Food system practitioners and scholars are increasingly interested in applying collective and place-based efforts to create equitable food systems. How well do such efforts work? A team from the UB Food Lab, led by Dr. Micaela Lipman, explores this question in a paper about Buffalo, NY. Drawing on community coalition action theory (CCAT), the authors explore the potential for enhancing food equity through collaborative action across the food value chain. Through a case study of a collaborative initiative to promote equitable food systems, they document the possibilities and pitfalls of collaborative, cohort-based efforts within the inequitable landscape of Buffalo, New York (NY). The paper relies on mixed-methods data that include key informant interviews, participant observations, and surveys of organizations that participated in the Buffalo Community Food System Grant program. Corroborating prior research, the authors report that initiatives that seek to foster collective action offer unique possibilities for food equity, as well as some key limitations, especially within the context of a racialized food environment. Strengthening food systems by investing in relationships across food value chains opens new avenues for collective action. To promote food equity, new forms of collective action, including functional relationships across the value chain, must address deeper structural imbalances in the food system, such as those resulting from structural racism.
Article is open access and available through JAFSCD.
Citation: Lipman, M., Griffin, D., Woyciesjes, E., Hall, G., & Raja, S. (2025). Equitable food value chains through collaborative action [in an inequitable landscape]: Insights from Buffalo, New York. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 14(1), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.141.019