Vol 10 No 2 (2021): Special Issue: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Food System
Notes:
3 pgs., Online Journal, Resilient local food systems are a necessary component to keep our communities healthy, especially during times of emergency. With a history of supporting local farmers and food access in less-resourced communities, Fresh Approach was in a prime position at the time of shelter-in-place orders to pivot our efforts to emergency food relief in this time of uncertainty. By collaborating and mobilizing resources, Fresh Approach was able to strengthen existing connections with small farmers, build new relationships with other food access nonprofits, and support families in need by providing them with farm-fresh, local, and healthy produce. We outline how these partnerships and collective efforts have fortified a resilient and transformative food system in our area.
13pgs, With a focus on journalistic discourse, this paper argues for a re-envisioning of food-system communication that takes non-human animals into account as stakeholders in systems that commodify them. This is especially urgent in light of the global pandemic, which has laid bare the vulnerability to crisis inherent in animal-based food production. As a case study to illustrate the need for a just and non-human inclusive orientation to food-systems communication, the paper performs a qualitative rhetorical examination, of a series of articles in major U.S. news sources in May of 2020, a few months into the economic shutdown in the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, millions of pigs were brutally killed on U.S. farms due to the impossibility of killing them in slaughterhouses overrun with COVID-19 outbreaks. The analysis finds that media reporting legitimated violence against pigs by framing narratives from industry perspectives, deflecting agency for violence away from farmers, presenting pigs as willing victims, masking violence through euphemism, objectifying pigs and ignoring their sentience, and uncritically propagating industry rhetoric about “humane” farming. Through these representations, it is argued, the media failed in their responsibility to present the viewpoints of all sentient beings affected by the crisis; in other words, all stakeholders. The methodology merges a textually- oriented approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) with social critique informed by critical animal studies (CAS), and the essay concludes with recommendations for journalists and other food-system communicators, which should be possible to implement even given the current capitalist, industry-influenced media environment and the demonstrated ruthlessness of animal industries in silencing voices inimical to their profitmaking.
24 pages, The popularization of social media and an increased interest in local food has led to the need for an online presence of direct-to-consumer agricultural producers. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly pushed the transition from traditional marketing practices to digital marketing practices, further emphasizing the importance of an online presence for small businesses. To better understand the perceptions of direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses, this study sought to understand the current use of social media and online communication and the challenges faced, related to social media and online communication, among these producers. Ten direct-to-consumer agricultural business personnel were interviewed to examine their social media and online communication use. Direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses are using Facebook as a primary social media platform and finding time to focus on social media and online communication is a challenge for agricultural personnel. A website is important to direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses, however many do not currently have a website. Direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses believe social media and an online communication are important to the growth and success of the business and are interested in educational materials and professional support to improve their online presence.
3 pages, The COVID 19 pandemic has demonstrated clearly that change can happen suddenly and dramatically, creating great uncertainty. Social distancing is the norm world-wide as we all work to ‘flatten the curve’. The economy is crashing, and despite stabilizing attempts, continues to stagger. The combination of a pandemic with economies in decline around the world is increasing food insecurity across the globe (UN-FAO 2020).
But in uncertainty, new possibilities arise and new pathways open. Change creates the conditions for transformation. We now have an opportunity—perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—to learn from past weaknesses and create food systems that are more healthy, sustainable, equitable and resilient.
Thinking ahead to post-COVID 19 food systems, it is important to ask, what are we learning about our level of preparedness? And what next steps are suggested by food system weaknesses at local, regional and global scales in the context of the international pandemic?
Lessons are already emerging from this crisis—and from the multiple innovative responses to it—about how to retool food systems toward sustainability and resilience. For example, numerous food providers and retailers have moved online (Open Food Network) and social enterprises are delivering fresh local food and backyard growing kits to vulnerable population groups.
4 pgs., Objective: The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) at the University of California, Davis implemented a multifaceted rapid response to COVID-19 in the western United States. This paper describes the center's response from mid-March through June 30, 2020. Methods: A comprehensive needs assessment was conducted with agricultural stakeholders. Agriculture-specific COVID-19 resources were developed and disseminated, and a farmer/employer survey was launched. Results: The WCAHS COVID-19 resources web page, worksite checklist, and training guide were shared on over 50 web pages nationally. As of June 30, 2020, 282 online surveys have been received. Ongoing informal discussions with agricultural stakeholders indicate a disconnect between the experiences of farmers/employers and farmworkers in relation to COVID-19 prevention at the worksite. Initial survey responses indicate that implementing social distancing is one of the greatest challenges at the worksite. Confusion over local, state, and federal guidelines and which to follow is another concern. Conclusion: The WCAHS response to COVID-19, in close collaboration with agricultural stakeholders, represents a useful model for a rapid response to a public health crisis by regional centers. Key elements to its success include rapid personalized communication with a wide range of agricultural stakeholders, an actively engaged External Advisory Board, the development of industry-specific resources and information, recurring and iterative engagement with stakeholders as new COVID-19 information emerged and resources were developed, and the identification of the unique gap WCAHS was positioned to fill. The multipronged dissemination approach enhanced the reach of WCAHS COVID-19 resources.
2 pages, We tossed our soiled shovels into the back of the pickup truck and took one last satisfied look at the backyard garden we built for Ronya Jackson and her seven children in Troy, NY. The siblings were excitedly tucking peas and spinach into the fresh earth as we headed home to nearby Soul Fire Farm to tend the crops that would be distributed to neighbors in need. Our sacred mission is to end racism and injustice in the food system, which we do by getting land, gardens, train-ing, and fresh food to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), including refugees and immigrants, survivors of mass incarceration, and others impacted by state violence.As Mama Fannie Lou Hamer said, “When you have 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, no one can push you around or tell you what to say or do.” Before, during, and after the outbreak, food apartheid dis-proportionately impacts (BIPOC) communities who also face higher vulnerability to COVID-19 due to factors like shared housing, lack of access to health care, environmental racism, job layoffs, immigration status, employment in the wage economy without worker protections, and more. This pandemic is exacerbating existing challenges and lays bare the cracks in the system that prevent many of us from having anything canned up for this metaphorical winter. Our society is called to account. Is now finally the time when we will catalyze the 5 major shifts needed to bring about a just and sustainable food system?
