ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine is set to host a hybrid talk, Transforming Food Systems through Agroecology at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30.

All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series are free and offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall on the UMaine campus.

Ernesto Méndez, professor of agroecology at the University of Vermont, will define agroecology and discuss how it can bring together farmers, academics, activists and policy makers to better understand and reshape food systems. He will describe the core causes driving food system issues and, using a participatory research approach, possible solutions that are also centered on equity.

Using an example with coffee farmers in Mexico, he also will discuss the challenges and opportunities of this approach and its future potential.

Méndez’s research and teaching focus on agroecology, smallholder coffee systems, participatory action research and transdisciplinary research approaches. He has over 25 years of experience working with smallholder and Indigenous farmers in Latin America and collaborating in agroecology efforts in Vermont and around the world. He is also active in advancing issues of justice, equity, anti-racism, diversity and belonging.

Registration is required to attend remotely; to register and receive connection information, see the event page at umaine.edu.

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or [email protected].

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