Publication Date
Spring 5-13-2025
Document Type
Senior Integrative Project
Abstract
This exploration seeks to detangle the diverse lines of thinking, reasoning, and acting that make up the concept of food sovereignty, and to do so with the intention of understanding what its most actionable principles are. The topic is inspired by the traditional community-scale agriculture of campesino communities throughout Latin America, but specifically in the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca, Mexico. The ultimate questions are if and how the collectivity that often exists in these cultures can be applied to local food systems in New England to support regional food sovereignty. The ideas presented are drawn from personal experience, theoretical academic articles, practical case studies, and professional conversations.
The work begins with a personal narrative in order to geographically and culturally locate the reader. It goes on to give historical context for the emergence of the food sovereignty movement in Latin America, and continues into an explanation of how the industrial food system is intertwined with capitalism. Directly following this, as a counterpoint, descriptions of social collaboration around food are given, both from traditional practices in Latin America as well as from more recently established initiatives in the region. Current perspectives on food sovereignty are then outlined as a precursor to an analysis justifying why community-scale collaboration is an effective way of going about building regional food sovereignty. Finally, some practical considerations for organizing a community food system are discussed, acting as a transition to imagining the present and future of an alternative food system in New England. Examples and input from five local businesses and organizations are included in this final section in order to ground what would otherwise be a mainly theoretical exploration. The objective of having such delineated sections is to clearly emphasize some of the most relevant issues relating to community-scale liberation around food.
As a whole, the present work is an effort to tease out the contradictions present in the dominant food system and begin to suggest ways not to change it, but to weave another through it using both emergent and deeply historical tactics so that the former might eventually either transform or fall away in pieces.
Recommended Citation
Wagner, Torrance, "Weaving an Alternative Food System: The Implications of Campesino Community Structures for Food Sovereignty in New England" (2025). CISLA Senior Integrative Projects. 85.
https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sip/85
The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.