Food Literacy for All Weekly Speakers: Hannah Wittman

Feb. 25 – Dr. Hannah Wittman 

Caring for Human and Planetary Health Through Agroecological Transitions

Dr. Hannah Wittman will discuss the concepts of agroecological transitions, food sovereignty, and planetary health. We will illustrate these concepts through exploring the work of agroecological networks in Ecuador and Brasil that connect growers and consumers through participatory certification, food literacy and solidarity actions. We will discuss rights and responsibilities among diverse actors in the food system to promote and ensure human and planetary health.

Reading Materials:

James, D., Wolff, R., & Wittman, H. (2023). “Agroecology as a Philosophy of Life.” Agric Hum Values 40, 1437–1450 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10455-1

Wittman, H. (2023). Food sovereignty: An inclusive model for feeding the world and cooling the planet. One Earth, 6(5), 474–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.04.011

Wittman, H., & Blesh, J. (2017). Food Sovereignty and Fome Zero : Connecting Public Food Procurement Programmes to Sustainable Rural Development in Brazil. Journal of Agrarian Change, 17(1), 81–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12131

Speaker Biography:

Hannah Wittman is a Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and is actively involved in the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the UBC Centre for Climate Justice, and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability . She also leads UBC’s Research Excellence Cluster in Diversified Agroecosystems. Dr. Wittman received her PhD from Cornell University in the field of Development Sociology and served as Project Lead of the World Committee on Global Food Security HLPE Report #16 Promoting youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems (2021). She conducts community-based and participatory action research related to food sovereignty, agrarian reform, agroecological transitions, open-source digital agroecology, and health equity in diverse global contexts.