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School-aged children living in Montgomery and Troy located in Central Alabama are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. This study used a one-group pre-test–post-test research design to investigate if gardening and nutritional activities could be used as effective intervention to reduce levels of food insecurity among school-aged children. Statistical results found that several of the participants live in urban food deserts. Food insecurity scores were higher for participants in Montgomery compared to those in Troy, AL. The relationship between parental income, household size, and location were important indicators for measuring food insecurity among participants. Recommendations for future research include expanding the scope of study to different sites and climates with larger samples to enhance our understanding of gardening and nutritional educational activities on food insecurity among school-aged children.

Although urban agricultural programs rarely alleviate the pressures of food insecurity on a large scale, community gardens and urban farms are still cropping up in underserved communities and gentrifying areas of redevelopment. This paper identifies the purposes these programs serve for their communities and argues that with government support, grassroots approaches can combat complex problems. Using qualitative and quantitative sources employing a wide range of social research methodology to establish triangulation including but not limited to: case studies; interviews, quantitative analysis of land values; comparative analyses of vacant land policies; urban archives news documents and photographs; empirical models of urban land use and food distribution. The study illustrates the community food garden as an oasis from the typical threats of food insecurity, violence, and sexual harassment urban areas often pose. This collection of qualitative data support existing literature which states that if maintained, community agricultural projects result in a multitude of social, economic, environmental, and physical health benefits. Finally, this paper suggests that with proper support, these small programs can have larger societal impacts. This paper views community agricultural projects as an overlooked vehicle for social and structural change. Community members know the struggles in their neighborhoods best; Grassroots programs like urban gardens leverage social dynamics that create sustainable change.

In the United States, the increasing availability of hormone, antibiotic, and pesticide-free food is largely limited by price and proximity to the upper and middle classes. Similarly, the burgeoning of urban farmers’ markets and other direct marketing venues tend to benefit those who can afford locally raised food. Attempts to rectify this disparity are underway in the movement to link small farmers with residents of low-income neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky's largest city. Incipient commercialization and processing channels are intended to aid area farmers as they make the difficult transition out of tobacco dependency, and simultaneously to provide people living in Louisville's food deserts with affordable, locally produced foods. In this activist marketplace, symbiotic and trusting relationships are essential. I explore these issues through a case study of a new farmer–owner food distribution business, one designed to profit while growing the local food system.

This introduction provides an overview of the discourse on alternative agrifood movements (AAMs) to (1) ascertain the degree of convergence and divergence around a common ethos of alterity and (2) context the chapters of the book. AAMs have increased in recent years in response to the growing legitimation crisis of the conventional agrifood system. Some agrifood researchers argue that AAMs represent the vanguard movement of our time, a formidable counter movement to global capitalism. Other authors note a pattern of blunting of the transformative qualities of AAMs due to conventionalization and mainstreaming in the market. The literature on AAMs is organized following a Four Questions in Agrifood Studies (Constance, 2008) framework. The section for each Question ends with a case study to better illustrate the historical dynamics of an AAM. The literature review ends with a summary of the discourse applied to the research question of the book: Are AAMs the vanguard social movement of our time? The last section of this introduction provides a short description of each contributing chapter of the book, which is divided into five sections: Introduction; Theoretical and Conceptual Framings; Food Sovereignty Movements; Alternative Movements in the Global North; and Conclusions.

Educators often stress the importance and value of interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary measures that contribute to the holistic development of students through attention to experiential learning activities. However, collaborative approaches that reach outside or across disciplines are often overwhelming and time consuming for faculty to develop. Often, faculty would like to expand learning opportunities through collaborative approaches for their students to experience successful engagement although they may not have the “know-how.” This chapter provides a framework that can be used to develop both collaborative interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary teaching and inquiry-based engagement. The authors developed the PLACERS model (Plan, Create, Engage, Reflect, and Share) in an effort to extend learning experiences in a preprofessional learning environment and to advocate collaboration. Implementing this model, along with a variety of inquiry-based activities produces opportunities for students to increase content knowledge, engagement, and critical thinking skills. Moreover, it provides a guide/schema for educators to delve into collaborative instruction. This chapter documents the process of interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary collaboration between social science and professional practice faculty who developed transformational approaches to expand inquiry-based teaching through experiential learning. As a result of this collaboration, structured reflection strategies were developed which allowed students to: practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills, utilize 21st century technology, and increase content knowledge.

Research has established a connection between industrially-produced food and negative health outcomes. Scholars have also shown a significant link between poor food environments and health. This paper explores the experiences of university extension program agents in order to initiate greater dialogue about the role of extension in lessening the deleterious health impacts of unequal access to high quality and sufficient quantity foods. Specifically, we consider the role of food self-provisioning instruction (e.g., food gardening, preservation).

The paper draws on semi-structured interviews with 20 university extension program officers in the state of Washington.

Although our participants report that demand for education in food production skills is on the rise across Washington, there are barriers to the equitable distribution of self-provisioning skills.

There is considerable promise for extension programs to have positive implications for health and nutrition for communities struggling to access quality foods. To meet this progress, extension must be more aware of serving the entire public either through hiring agents mirror their constituencies or funding a more diverse array of programming.

Little existing research examines or evaluates using university extension programs as a vehicle for teaching food self-production, though these topics have been taught since the founding of extension.

In this chapter, the authors take a close look at the current discourse of food system relocalization. From the perspective of theories of justice and theories of neoliberalism, food relocalization is wrapped up in a problematic, and largely unexamined, communitarian discourse on social justice. The example for California's localized governance of pesticide drift demonstrates that localization can effectively make social justice problems invisible. The authors also look at the EU context, where a different form of localization discourse emphasizes the local capture of rents in the value chain as a neoliberal strategy of territorial valorization. Examining Marsden et al.'s case study of one of these localization projects in the UK, the authors argue that this strategy does not necessarily lead to more equitable forms of rural development. In fact, US and EU discourses are basically two sides of the same coin. Specifically, in neoliberal biopolitical form, they both obscure politics, behind either the discourse of “value” in the EU or “values” in the US. Rather than rejecting localism, however, the authors conclude by arguing for a more “reflexive” localism that harnesses the power of this strategy while consciously struggling against inequality in local arenas.

This chapter presents a poverty simulation as a critical pedagogical tool that breaks down preconceptions and provides information about real-life challenges experienced by those who are poor. It allows students to develop the critical thinking skills, perspective-taking, and empathy. It provides an opportunity to take social and intellectual risks, and motivates civic engagement for positive social change. As such, this chapter contributes to the volume’s focus on curriculum and pedagogical changes using education to promote social change. Simulation participants attempt to successfully negotiate four 15-minute weeks within families of various sizes and resources. At the conclusion of the simulation, participants take a few minutes to reflect in writing on their experience. Students identify and discuss the social structures that they felt helped to perpetuate their poverty, as well as how micro-level interactions (i.e., with service providers, teachers, police, people in their neighborhood) affected their outcomes. Results show students increased understanding of the social issues contributing to poverty as well as consequences of poverty, and they report an increased desire to take action to affect positive social change in their community. The chapter concludes with thoughts and recommendations on how students from various disciplines could benefit from this poverty simulation.