Governance and Actions for Resilient Urban Food Systems in the Era of COVID-19: Lessons and Challenges in China

Huidan Xue (), Yujia Zhai, Wen-Hao Su () and Ziling He
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Huidan Xue: School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Yujia Zhai: Beijing-Dublin International College, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Wen-Hao Su: College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Ziling He: Beijing-Dublin International College, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically challenged urban food systems, has hurt the resilience and fundamental function of urban food systems and also accelerated the trends of digitization and changing preferences of consumers in cities. This research conducted a qualitative analysis of the discourses, actions and interactions of different actors in the urban food systems in China during COVID-19 using an actor-oriented approach and discourse analysis. This research finds that stricter regulations and policies have been implemented by governments to regulate the food supply chain and ensure human health. Local community service personnel, volunteers, stakeholders along the food supply chain and consumers formulated collective actions during the pandemic yet chaos and discourse distortions also emerged at different stages. The pandemic is a preamble to changes in consumers’ preferences and food supply chains in urban communities. There were significant structural changes and a dual structure of urban and rural food systems, where unbalanced supply and demand existed. Collective actions with community governance and an innovative food business model to digitize flows and easily adapt to shocks in food systems are required.

Keywords: food systems resilience; urban food systems; food supply chain; COVID-19; actor-oriented approach; governance; discourse analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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