(University of Oregon, 2024-01-10) Olson, Tara; Meek, David
This thesis is an evaluation of the constraints and opportunities for agroecological transformation in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, in attempt to find what can be learned from the particularities of this context. Using a historical and ethnographic case study approach, I evaluate the strategies of food systems allies in the Oregon Community Food Systems Network. I explore how agroecology is being translated to contribute to socially just and ecologically sustainable agri-food systems. The case study is situated historically, through the frame of territory, to illuminate the particularities of place that enable and constrain transformation, beginning with settler colonization. Allies are contributing to transformation through a network approach, where they are able to facilitate transformative encounters between the grassroots and the regime, and build trust-based relationships amongst themselves to undo systemic lock-ins.
