Agroecology to Combat the Climate Crisis

By Eric Holt-Gimenez, Ph.D., Krista Marshall, Katia R. Avilés Vázquez, and Helda Morales - Science for the People, November 5, 2020

The fourth of a series of virtual teach-ins on A People's Green New Deal. For more information visit this page.

Related Science for the People Magazine article: A New Vision for American Agriculture: The Just and Equitable Transition Toward Agroecology, by Krista Marshall and Kelsey Brewer.

Panelists:

• Katia R. Avilés Vázquez holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied the Cultural and Political Ecology of small-scale farmers in Puerto Rico. Her research highlights community-based adaptations, and engages the topic from a grassroots activism perspective, to both continually test its validity, and increase its reach. She has co-authored more than a dozen articles, book chapters, and technical reports, including Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply. After Hurricane María she has re-focused her work on local capacity building and the distribution of resources for local entities, securing more than $10M for projects by and for Puerto Rico residents. Her work has been highlighted in local and international news outlets, and she has received the EPA Environmental Champion Award, as well as the ESF Graduate of Distinction Award.
• Helda Morales is a professor in agroecology and sustainable food systems at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, a research center in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. She conducts research on how to scale out agroecology, while working with teachers, urban farmers, women organizations and farmers’ markets.
• Krista Marshall is currently a PhD student in California studying agroecology through collaborations with researchers, farmers, and extension specialists. She was drawn to agroecology because of its foundations in food sovereignty as the basis for reconnecting people with our food productions and the ecosystems that support them. When not absorbed by the complexities of agriculture, she enjoys exploring the cultural, historical, community-building, and healing powers of the foods that end up on our plates.
• Eric Holt-Gimenez, Ph.D. was the executive director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy (July 2006—July 2019). Called one of the country's “most established food think tanks” by the New York Times, Food First’s mission is to end the injustices that cause hunger, poverty and environmental degradation throughout the world. Eric earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California –Santa Cruz, and has an MSc. in International Agricultural Development from University of California, Davis. He is the author and editor of several books, including, Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?; A Foodies Guide to Capitalism; Land Justice; Food Movements Unite!; Food Rebellions; and Campesino a Campesino, as well as many academic and magazine articles and blogs. Moderator: Ivette Perfecto is Professor of Environmental Justice at University of Michigan and a member of Science for the People.

Moderator:

• Ivette Perfecto is Professor of Environmental Justice at University of Michigan and a member of Science for the People.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.