Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Agriculture and Human Values (2019) 36:611–626 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9780-1 SYMPOSIUM/SPECIAL ISSUE Food sovereignty education across the Americas: multiple origins, converging movements David Meek 1  · Katharine Bradley 2  · Bruce Ferguson 3  · Lesli Hoey 4  · Helda Morales 3  · Peter Rosset 5  · Rebecca Tarlau 6 Accepted: 7 March 2017 / Published online: 22 March 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2019 Abstract Social movements are using education to generate critical consciousness regarding the social and environmental unsustain- ability of the current food system, and advocate for agroecological production. In this article, we explore results from a cross-case analysis of six social movements that are using education as a strategy to advance food sovereignty. We conducted participatory research with diverse rural and urban social movements in the United States, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, and Mexico, which are each educating for food sovereignty. We synthesize insights from critical food systems education and the political ecology of education in analyzing these cases. We compare the thematic similarities and diference between these move- ments’ education initiatives in terms of their emergence, initial goals, expansion and institutionalization, relationship to the state, theoretical inspirations, pedagogical approach, educational topics, approach to student research, and outcomes. Among these thematic areas, we fnd that student-centered research on competing forms of production is an integral way to advance critical consciousness about the food system and the political potential of agroecological alternatives. However, what counts, as success in these programs, is highly case-dependent. For engaged scholars committed to advancing education for food sovereignty, it is essential to refect upon the lessons learned and challenges faced by these movements. Keywords Food sovereignty · Critical pedagogy · Education · Critical food systems education · Political ecology of education · Social movements Abbreviations ANAP National Association of Small Farmers (Cuba) CaC Campesino a Campesino (Cuba) CPATI Colonia Pirai Agroecological Technical Insti- tute (Bolivia) EBUFFS East Bay Urban Farmer Field School (USA) FW Food Warriors (USA) LabVida Laboratorios para la Vida (Mexico) MACaC Farmer-to-Farmer Agroecology Movement (Cuba) MST Landless Workers Movement (Brazil) Introduction Agrarian scholars have long debated how political and economic processes mediate the production, circulation, and employment of agricultural knowledge (Cleaver 1972; Dissanayake 1992; Morgan and Murdoch 2000). Central questions include: whose knowledge counts in advancing agricultural development (Thompson and Scoones 1994; Carolan 2006; Lewontin and Levins 2007; Ingram 2008)?; how do fnancial incentives privilege particular forms of agricultural knowledge production (Shepherd 2005; Klop- penburg 1988; Henke 2008)?; how do class, racial and other forms of power relations mediate access to knowledge (Gray et al. 1997; Daniel 2013)?; and what is the relation between knowledge and transitions to sustainable agriculture (Eshuis and Stuiver 2005; Stuiver et al. 2004; Caron et al. 2014)? Despite these extensive debates, agrarian studies scholars * David Meek ddmeek@ua.edu 1 University of Alabama, 350 Mars Spring Road, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA 2 University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA 3 ECOSUR, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico 4 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA 5 La Via Campesina/ECOSUR, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico 6 Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA