Giuseppe Feola delivers keynote talk

Giuseppe Feola delivered the keynote talk at the opening session of the 15th Conference of the International Farming Systems Association in Trapani, Italy, on 1 July 2024.

The talk, titled ‘Postgrowth farming systems: critique, visions, pathways‘, argued that the unsustainability and injustice of industrial food systems in modern capitalist societies have roots not merely in socio-technical or managerial fallacies, but also, and more importantly, in political-economic structures, and in cultural models of extractivist and exploitative capitalist development. Starting from a critique of our dominant socio-economic system which pursues growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction, the talk sketched visions and pathways for postgrowth farming systems. With no ambition to paint a comprehensive and perhaps even a fully coherent picture, the talk aimed to provide food for thought to imagine and practice farming systems – and forms of society and economy more broadly – that ensure environmental justice and a good life for all within planetary boundaries.

Abstract: Sustainable farming systems are essential for societies to be able to thrive within planetary boundaries. The debate on farming systems sustainability is heated and multiple visions compete to cast light on the future of food production and consumption in Europe and worldwide. Yet, the debate is also stuck in existing approaches and for many, it has become difficult to imagine pathways to just and sustainable farming systems. This talk discusses farming system sustainability from a degrowth perspective. Starting from a critique of our dominant socio-economic system which pursues growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction, this talk charts a vision for postgrowth farming systems, stimulating us to imagine and practice farming systems – and forms of society and economy more broadly – that ensure environmental justice and a good life for all within planetary boundaries.