ABSTRACT
Agroecology is understood by some as a field of science-a specialized subdiscipline of ecology-and by others more broadly as an approach to agriculture and food systems guided by ecological understanding and aimed at confronting environmental, economic, and social problems resulting from the detrimental side effects of agro-food industrialization. Gaining greater attention and acceptance in the United States in the 1980s, agroecology has increasingly become recognized at universities and government agencies as a field addressing concerns about the long-term sustainability of conventional agriculture. Although there has always been a clear emphasis on environmental impacts, some early works shaping current conceptions of agroecology also addressed socioeconomic aspects of agriculture and the particular challenges to and importance of small, resource-limited farmers in developing countries who often used traditional practices (Altieri 1987, 2002; Carroll et al. 1990; Gliessman 1990).
