By 'transformation' we refer to "the process through which ways of thinking, feeling and doing food governance might be made more democratic and responsive to public concerns for equity, ecological stability, and justice." (Madden, 2024) 

In this project, "region" encompasses multiple interconnected scales of organization, from local food systems and city-regions to multi-state initiatives. New England represents a distinct multi-state region with shared history, ecosystems, and governance networks that transcend state boundaries while enabling coordination between local, state and regional initiatives. We also recognise the contested and multiple meanings of the idea of a “region”, and are looking at Indigenous territorial approaches, bioregioning and territorial governance of agroecology transformations as different ways of thinking about and enacting regional governance. 

Food governance includes formal governmental structures and processes (such as laws and polices) as well as broader processes of decision and norm-making about how food systems are governed.  Governance is not synonymous with government, but it is rather about who makes decisions, where, through what processes and ultimately about how power is exercised, with important implications for “who benefits and who does not from the process of change” It involves the coordination of public, private, and civic actors that influence how food systems operate at multiple scales. 

 Agroecology is a way of understanding and transforming food systems using social, ecological, and political principles to build food sovereignty, regenerate nature and create a more just society. It is rooted in indigenous practices and ancestral knowledge, which are combined with scientific knowledge to address the current food crisis. Agroecology is not only about changing farming techniques, but is also about transforming policy, science, cultures, and economies to bring about more just food systems. 

Put simply, food sovereignty asserts that people have the right to determine their own food and agriculture systems, including their production models, environments, markets and cultures. The concept of food sovereignty emerged through a collective, grassroots process over decades, and continues to evolve. But the common definition used today is the one developed by members of social movements, NGOs, and others at the Nyéléni International Movement for Food Sovereignty gathering in Mali, in 2007. An excerpt from the Nyéléni 2007 declaration reads as follows: 

Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation. It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers. Food sovereignty prioritises local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal -fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just income to all peoples and the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition. It ensures that the rights to use and manage our lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food. Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social classes and generations (2007: n.p.). 

A human rights-based approach that utilises legal systems to hold governments accountable to protect, defend and uphold the rights of all people to be free from hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. This framework centers equity and human dignity in food system governance.