New podcast miniseries coming soon: Agroecology Uprooted.
With food systems and the planet in crisis, what would true resilient, sustainable, and just solutions look like? The answer may lie in a method called agroecology, a holistic approach to food, agriculture, nature, and social systems that’s already taking root around the globe. In this upcoming series, hear from farmers, scientists, food movement leaders, and other experts about what agroecology is, how it works, and why a transition to agroecology is needed now more than ever.
Listen and subscribe to the series on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Series features interviews with:
- Pat Mooney, ETC Group
- Bonnie Keeler, University of Minnesota
- Sophia Murphy, IATP
- Sagari Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance
- V. Ernesto Mendez, University of Vermont Institute for Agroecology
- Courtney Tchida, Wild Farming Alliance
- Claire Kremen, University of British Columbia
- Samuel Nderitu, Grow Biointensive Agriculture Center of Kenya
- Leticia Lopez Zepeda, Sin Maíz No Hay País
- Jon Lundgren, ECDYSIS Foundation
- Raj Patel, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin
Transcript
00:00:01 Bonnie Keeler
There's a lot about our current agricultural system that's not working. It's not working for producers, it's not working for consumers, and it's not working for the environment.
00:00:10 Courtney Tchida
Over 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction over the next several decades, which is kind of terrifying.
00:00:17 Sophia Murphy
And the food system is really stressing our nitrogen cycle, the levels of acidity in the ocean. It's a big cause of climate change. And yet, we need food systems to survive. Food systems are also having to work harder and harder because they face water scarcity and disruptive weather patterns and loss of biodiversity.
00:00:37 Jon Lundgren
And the farming community is so stressed. They're shouldering all of the risk for these corporations. We're literally killing our farmers for corporate greed.
00:00:49 Pat Mooney
The food system is broken. Everyone is saying that. Whether they're the head of Nestle's or the head of FAO or the head of an NGO, we're all saying the food system is broken. The point is that the guys who broke it aren't the ones that can fix it.
00:01:04 Lilly Richard
What does it mean for the food system to be in crisis? And how do we get out of it? There's no simple answer, but sometimes complicated systemic problems don't call for simple answers. They call for solutions that honor their complexity.
All around the globe, there are people already putting this type of solution into practice with an approach to food and agriculture that keeps people, the planet, and justice at the center. It's called agroecology, and I've spent the past several months talking to farmers, researchers, and other experts about what it is and how it might offer an answer to one of the biggest challenges of our time, how to feed the planet without destroying the planet.
00:01:48 Pat Mooney
Well, what do we need to have to have a good food system in a time of climate change and biodiversity loss? And the answer to that is, well, we need to have a highly diverse food system that lets us adjust quickly to different conditions.
00:02:03 Claire Kremen
And the really amazing thing about this is that what is healthy for individual people is healthy for our planet.
00:02:13 Sagari Ramdas
We're redesigning to cultivate these diverse foods to feed both our home, our family, our neighbors, our community.
00:02:21 Samuel Nderitu
Agroecology is farming using nature. It is combining indigenous knowledge plus modern science. We share knowledge, and that is agroecology.
00:02:32
Agroecology.
Agroecology.
Agroecology.
Agroecology.
Agroecology.
Agroecology.
00:02:40 Lilly Richard
Coming soon from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a new limited podcast series: Agroecology Uprooted.
