Rethinking Agrifood Systems in (Post-)Pandemic Times: Moving Beyond Crisis and Recovery Narratives

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant changes in the global agri-food system. It disrupted food supply chains, created labour shortages, instilled fears of food insecurity, and altered market dynamics. The pandemic also highlighted the resilience of alternative food systems through the shortening of food supply chains, a greater appreciation for local agricultural production, increased focus on sustainable practices, the use of technological platforms for direct farmer-to-consumer sales, and policy interventions providing financial and regulatory support to ensure food security.

The two special sections of IJSAF titled “The Food System in the (Post-)Pandemic World: Disruptions, Vulnerability, Resilience, and Alternatives” offer an in-depth exploration of the challenges faced by food systems and how various actors - populations, policymakers, and food producers - responded to the disruptions caused by COVID-19. The nine articles included in these sections present ethnographic and qualitative research from different parts of the world and engage critically in discussions regarding disruptions and resilience within agrifood systems during the pandemic. The authors explore how COVID-19 influenced power dynamics among various actors in the food system.

These articles are selected from papers presented at the mini-conference of the ISA Research Committee on Sociology of Agriculture and Food (RC40), which took place in October 2022 at Leipzig University. Drawing from the conference and the published articles, this editorial introduction discusses the methodological and theoretical strengths and challenges faced by critical agrifood studies in times of crisis.