Opinion by Navina Khanna.
Navina Khanna introduces the food justice movement in the USA, and how from the corner shop to Capitol Hill, communities are making waves, and fighting for fairer policies in both corporate and governmental sectors.

The case of Brent, a urban famer. The urban agriculture movement, sweeping across urban areas, from West Oakland to Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago to the Bronx and beyond, is a call to reclaim post-industrial abandoned lots, under-serviced public parks and vacant lots to grow fresh food for the people. The movement is often called “food justice” , representing the idea that healthy food for our people is a human right, not a privilege.

Vegetation cover in vineyards can be used to manage soil structure, organic matter, hydrology, erosion, nutrient dynamics, diseases and insect pests, while conserving wild plant species and biodiversity.

Through Seattle Tilth, urban dwellers support principles of agroecology by learning about organic gardening, composting, and community building.

Using flea beetles and sheep grazing, ranchers can manage the perennial rangeland weed leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.), while reducing herbicide usage, controlling costs, and restoring grasslands for cattle grazing and wildlife.

The United Indian Health Village is an integrated landscape and health clinic, designed to restore native plants, wetlands, and garden food production to the landscape and to nurture the health of the region’s Native American population.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) provides locally grown organic farm products to the community of Santa Cruz, California.

Voices from over 80 farmers and fisherfolks from US, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela and Haiti about what food sovereignty means to them and how they are pursuing it or obstacles they face when pursuing it.  

This guide is written for anyone seeking help from federal programs to foster sustainable and innovative initiatives in this country associated with agriculture and forestry.

Our aim is to describe open-ended case studies for learning real-life problem solving skills, and relate this approach to conventional, closed-ended decision case studies. Teaching methods are open-ended cases in agroecology, an alternative to traditional strategies that lead students through prepared materials and structured discussions to determine an outcome already known to the instructor.