Thread
Agroecology, Ecological Health, and More-Than-Human Food Systems
This thread explores food security as an ecological and more-than-human problem. It connects agroecology, Indigenous knowledge, public health, microbiomes, soil, climate resilience, and the limits of human-centred food policy.
What this thread connects
This thematic path brings together conversations, durable analysis, and time-sensitive intelligence so the subject can be followed across the Future Herd archive rather than through a single episode or article.
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26: Agroecology Is the How-To of Food Sovereignty
Charles Levkoe, food systems researcher at Lakehead University, makes the case that agroecology is not simply a set of farming techniques but the practical expression of food sovereignty — the means by which communities assert democratic control over how food is grown, harvested, and governed. Drawing on his background as an agroecological farmer, nonprofit practitioner, and academic, Levkoe argues that isolating any single dimension of the food system — whether soil science, policy, or indigenous knowledge — guarantees worse outcomes than thinking through their interconnection. The conversation challenges listeners to move beyond individual consumer choices and reckon with the structural, historical, and political forces that shape what kind of food system is even possible.