About Us
Our mission
The mission of the Center for Agroecology is to advance agroecology and equitable food systems through experiential education, participatory research, agricultural extension, and public service.
Our work
We engage with a wide range of learners, from university students to small farmers and community members, to provide hands-on education in agriculture and the food system.
We support small farmers and food businesses through technical assistance and purchasing and work to provide UC Santa Cruz students access to affordable organic produce and prepared meals. We offer guidance and resources for university students who work to make the campus food system more sustainable and equitable through research, event organizing, and growing and providing food for their peers.
Our staff and faculty collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects that focus primarily on improving organic farming practices and increasing the sustainability of local food systems. We manage the 30-acre UCSC Farm and 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden at UC Santa Cruz, which provide outdoor classrooms and living laboratories to affiliates across campus and beyond.
What is agroecology?
We define agroecology as the integrative study of the entire food system, encompassing ecological, economic and social dimensions. We acknowledge that in order to create an ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just food system, agroecology must integrate science and research, technology and practices, indigenous knowledge, and movements for social change. We embrace agroecology as a transdisciplinary, participatory, action-oriented, and politically-engaged transformation of the food system. We also recognize the foundations of agroecology as a peasant social movement, and its current context in food sovereignty movements across the world.
What is a food system?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the concept of a “food system” represents a contrast to notions of agriculture and food production and consumption as a simple, linear chain from farm to table. Food systems are, instead, complex networks that include all the inputs and outputs associated with agricultural and food production and consumption. Food systems can vary substantially from place to place and over time, depending on location specific conditions. The food systems concept provides a comprehensive framing through which to assess the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability.
