Agriculture

Engineering

Ecology

Extant taxon

Biology

Food systems

Variety (cybernetics)

Dependability

Embedded system

Nexus (standard)

Food security

Economics

Computer science

Conceptual framework

Management science

Corporate governance

Evolutionary biology

Thermodynamics

Physics

Management

Political science

Sociology

Socio-ecological system

Artificial intelligence

Software engineering

Resilience (materials science)

Perspective (graphical)

Engineering ethics

Social science

Emerald Open Research

<ns4:p>In this article, we offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term ‘food system resilience’. In recent years, the concept of resilience has been extensively used in a variety of fields, but not always consistently or holistically. Here we aim to theorise systematically resilience as an<ns4:italic>analytical</ns4:italic>concept as it applies to food systems research. To do this, we engage with and seek to extend current understandings of resilience across different disciplines. Accordingly, we begin by exploring the different ways in which the concept of resilience is understood and used in current academic and practitioner literatures - both as a general concept and as applied specifically to food systems research. We show that the social-ecological perspective, rooted in an appreciation of the complexity of systems, carries significant analytical potential. We first underline what we mean by the food system and relate our understanding of this term to those commonly found in the extant food studies literature. We then apply our conception to the specific case of the UK. Here we distinguish between four subsystems at which our ‘resilient food systems’ can be applied. These are, namely, the agro-food system; the value chain; the retail-consumption nexus; and the governance and regulatory framework. On the basis of this conceptualisation we provide an interdisciplinary research agenda, using the case of the UK to illustrate the sorts of research questions and innovative methodologies that our food systems resilience approach is designed to promote.</ns4:p>

Food Systems Resilience: Towards an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda