Agency in resilient local food systems

Introduction How can resilience of local food systems be strengthened? Inwood et al. (2025) recommend the CLIMATED framework (Worstell, 2020; Worstell & Green, 2017), because it emphasizes social infra­structure that is modularly connected, conserva­tively innovative, redundant, and embraces change. However, while this framework highlights self-organization, it fails to fully recognize that resilient local food systems in developing regions are invari­ably catalyzed by the emergence of entrepreneurial agency—a pattern I’ve observed from my experi­ence with rural communities in the Delta (Arkan­sas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri Bootheel, Western Kentucky and Western Tennessee), Appa­lachia (Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and East Tennessee), and 41 developing countries. Might extant models of resilience underemphasize the urgency and purpose of agency (Burnett, 2023) in catalyzing resilience? . . .