LEXINGTON, Ky. – A project led by researchers at the University of Kentucky has helped local and regional food systems become more connected and resilient. The effort was in response to struggling supply chain issues amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Tim Woods, UK agricultural economist and the project’s co-lead researcher, joined colleagues from Colorado State and Penn State universities to study the effects of the pandemic on local and regional food systems. The project was funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

According to Woods, the group studied pandemic-related impacts to food systems, including changes in consumer behaviors, pandemic responses of different food system sectors, and innovations and agency support.

The study involved 17 national communities working with local food systems to evaluate COVID-19 impacts, best practices and innovations, consumer responses, and broad local food system development strategies.

“The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought local food system sectors together to share ideas, programs, innovations and impacts to keep the system resilient,” Woods said. “We now have a network of networks that allow these different sectors and communities of practice to come together on a more regular basis to talk about issues and policies.”

Before this study took place, no uniform communications platform existed for members from different sectors of local food systems, their potential marketing outlets, and government agencies that support them. This research did, in fact, determine that some sectors of local and regional food systems struggled while others thrived.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs and agritourism ventures saw a considerable surge in interest. By contrast, programs that provided farm-fresh food to schools and restaurants suffered as many schools and businesses closed temporarily.

This project assisted food systems by identifying the unique needs of each sector, finding ways to connect producers to consumers, and connecting producers with available assistance.

Lauran Gawthrop is the marketing manager for Good Foods Co-op in Lexington, Kentucky’s only locally owned and operated cooperative grocery store. It has more than 8,000 owner-suppliers.

“Continually, we’re dealing with supply issues ever since the pandemic started,” Gawthrop said. “It’s been an ongoing issue, one we’ve had to deal with daily. Our local producers have been our saving grace. We have a special local connection that helps get us through some of the tighter spots.”

“They’ve been growing their assortments based on feedback from us about what our customers are asking for and what we’re having a hard time getting,” she said. “A major advantage we have is local farmers’ willingness to try new things and fill the needs as they see them arising. We’ve been fortunate in that way that a lot of them have been able to pivot and come in clutch for us.”

Gawthrop said supply chain problems have caused people to search out and shop at farmers markets and use CSAs.

“People are starting to look more local for their needs,” she said. “I think they saw all of the big hiccups with the supply chain, especially during the panic-buying, and they are making more relationships with the local people.”

The success of the UK-led research project has prompted the AMS to provide a second round of funding to the researchers. This second round effort is to develop strategies for local food system resilience and strengthen systems for gathering data that reflect performance in the market nationwide.