1 Learning to Grow Sustainable and Proximal Food in Alberta

Many farmers and consumers identify a myriad of shortcomings with the current agrifood system. A fundamental shortcoming is the phenomenon often referred to as distancing (Kneen, 1993): the increasing physical and psycho-social distance between growing food and eating it. In response, there are a number of farmers who are learning to grow proximal and sustainable food. These farmers initially farmed chemically—using herbicides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other chemically derived substances endemic to so-called modern agriculture—but now grow food that seeks to redress many of the problems of the hegemonic agrifood system. Based on interviews with Albertan sustainable farmers (Mündel, 2007), this research suggests that a deliberately counterhegemonic approach to growing food can play an important role in the (re)creation of a sustainable agrifood system. This paper will briefly outline some of the aspects of distancing extant in the current agrifood system, this study’s methods, and farmers ’ expressions of proximal and sustainable food. Distancing in the current agrifood system The current agrifood system—the way in which the growth, distribution and consumption o