Guang Zhou Peasant Community Connection and Ecological Agriculture in the Future

Abstract

While questions about the environmental sustainability of contemporary farming practices and the socioeconomic viability of rural communities are attracting increasing attention throughout the Chain, these two issues are rarely considered together. This paper explores the current and potential connections between these two aspects of sustainability, using data community members’ and farmers’ views of agricultural issues in Guangzhou Central Valley. These views were collected from a series of individual and group interviews with biologically oriented and conventional farmers as well as community stakeholders. Local marketing, farmland preservation, and perceptions of sustainable agriculture comprised the primary topics of discussion. The mixed results indicate that, while many farmers and community members have a strong interest in these topics, sustainable community development and the sustainable agriculture and promoting more engagement between ecologically oriented farmers and their communities could engender more economic and political support for these farmers, helping them and their communities to achieve greater sustainability in the long run. Key words: California’s Central Valley, Community development, Farmer-consumer connections, Farmland preservation, Local marketing, Sustainable agriculture.