Guest Speaker: Dr. Melissa Bernardo

Topic: South Florida is often overlooked in terms of national significance to the U.S. food system. However, Florida is second only to California in vegetable production, and Miami-Dade is the second largest producing county in the state. Local farmers in this region experience a vast amount of unpredictable change from sea level rise, urban development, water management, and most recently, the impact of COVID-19 on food distribution networks. This paper examines how different types of farmers have taken actions for themselves to increase their adaptive capacities to unforeseen changes. Overall, this paper intends to distinguish between the different forms of agricultural resilience that operate within South Florida and to demonstrate how local farmers have begun to develop potential pathways for transformation