Agroecology in the belly of the beast

Reflections and contradictions from the U.S. Agroecology Summit 2023

Abstract

Introduction

In February 2023, the Institute for Agroecology (IFA) was formally recognized by the University of Vermont. We are a group of scholars who aim to leverage our privileges and positions within the academy to support farmers, activists, and move­ments in the struggle for agroecology and food sovereignty. International collaborators have often asked us to consider how we can do more to build out agroecology in the United States—the so-called “belly of the beast” of industrial agriculture and racialized capitalism (Robinson, 2021)—and how we can act, from the U.S., to support the growth of agroecology in other places.

As a newly formed institute, we are keen to engage with others working to advance agroecol­ogy in the U.S. This motivated us to accept an invitation to join a committee organizing a national convening on agroecology  in May 2023. We viewed it as an opportunity to collectively iden­tify research that would support people, communi­ties, organizations, and movements aligning with agro­ecology in the U.S. The organizing committee named  creation of a “roadmap” for agroecological research in the U.S. as the convening’s purpose. The plan was to create a space for listening to the needs of those working on the ground and to iden­tify ways to support their work via research and resources. . . .