Agroecology and nutritional health: A comparison of agroecological farmers and their neighbors in the Ecuadorian highlands
通过厄瓜多尔的调查数据，比较农业生态农户与普通农户的饮食，发现前者在营养充足性和膳食适度性上更优，且花费更少，表明农业生态网络有潜力改善营养健康。
Agroecology has received much attention as a sustainable production strategy that may leverage agriculture-nutrition linkages to positively impact farmer nutritional health, but its potential has not been thoroughly established through empirical assessment. This mixed methods study uses survey data from Ecuador to assess how farmers' participation in agroecological associations may impact their diets. Our results suggest that agroecological farmers outperform reference farming neighbors on both nutrient adequacy (i.e. meeting key nutrient needs) and dietary moderation (i.e. avoiding dangerous excesses). Stronger nutrient adequacy is likely related to agroecological farmers' higher production diversity as well as the social and human capital developed within their networks, while stronger dietary moderation is likely related to their greater consumption of foods obtained through own-production and the social economy (e.g. barter). Dietary differences between agroecological and reference farmers occur despite similar incomes and other socioeconomic characteristics, and in fact, agroecological farmers achieve healthier diets while spending less money to purchase foods. Agroecology-based famers' networks may thus hold promise for integrating nutritional health priorities into sustainable food systems.