Exploring the “works with nature” pillar of food sovereignty: a review of empirical cases in academic literature

Food Sovereignty (FS) is growing in popularity in food-nature academic discussions. This systematic review depicts 1) the level of engagement and 2) the topics related to the “Works with Nature” pillar (WwNP) of food sovereignty present in the academic literature. Most articles engaged with this pillar. Common topics included ecological agriculture practices, rejecting intensive-industrial agriculture and exploring how human-nature values and traditional ecological knowledge are affected. An in-depth engagement with ecological conditions (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and resilience) was less prominent. We conclude that a broader variety of topics could be explored to support politically engaged research on the systemic nature of food purported by a paradigm born from grassroots movements.