The doctors of agrifood studies

The Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society and the journal Agriculture and Human Values provided a crucial intellectual space for the early transdisciplinary critique of the industrial agrifood system. This paper describes that process and presents the concept of The Doctors of Agrifood Studies as a metaphor for the key role critical agrifood social scientists played in documenting the unsustainability of conventional agriculture and working to create an alternative, ethical, sustainable agrifood system. After the introduction, the paper details the Critical Turn in agrifood studies, followed by a reconsideration of my Four Questions framework, focusing on the current tension between the food security and food sovereignty discourses and movements.

Automated summary

The Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society and the journal Agriculture and Human Values played a crucial role in providing an intellectual space for interdisciplinary critique of the industrial agrifood system. This paper introduces the concept of The Doctors of Agrifood Studies as a metaphor for the important role played by critical agrifood social scientists in documenting the unsustainability of conventional agriculture and working towards creating a sustainable and ethical agrifood system. It also discusses the Critical Turn in agrifood studies and examines the tension between food security and food sovereignty discourses and movements.