By Ben Reynolds, Sustain
The short term gains from this system that have been made on prices may come back to haunt us sooner rather than later. The best remedy right now is to help keep smaller food businesses afloat and markets, if run safely, are a vital part of this medicine.
By Michael Foley, School of Adaptive Agriculture
We have a long way to go before the resources we need for a truly resilient food system are widely available. But perhaps the difficulties of the day will make all of us more aware and appreciative of the importance of creating the bases for real food security.
By Kara Stiff, Low-Carbon Life
Since we’re all avoiding the grocery store to help keep everyone as healthy as possible, the first thing you might run out of is lettuce. No problem! Spring is arriving in the northern hemisphere, and there are many things growing that can serve the purpose.
By Kristin Schafer, Pesticide Action Network
Without ignoring the real pain and loss many are suffering, we also must lift up the need to raise, grow, and catch our food in ways that are closer to our communities and enriching to all. Hear, hear. Perhaps this crisis will remind us all to recognize the importance of being in community with each other, and the urgency of building a more resilient food system for all.
By Caroline Bennett, Sustainable Food Trust
Small-scale fishing employs ten times as many people, has a much lower environmental impact, uses much less fuel and produces a fraction of the CO2 emissions, compared with industrial fishing – yet industrial fishing attracts far more subsidies than small-scale fishing.
By Erin Biehl, John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
To be resilient, a food system needs to be able to absorb, respond to, and recover from shocks and stresses. COVID-19 is a shock, because it emerged and spread rapidly, rather than a slow-burning disruption like a multi-year drought. How well China – and any country - will be able to provide safe, accessible, and available food both during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 will depend on its resilience.
By Kevin D. Walker, Resilience.org
It has been said that how we produce and consume food has a bigger impact on well-being than any other human activity. Indeed, until the grand food bargain came along, limits to food were an unchallenged fact of life. Coping with the scarcity of food structured daily living around the natural rhythms of seasons, plants, and animals. In geologic time, the transition from food scarcity to abundance was like flicking on a light switch.
By Brian Miller, South Roane Agrarian
There once was a farm that became an airport. So reads the first line of our modern fairytale, our religion for the age. It is also the promotional tagline chosen by the boosters of Pittsburgh’s airport, where a pair of signs sporting the slogan hang throughout.
By Carol Kalafatic, Agroecology Now!
In this post I aim to elaborate my belief that, to build or spread food sovereignty, there is an increased need for diverse Peoples, communities and social movements to strengthen relationships and coalitions with one another. Our exchange of knowledges, strategies and practices will keep producing tangible results, and on the less tangible but equally important side, our solidarity will reinforce our resilience in the face of increasing unpredictability.
By Kath Delmany, Sustain
What do we “get”? What is our gravity? What draws us together is the natural instinctive understanding that food is the staff, the stuff of life.
By Brian Kaller, Restoring Mayberry
The technique, called hugelkultur (HOO-gul-kul-tur), has the advantage of being simple to understand and easy to make, and lasting a long time. Hugelkultur beds basically involve piling wood – usually dried logs of various sizes – into a single ridge, piling vegetation, cardboard or newspaper over that, and finally a layer of soil on top.
By Paige Wolf, Shareable
Usually a recurring event, food swaps allow direct trades to take place between attendees — for instance, a loaf of bread for a jar of preserves or a half-dozen backyard eggs. Your special kitchen concoctions become your own personal currency, allowing you to diversify your pantry while getting to know members of your local food community.