Alliances for agroecology: from climate change to food system change

Agroecological models have the potential to contribute to both the fight against climate change and a shift away from the dominant food system. In this article, I discuss the challenges that ecological farmers in Canada are facing in terms of scaling out agricultural systems that will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. I draw on Gramscian theories to argue that alliance-building is required in order to advance a counter-hegemonic agroecology in Canada, with those alliances going beyond narrowly conceived class-based interests. I suggest that the challenges farmers are facing highlight the need for a just transition in agriculture, and that the social transformation that this would entail means that proponents of agroecology must consider the positionalities of environmentalists, scholars, farmers and farm workers, and Indigenous peoples across the country.