The COVID-19 pandemic draws attention to many things, including our global connectedness, the role of ‘big government’, marginalisation, solidarity, and the ‘unsung heroes’ who keep essential systems running. For all of us, it tests our resilience, our ability to cope with turbulence, with the unpredictable developments in the wake of the extraordinary measures taken by governments to ‘flatten the curve’. In Austria, in mid-March 2020 radical measures were implemented that affected almost all aspects of daily life. Although the supermarket shelves were well stocked with food, Austrians turned their attention to local farms, and farmers responded quickly. Like never before, on-line platforms were used to build new relations, connecting farmers and citizens; farmers engaged in direct marketing offered to deliver orders, as farmer markets were closed; farmers asked for support as farm workers from Eastern Europe were not allowed to enter the country, and citizens responded by volunteering to help on the fields. These are a few circumstantial observations, but they indicate how disruptive change also opens up new possibilities, and how quickly (some) farmers can adapt, demonstrating their resilience. Studies of farm resilience focus on what enables farms to adapt to changing conditions, both onand off-farm. They have shown that farm resilience may be influenced by available resources, workload, knowledge, power in the agro-food system, and broader societal structures. Many studies take a structuralist approach to farm resilience. They often strive to identify a ‘type’ of farm that ‘is’ resilient. So far, this has remained elusive: farms that enact resilience are rather diverse, as are the combination of challenges they face. Taking a relational approach to farm resilience allows for different insights and may be better suited to address the unpredictable dynamics farmers have to cope with. It shifts attention from structures to relations—which may be material, social, mental—and how these are constructed, maintained, broken, adapted. Indeed, farm resilience may draw less on structural factors, and more on creativity, mental agility, possibilities explored, options kept open, honing diverse skills, bricolage, resources that can be repurposed and reallocated. In a world that is assumed predictable and is driven by efficiency, creativity and exploring possibilities may seem like daydreaming and a waste of time. Honing skills that are not currently needed or keeping unused resources may seem unproductive, but it may well be crucial to build resilience. The question guiding research on farm resilience thus shifts from what ‘is’, to what enables an open ‘becoming’. Indeed, while crop production and animal rearing are constrained by bio-physical processes, farming might be even more constrained by what is thinkable. Yet, if there is one thing that the current COVID-19 pandemic has shown, it is that much of what was unthinkable may suddenly become a reality. For farms, the current crisis might well highlight that a strategy which focuses on specialisation, on optimizing processes, on increasing efficiency, and on reducing production costs has its limits in a VUCA world, i.e. one that is volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous. Indeed, this strategy tends to reduce both the number and the diversity of relations to those few that are ‘optimal’ under specific conditions, with the implicit assumption that these conditions are controllable and will remain broadly the same. But they do not. Change is not just marginal and gradual. Surprises are inevitable. Resilience thinking teaches us to ‘expect the unexpected’. Clearly, the current emergency measures are not here to stay. But maybe we should not rush to get back to ‘normal’. Maybe now is a good time to think what kind of agro-food system we want, and how we can transition to it. Indeed, This article is part of the Topical Collection: Agriculture, Food & Covid-19

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面对意外情况时的农场复原力：COVID-19 大流行的教训

COVID-19 大流行引起了对许多事情的关注，包括我们的全球联系、“大政府”的作用、边缘化、团结，以及保持基本系统运行的“无名英雄”。对我们所有人来说，它考验着我们的应变能力，我们应对动荡的能力，以及在政府为“拉平曲线”而采取的非常措施之后的不可预测的事态发展。在奥地利，2020 年 3 月中旬实施了激进措施，几乎影响了日常生活的方方面面。尽管超市货架上的食物储备充足，但奥地利人将注意力转向当地农场，农民反应迅速。前所未有地，在线平台被用来建立新的关系，连接农民和公民；由于农贸市场关闭，从事直接营销的农民主动提出交付订单；由于不允许东欧的农场工人进入该国，农民要求支持，而公民则通过自愿在田间提供帮助来回应。这些是一些间接观察，但它们表明破坏性变化也开辟了新的可能性，以及（一些）农民能够多快适应，展示了他们的韧性。农场复原力研究的重点是使农场能够适应不断变化的条件，包括农场内外。他们已经表明，农业食品系统中的可用资源、工作量、知识、权力和更广泛的社会结构可能会影响农场的复原力。许多研究采用结构主义方法来研究农场的复原力。他们经常努力确定一种“具有”弹性的“类型”农场。到目前为止，这仍然难以捉摸：具有复原力的农场相当多样化，他们面临的挑战也是如此。对农场复原力采取相关的方法可以获得不同的见解，并且可能更适合解决农民必须应对的不可预测的动态。它将注意力从结构转移到关系——可能是物质的、社会的、精神的——以及这些是如何构建、维持、破坏和适应的。事实上，农场的复原力可能较少依赖结构性因素，而更多地依赖于创造力、思维敏捷性、探索的可能性、保持开放的选择、磨练不同的技能、拼凑、可以重新利用和重新分配的资源。在一个被假定为可预测并由效率、创造力和探索可能性驱动的世界中，这似乎是白日梦和浪费时间。磨练当前不需要的技能或保留未使用的资源可能看起来没有效率，但建立复原力可能很关键。因此，指导农场复原力研究的问题从“是”转向什么能够实现开放的“生成”。事实上，虽然作物生产和动物饲养受到生物物理过程的限制，但农业可能更受可想象的限制。然而，如果当前的 COVID-19 大流行表明了一件事，那就是很多不可想象的事情可能会突然变成现实。对于农场来说，当前的危机可能会突出强调，专注于专业化、优化流程、提高效率和降低生产成本的战略在 VUCA 世界中存在局限性，即不稳定、不确定、复杂、模棱两可的世界。的确，该策略倾向于将关系的数量和多样性减少到在特定条件下“最佳”的少数关系，并隐含假设这些条件是可控的并且将大致保持不变。但他们没有。变化不仅仅是边际和渐进的。惊喜在所难免。弹性思维教会我们“期待意外”。显然，目前的紧急措施不会停留。但也许我们不应该急于恢复“正常”。也许现在是思考我们想要什么样的农业食品系统以及如何过渡到它的好时机。事实上，这篇文章是专题合集的一部分：农业、食品和 Covid-19 变化不仅仅是边际和渐进的。惊喜在所难免。弹性思维教会我们“期待意外”。显然，目前的紧急措施不会停留。但也许我们不应该急于恢复“正常”。也许现在是思考我们想要什么样的农业食品系统以及如何过渡到它的好时机。事实上，这篇文章是专题合集的一部分：农业、食品和 Covid-19 变化不仅仅是边际和渐进的。惊喜在所难免。弹性思维教会我们“期待意外”。显然，目前的紧急措施不会停留。但也许我们不应该急于恢复“正常”。也许现在是思考我们想要什么样的农业食品系统以及如何过渡到它的好时机。事实上，这篇文章是专题合集的一部分：农业、食品和 Covid-19