Farm for Care (FFC) is a platform for sharing stories and techniques for agroecology, exchanging ideas for collaborations and engagements, and developing communities of practice. It brings together a community of on-the-ground practitioners, entrepreneurs, alumni associations, students, professors, and all those interested in promoting agroecology in response to local food security, and broader concerns such as ecological justice, rural employment, challenges of small farmers, land use, climate change, human and land rights, and more.
Social change is clearly needed to address the chronic food crisis and interrelated challenges and realities. The United Nations reports that over 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food; this includes 8 percent of the population in North America and Europe. This is a global problem highlighted in indicator 1.2 of SDG 2: Zero Hunger, and is much greater in poorer countries. From a global perspective, the role of agriculture on which over 70% of the population are dependent directly or indirectly, there is no option but to revive Sustainable Agriculture and its direct relationship to the environment and ecology.
Focusing our discussions are six key areas:
- Diversity of Community Engagements
Highlighting the ways different communities are caring for land, food, and people - Food Security
Providing solutions for food access and resilience in varying conditions - Agropreneurship and market linkages
Promoting community resilience and food security through local entrepreneurship - Agroecology and the Larger Ecosystem
Understanding agroecology as a relationship with the wider ecosystem - Youth and Capacity
Encouraging and accompanying young people to drive sustainable food systems - Ecospirituality
Nourishing our relationship with the land and each other
The diversity of community engagements highlights the different ways communities and cultures care for the land, grow food, and grow together as a people. These actions contribute to greater food security and resilience, particularly in situations where local entrepreneurship is developed and supported in rural areas in need of social change. The accompaniment of young people is crucial as we seek renewed leadership to drive sustainable food systems in the context of a wider ecosystem. Tying together these elements is a deeper sense of ecospirituality that connects us in solidarity with neighbor and the environment.
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FFC is part of Ecojesuit’s commitment for enabling change through its Lead Actions, borne out of focused dialogue and discernment with the six Jesuit Conferences in responding to the call for collaboration expressed in the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), GC 36, and Laudato Si’. It seeks to explore ways to improve practical skills and improve local conditions, and to engage in broader concerns towards an integral ecology, putting the margins at the center.