With data as a starting point, we asked  what can we learn from applying social ecology theories together with producers values, and what we know about patterns of change in complex adaptive systems? How might this inform the way we understand the value of local food production relative to place and transformative social change?

Social Ecologist Murray Bookchin said all problems are social problems, including environmental issues and climate change. We live a global market based economy that exalts individualism, consumerism, and a hierarchy where some of us are rendered inhuman, abject and “dependent”, while some of, by virtue of wealth, because we can buy whatever we want without having to engage with the human beings who made that thing, exist within the illusion that we are completely independent. Right now, the web of interdependence is largely built on exploitation: People of privilege can rely on the exploitation of the Nicaraguan workers growing the bananas they put on their breakfast cereal, and the Indian children who salvage the materials for their I-phone. Because those of us with “privilege” can conveniently forget our interdependence. This reinforces the very systems of domination and control, that are necessary to perpetuate capitalism, and is a huge social problem. Not one we want to model our place-basedlocal and regional food systems on. Considering the fact that values-driven, community-based local food enterprises are emplaced in a highly competitive economic system with a grow-or-die bottom line imperative, we have to ask does the language and metrics commonly used to attribute value to these enterprises serve the local food movement, or work at cross-purposes to it?

This is just the beginning , some primary research, but I'd like to share a little bit of what we learned with you...........