The role of intermediaries in transitions to agroecology in the Upper Midwest

Amidst an increasingly volatile climate, degraded natural resources, and an inequitable distribution of costs and benefits in our food system, there is a great interest in understanding how to instigate transitions to more sustainable agri-food systems. This research project brings together concepts from sustainability transitions and agroecology to advance a conceptual understanding of agri-food transition intermediaries. Intermediaries are thought to play important roles in systemic transformation processes through their work of connecting diverse entities, building networks, and mobilizing resources to create momentum for systemic change. However, research on intermediaries has largely centered technology and innovation in change-making processes, which is somewhat misaligned with agroecology’s broader aims of achieving a food system that is ecologically sustainable, socially just, and economically viable. This suggests that intermediaries in transitions to agroecology may require distinct concepts and frameworks that better attend to the expansive set of values that people bring to agroecological transitions, a gap that this research project attempts to fill. Through a case study of intermediaries attempting to advance regional agricultural diversification in the U.S. Midwest, a principles-based approach to conceptualizing intermediaries in transitions to agroecology is proposed. Intermediaries were guided by three core principles of agroecological repair, building social infrastructure, and redistributing power in agri-food systems, and envisioned an agroecological transition broadly based in health, diversity, resiliency, equity, regionality and a good life. This research project moves beyond functionalist descriptions of what intermediaries do, to develop guiding principles that can be used to evaluate intermediaries in agroecological transition efforts.