Resilient niches

The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for actors in food systems. In many regions it threatened food security, well-being, and local economies. Its dynamic poses new kinds of problems and questions about sustainability, food sovereignty, and resilience of food systems. This paper focuses on the specificities of those actors in the system that are deprived of financial capital and are economically vulnerable but nevertheless manifest unique flexibility and develop diverse resilience strategies. Small, local, and informal food networks possess specific non-material resources, which shape their reaction to crisis. The results of a qualitative analysis of three case studies from Krakow (Poland) suggest that small-scale, informal structures, direct communication channels, and a pro-innovation environment together with a strong focus on social values are conducive to formation of resilient responses to the crisis. Soft capitals (relational, organizational, and knowledge capital) should therefore not be treated as a compensation for shortages of financial capital, but as important and effective resources for creating sustainable food systems

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Biology · Business · Ecological niche · Economics · Financial crisis · Outbreak · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Medicine · Ecology · Virology

• Sustainability beyond the middle class. Food-related practices in households with low socioeconomic status

  Open Access•A Rejowska, Ewa Kopczyńska et al.•Agriculture and Human Values•2026

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