European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems
The concept of the city-region food system is gaining attention due to the need to improve food availability, quality and environmental benefits, for example through sustainable agri-food strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of coherent and inclusive food governance, espec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.844170/full |
| _version_ | 1828428265761538048 |
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| author | Jeremy Millard Jeremy Millard Alberto Sturla Zdeňka Smutná Zdeňka Smutná Barbora Duží Meike Janssen Jan Vávra |
| author_facet | Jeremy Millard Jeremy Millard Alberto Sturla Zdeňka Smutná Zdeňka Smutná Barbora Duží Meike Janssen Jan Vávra |
| author_sort | Jeremy Millard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The concept of the city-region food system is gaining attention due to the need to improve food availability, quality and environmental benefits, for example through sustainable agri-food strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of coherent and inclusive food governance, especially regarding food resilience, vulnerability and justice. Given that evidence from good practices is relatively sparse, it is important to better understand the role of different types of cities, regions and household characteristics. The paper's aim is to describe, analyze and attempt to explain (sub-national) regional variations of household food behavior before and during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020 using a city-region food system perspective. Informed by the literature, comprehensive survey data from 12 countries across Europe is used to describe the pre-pandemic landscape of different household food behaviors across comparable regional types. We examine how a specific economic and social shock can disrupt this behavior and the implications for city-region food systems and policies. Conclusions include the huge disruptions imposed on income-weak households and that the small city scale is the most resilient. Proposals are made that can strengthen European city-region food system resilience and sustainability, especially given that future shocks are highly likely. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:15:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9429f902ba1e46afaa6356c40a6753be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-581X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:15:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-9429f902ba1e46afaa6356c40a6753be2022-12-22T01:40:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2022-04-01610.3389/fsufs.2022.844170844170European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food SystemsJeremy Millard0Jeremy Millard1Alberto Sturla2Zdeňka Smutná3Zdeňka Smutná4Barbora Duží5Meike Janssen6Jan Vávra7Third Millennium Governance, Ry, DenmarkInternational Center, Danish Technological Institute, Taastrup, DenmarkDepartment of Policies and Bioeconomy, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Savona, ItalyDepartment of Geography, Faculty of Science, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem, CzechiaFaculty of Social and Economic Studies, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem, CzechiaDepartment of Environmental Geography, Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, CzechiaConsumer and Behavioural Insights Group, Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, DenmarkDepartment of Local and Regional Studies, Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, CzechiaThe concept of the city-region food system is gaining attention due to the need to improve food availability, quality and environmental benefits, for example through sustainable agri-food strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of coherent and inclusive food governance, especially regarding food resilience, vulnerability and justice. Given that evidence from good practices is relatively sparse, it is important to better understand the role of different types of cities, regions and household characteristics. The paper's aim is to describe, analyze and attempt to explain (sub-national) regional variations of household food behavior before and during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020 using a city-region food system perspective. Informed by the literature, comprehensive survey data from 12 countries across Europe is used to describe the pre-pandemic landscape of different household food behaviors across comparable regional types. We examine how a specific economic and social shock can disrupt this behavior and the implications for city-region food systems and policies. Conclusions include the huge disruptions imposed on income-weak households and that the small city scale is the most resilient. Proposals are made that can strengthen European city-region food system resilience and sustainability, especially given that future shocks are highly likely.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.844170/fullregional analysisCOVID-19food behavior changescrisis resiliencecity-region food systemsincome loss |
| spellingShingle | Jeremy Millard Jeremy Millard Alberto Sturla Zdeňka Smutná Zdeňka Smutná Barbora Duží Meike Janssen Jan Vávra European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems regional analysis COVID-19 food behavior changes crisis resilience city-region food systems income loss |
| title | European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems |
| title_full | European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems |
| title_fullStr | European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems |
| title_short | European Food Systems in a Regional Perspective: A Comparative Study of the Effect of COVID-19 on Households and City-Region Food Systems |
| title_sort | european food systems in a regional perspective a comparative study of the effect of covid 19 on households and city region food systems |
| topic | regional analysis COVID-19 food behavior changes crisis resilience city-region food systems income loss |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.844170/full |
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