Food System Resilience during COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Roman Solidarity Purchasing Groups

Abstract

The restriction measures linked to the COVID-19 shock suddenly highlighted the vulnerability of most socioeconomic systems, including the food sector. In a context in which the limitation to the movement of people and goods has put the longer and more structured supply chains in serious difficulty, many experiences and initiatives have emerged as viable alternatives. The aim of the research was to understand if and how the Solidarity Purchasing Groups (SPG) of Rome have contributed to the resilience of the food system of the metropolitan city during the lockdown. The research was based on the results of a questionnaire administered to the SPGs of Rome during the first period of the pandemic (April–July 2020), enriched by some in-depth interviews carried out by the authors. What emerged was that, despite the limited extent in terms of products conveyed within the whole food system, the SPGs represented an important food supply channel during the lockdown period, for two main reasons: a greater flexibility and agility in moving and in handling goods and the possibility of remunerating local farms, contributing to the resilience of the local agri-food fabric. The analysis of the results confirms the strong vitality of such Food Movements in Rome and, at the same time, allows for the identification of a series of interventions that the institutions could adopt to favor the spread of a food environment more compatible with more sustainable and fairer forms of food production and distribution.

Social innovation and food provisioning initiatives to reduce food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…To combat food insecurity, local governments created assistance programmes to support individuals with food purchases and income support rather than to improve productivity for farms ( Bertoluzza, 2021 ; O'Hara & Toussaint, 2021 ; Rice, 2021 ). Almost simultaneously, local volunteering associations and population mobilised themselves to create several food provisioning initiatives at local level (e.g., Rose & O’Malley, 2020 ; Tarra et al, 2021 ). It appears that these latter initiatives could be considered as examples of social innovation, as their realisation depends on the local community's mobilisation to restructure the local food network and resolve local food supply difficulties through sustainable solutions.…”

Solidaridad y COVID-19 en Chile: tensiones y desafíos para afrontar la pandemia solidariamente

“…En la escala colectiva grupal, diversos estudios han mostrado tempranamente la importancia de la solidaridad como redes de apoyo para enfrentar las consecuencias sociosanitarias y económicas de la pandemia, expresada en la autogestión colectiva de la situación (Igwe et al, 2020), la movilización de ayuda voluntaria hacia personas más necesitadas (Carlsen et al, 2021) y la emergencia de nuevas formas de organización social a escala local (Tarra et al, 2021). En Chile, las ollas comunes durante la pandemia resurgieron como formas de organización territoriales para abordar solidariamente las necesidades alimentarias, sociosanitarias, de cuidados y emocionales, a la vez que se tejían solidaridades políticas (Frías & Pineda, 2021;Guerrero & Pérez, 2020).…”

Food Resilience During Pandemic Covid-19 Based on Culture in Agriculture

“…Resiliences is the power of human to confront the misery condicition but the human can overcome the disaster both nature and human ailment disaster. Typically, food resilience is the power for preferring adequate of food, appropriate food for all during unforeseen circumstances and disruption (Tarra et al, 2021). Resilience the ability for adjusting to unfortune circumtances (Elysia & Wihadanto, 2018).…”