Louise Kelleher

Local communities in rural and urban areas are leading on the transformation of local and regional food systems, even when policies and politics at national and EU levels fall way short.

A family of action-takers: farmers and food systems workers, elected officials, administrations, researchers and educators, and members of civil society organisations – some friends, many strangers – who came together to call for an integrated policy shift for sustainable farming practices and a resilient food system.

ARC2020 and friends were in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland on March 25-26 for the annual Feeding Ourselves gathering, which takes food and farming as an entry point for moving towards fairer, more caring communities.

Therefore, in addressing contemporary dilemmas, we must understand that academia, rural sociologists, architects, policymakers – and anyone who enjoys the privilege of speaking on behalf of ‘others’ – should make every effort to involve those who really struggle on the ground: the artists, the small-scale farmers, the young students, and the minorities who live precariously in rural territories.

It’s a source of satisfaction to Jacqueline that she and her family are very much present in the fields around the village where they live.

One reason she wanted to become a farmer was to see animals in the pastures.

In the words of Mathieu Hamon, another associate of La Ferme des 7 Chemins, if we are to tackle urgent issues: “We have to move fast but not too fast”. We can build rural resilience together, one act of unsung activism at a time.