Miguel Altieri:
“The term agroecology has come to mean many things. Loosely defined, agroecology often incorporates ideas about a more environmentally and socially sensitive approach to agriculture, one that focuses not only on production, but also on the ecological sustainability of the production systems. This might be called the ‘normative’ or ‘prescriptive’ use of the term agroecology, because it implies a number of features about society and production that go well beyond the limits of the agricultural field….Agroecology focuses on ecological relations in the field, and its purpose is to illuminate the form, dynamics and function of these relations.”
From Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture (2nd Edition). Miguel Altieri with contributions by John Farrell, Susanna Hecht, Matt Liebman, Fred Magdoff, Bill Murphy, Richard Norgaard and Thomas Sikor. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. 1995.
