| Exploring ways in which local farmers articulate their place and discuss various pressures and opportunities in the food system is critical to understanding how communities are positioned to respond to growing concerns around environmental and social sustainability in agriculture. To address this issue, in-depth interview were conducted with farmers from 23 small/medium peri-urban farms in Hamilton, Ontario, and analyzed using a critical ethnographic approach. Results reveal participating farmers have complex understandings of their place in the food system; espousing strong counter-hegemonic values, utilizing opportunities at different scales, and drawing on conflicting political-economic theories in order to balance values with economic survival. Tensions running throughout farmers' comments point to barriers for advancing a much-needed collaborative movement towards sustainability and justice in the food system. These findings ground some of the abstract debates in the agrifood literature and offer insights for those working 'on the ground' to build more transformative food movements. |
