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Seeds of Change: Women Cultivating Food Sovereignty in Hawai'i and Aotearoa

You are invited to join us for our final colloquium of the semester with Dr. Monique Mironesco's book launch, Seeds of Change: Women Cultivating Food Sovereignty in Hawai'i and Aotearoa. While alternative food networks (AFNs) are often framed as solutions to the failures of industrial food systems, they have also been critiqued for reinforcing elitism and exclusion. This study foregrounds how Indigenous women confront not only the violence of industrial agriculture but also inequities within AFNs themselves. Though situated in distinct political, social, and ecological contexts, the strategies of women in Hawai‘i and Aotearoa offer transferable insights and best practices for other island communities and beyond. The book is structured around three central themes: women’s leadership in AFNs; the amplification of Indigenous and marginalized voices; and a solution-oriented approach that shares lessons across Oceania. Based on interviews with 48 women—including farmers, union leaders, composters, market organizers, and educators—the research reflects a wide spectrum of food system actors embedded in nonprofit and grassroots networks. A core aim of the book is to generate an actionable toolkit and to ensure that the knowledge shared through these stories supports broader movements for food sovereignty and ecological justice. Dr. Monique Mironesco is a professor of Political Science at the University of Hawaii-West O'ahu. Her research interests include the politics of the food system, as it relates both to gender and sustainability, though not always at the same time. She teaches a wide variety of courses in the Political Science program, focusing on distance education offerings. She started the first online Political Science program in Hawaii in 2008 in order to provide access to a Social Sciences Bachelor's degree with a concentration in Political Science to neighbor island students. Date: Friday, April 17, 2026 Time: 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm Place: Crawford 115 Books will be available for purchase on site. Mahalo!

Event Sponsor
Ethnic Studies, American Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Dr. Heijin Lee, (808) 956-7464, shjlee@hawaii.edu