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It’s Complicated: Environmental Crises Reveal the Key to LongTerm Sustainability
It’s Complicated: Environmental Crises Reveal
the Key to Long-term Sustainability
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By Megan Bishop
Humans engage in constant conversation with the envi- failing.2 The simple answer to this, is in fact, not so simple. Dr. ronment; human prosperity is contingent upon having O’Connell studied why mass disapproval of Water Quality Tradclean water to drink, pure air to breathe, and rich soil to ing (WQT) policy implementation was evident within the Jordan harvest food. Perhaps, the Earth is our oldest friend. UNC-Chapel Lake Watershed agricultural community, despite the extent of Hill environmental anthropologist Dr. Caela O’Connell first ac- water pollution in Jordan Lake. Dr. O’Connell utilized ethnoquired this realization as a child attending nature camps. It was graphic interviews with ninety farmers that revealed that only her volunteering with local stream water management testing 26% of farmers would agree to be involved in the WQT program, that sparked her interest in the disconnect between people’s re- but before jumping to the conclusion that they do not care for lationship with the environment and the environmentally harm- the environment, consider their situationally complex justificaful consequences of their actions.1 Though decisions pertaining tions.2 Farmers showed concern regarding the financial burden to sustainability can quickly fall into the polarizing categories of of losing property value, increasing income tax, and the fairness “good” and “bad”, Dr. O’Connell knows human behavior is much of doing more on their farms specifically so new business and more complicated than this. Her research is motivated by trying housing developments could do less to protect the water.2 In to understand this complication in which humans must both uti- fact, the interviews revealed that farmers supported policies lize and protect the environment—particularly as the environ- to purify Jordan Lake, yet simply could not risk the financial or ment undergoes unprecedented changes—so that long-lasting moral trade-offs. Identifying these complications is essential in sustainability efforts can be put into place. By analyzing commu- order to establish sustainability practices that can fit the needs nities as they navigate environmental crises, Dr. O’Connell un- of a community in the long term, and therefore offering a percovers what secret, underlying environmental struggles surface manent solution to an ongoing crisis.2 amidst difficulty so that these issues can be addressed, resulting in resilient sustainability efforts. When UNC students think of Jordan Lake, they may immediately think of beautiful scenery and hiking trails. However, underneath the water, there is an ongoing crisis threatening the sus- The struggles of a community that prevent environmentainability of local drinking water. tal action are not always ongoing; Dr. O’Connell has found that In 2012, Dr. O’Connell began ana- observing communities undergoing a more sudden crisis exlyzing the problem of nutrient pol- poses underlying socio-environmental dilemmas that the comlution in Jordan Lake—the primary munity may not have been aware of before. Dr. O’Connell exsource of drinking water for Cary plains, “There’s this idea that sometimes when there’s a point of and Apex, NC—in order to evaluate disaster or crisis it brings to the surface things that are going on
Dr. Caela O’Connell why current alleviation efforts are all the time.” 1 Currently, Dr. O’Connell has taken the semester
Image by Adonyi Gabor [CC0]
off from teaching to focus on studying how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced local food system resilience. For 8 months, Dr. O’Connell and her team of students from the Socio-Ecological Change Research (SECR) lab, conducted ethnographic interviews with organizational, nonprofit, and local government leaders involved in the food industry as well as food producers and distributors across Orange and Chatham counties. The interviews were semi-structured, meaning that though there were some prepared questions, the interviews could diverge to become more personal. This allowed Dr. O’Connell to better understand the specific changes individuals had seen, what their personal worries were, and discern whether or not issues from pandemic are blown-up version of issues that they face in times of non-crisis. As she listened to the stories of these leaders, she considered: “Are there any lessons that we can learn to help us to think about what makes our food system stronger even during times of non-crisis?”1 By conducting her research through interviews, O’Connell is able to specifically hone in on the reasoning behind people’s decision-making process to better identify their needs. In evaluating these community responses, Dr. O’Connell’s team has found trends that may be indicators of underlying food resilience issues as well as potential, long-term food resilience solutions. Interview data indicated struggles within the elderly population due to their vulnerability to COVID-19; when a trip to the grocery store or food bank becomes a life-threatening event, food security is not sustainable. She also noted that individuals with more contingent labor situations struggled with food security when restaurants and small businesses faced closures to enforce safety precautions. These jobs have less of a financial safety net, so this demographic was also more vulnerable. By identifying which demographics struggled the most with food sustainability during difficulty, permanent changes focusing on the needs of these communities could increase the resilience of food systems long-term.
In addition to identifying these specific complications, Dr. O’Connell observed solution methods that could be successful long-term. She found that food producers and distributors who were plugged into a community, such as a network of farmers or a food council, were able to better communicate strategies for navigating the pandemic. By learning from each other’s successes and mistakes, they had an easier time adapting to feed the community. This finding is a huge testament to the power of interpersonal relationships in implementing successful, sustainable practices. She also discovered that the new technology that had been rapidly implemented to limit in-person contact might be here to stay. For restaurants, this technology manifested itself as an online ordering system, while for food banks and pantries, volunteers and donations were organized online. In both cases, leaders in local food distribution had previously been hesitant to adapt technology due to the financial risk; however, these leaders were willing to innovate their technological systems in order to operate safely. As a result, they discovered that using technology tends to increases the sustainability of local food systems, and can provide organizational and accessibility benefits that have been needed for years.
Dr. O’Connell’s interviews uniquely acquire information on the complexity of environmental decision-making. Many factors must be considered when implementing sustainable, environmentally resilient practices: consumer cost, distributor cost, health, safety, etc. By identifying both the problems and solutions that arise in agricultural communities during crisis, O’Connell hopes to help food system leaders establish sustainable practices that can withstand difficulty. Though this information can be communicated scientifically, it is most directly applied when shared with local communities. O’Connell wants to ensure that “the research is good, the science is there, but also the communication of [her] findings goes beyond publications.”1 It is important that she not only analyzes the needs of the community but also answers them. Soon, she is giving a series of informal talks with a network of North Carolina farmers markets to discuss the problems and solutions that this study revealed about local food system resilience. That way, local farmers can adapt their strategies to serve the communities in a way that has proven beneficial. When communities are aware of both the potential issues and possible solutions that can arise during socioenvironmental hardship, they can implement sustainability efforts that are strong enough to endure unprecedented difficulty.
Figure 1. Food distribution in a local farmer’s market during the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo by Don Mason Figure 2. A Puerto Rico banana farm taken shortly after Hurricane Maria; image courtesy of Dr. Caela O’Connell
References
1. Interview with Dr. Caela O’Connell. February 12, 2021 2. O’Connell, C.; Motallebi, M.; Osmond, D. L.; Hoag, D. L. Trading on Risk: The Moral Logics and Economic Reasoning of North Carolina Farmers in Water Quality Trading Markets. Economic Anthropology 2017, 4(2), 225–238.
