Vínculo agroalimentario entre el campo y la ciudad: Hacia un enfoque de metabolismo agroecológico para América Latina

Abstract

Agriculture and produce have always provided a fundamental link between rural and urban areas. However, global agricultural trade has reduced the reliance of cities on their surrounding areas for food, resulting in both a disruption in the agri-food link and an increasing ecological imbalance.  This paper proposes to integrate the metabolic rift theory, rooted in political economy tradition, and agroecology, an approach extensively developed as a science, farming practice and social movement in Latin America. The emerging approach is called agroecological metabolism and helps to better understand the socio-ecological implications of the disruption and reconexion of the agri-food link between geographically proximate rural and urban sites. The paper also discusses the approach’s potential application in Latin America.