Resilience, Issue 42 – Reflections on Resilience in Uncertain Times

In his editor’s letter from Issue 40, subtitled “Beyond Resilience,” Quivira cofounder Courtney White observed that “the definition of ‘normal’ is changing. Hotter and drier conditions, for example, are becoming the ‘new normal’ in the Southwest and are projected to increase over time. If resilience means bounce back, the question becomes: bounce back to what?”

These days, it seems “normal” has shifted yet again. Returning to Courtney’s words in the midst of a global pandemic, after a delayed monsoon season, more ravaging fires, and years of worsening drought, the question presents itself with a new gravity. This gravity is only compounded by the ongoing battles for racial and political justice taking place across the country with renewed fervor. As I write this, producers the world over are struggling to bring their food to market. In the United States, we’ve seen a surge in hunger, and the recent enrollment of more than six million new people for food stamps. As we begin to reckon with the status quo that permitted these circumstances — systemic racism, ineffective economies, broken supply chains — many are likewise asking: a bounceback or a new bounce forward?

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