Supporting Agricultural Resilience

• Main Authors: Kerry Daigle, Sarah Heiss
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems 2020-07-01
• Series: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
• Subjects: Women Farmers; Resilience Communication; Sustainable Agriculture; Community of Practice
• Online Access: https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/846

While women in the United States (U.S.) are increasingly entering into or being recognized for their role as farm operators, researchers argue that women farmers have been and continue to be under-recognized and researched. In the face of increasing environmental and financial challenges, as well as a variety of challenges related to domestic life, women farmers remain resilient. Buzzanell’s (2010) resilience communication theory suggests that forming and maintaining communication networks is essential to resilience processes. Drawing on interviews with 35 U.S. women farmers, we argue that communication networking is valuable to food systems; specifically, these practices contributed to and reified the resilience of the individual farmers, their farm business, and the greater sustainable agriculture sector. Implications for women farmers as a community of practice, as well as organizations serving these populations, are discussed.