Elisa Da Via'
Elisa Da Via' is a PhD student at the department of Development Sociology, Cornell University. Her research focuses on the mobilization of grassroots, agro-ecological alternatives to the corporate model of agriculture in Europe. More specifically, her dissertation examines the development of networks of seed saving and exchange in Spain, Italy, and France—networks that are engaged in the promotion of sustainable, peasant-led forms of production, research, and distribution starting from the selection and sharing of locally adapted seeds. Analyzing the relationship between agro-ecological production, peasant-led research, and direct consumption within a food sovereignty framework, her research seeks to reframe the debate on the social and ecological role of agriculture in Europe beyond the reductionism of market-based approaches to rural change.
