries in regional place-based food systems: Triggering transformation in a time of crisis

Abstract

Drawing on research exploring food system change in a region in the North of England during the Covid-19 health pandemic, in this paper we explore how a “managerial” approach to food system governance and provisioning embedded in national food systems and international supply chains was suddenly supplanted by a more “open” approach. By enabling understanding of how food system change unfolded as a diverse range of hidden practices unexpectedly became visible, it contributes to food systems thinking through the development of a regional place-based perspective. We use this approach to understand the outcome of these processes and to investigate how embedding change across administrative and geographical boundaries can enable food system transformation to improve food security for future generations.