Sustainability. Resilient agriculture. Social justice. Environmentalism. Do you know what these words mean? These are some of them describe our agricultural system. And they contribute to the complexities of food systems and food policy. Some words are jargon, politically correct, or used to widen the gap between small rural farmers and urban farmers. I discussed some of these concepts in my dissertation on urban farming and urban agriculture.
I wrote it for a very narrow audience of my colleagues. But in the real world, I rarely use these words. One reason is that each word has a different meaning to different people. It depends on what you do (small farm or agribusiness), where you live (rural or urban), and your farming practices (agrobiodiversity or monocropping). For example, I used to think that “sustainability” was the best way to describe good farming practices. That was until I learned that sustainability has over 100 definitions.
It’s hard to rely on a word with such flexibility. You have to keep explaining it in context: environmental sustainability, agricultural sustainability, social sustainability, or economic sustainability. I’ve moved on to more precise words, the topic of this week’s blog. Here’s an interesting word: regionalism. It’s an expression, custom or feature of a specific area. What’s the problem with regionalism? How does it translate in the world of food policy reform? What’s the best way to talk to stakeholders in rural and urban communities?
Continue reading “Food Talk: Why Regionalism Matters”
