‘Agroecology’ is a term under increasing contestation. Its roots are radical and Latin American; the term was first popularised by the international social movement La Via Campesina (LVC) in the 1990s in relation to rights struggles of peasant and other rural peoples. Yet a growing number of corporations and policy makers in the UK have diluted agroecology, using the term to refer to the the design and management of nature friendly farming systems alone; in the government’s National Food Strategy, published earlier this year, agroecology was defined as: “The application of principles from ecology in farming, with the goal of achieving balanced growth and sustainable development”. A fierce battle has therefore emerged to preserve agroecology’s radical roots and stop it becoming another tool for ‘greening’ corporate agribusiness.
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… agroecology and food sovereignty are not check-lists of technocratic criteria but radical frameworks that advocate systemic changes to the industrial food system. “[Agroecology] describes a way of life, a set of values and a global movement grounded in justice, celebration, equity and respect. If these values crumble, then we’re left with a definition that is just tinkering on the edges of capitalism.”