Social sustainability reimagined: insights from beginning farmers

Social sustainability remains the least understood dimension of sustainable agriculture, despite growing concerns about agricultural worker well-being, stress, and structural inequities in the U.S. food system. To address this gap, we conducted a community-engaged, anti-oppressive qualitative study in partnership with a Midwestern agricultural organisation to explore how beginning farmers (those farming for 10 years or less) conceptualise and experience social sustainability. Using purposive, maximum variation sampling, we conducted 20 in-depth interviews with beginning farmers in the U.S. Midwest. Data were analyzed through an inductive coding process and organised by the Social Ecological Model. Three multilevel themes emerged across individual, relational, community, and societal systems. First, participants emphasised the need to “build the foundation”, including basic survival needs, economic viability, and start-up resources such as land, capital, labour, and technical skills. Second, participants described social support, including relationships with other agricultural workers and organisational networks, as essential for knowledge sharing and a sense of belonging. Third, participants noted the importance of structural factors in addressing inequities in land access, policy failures, and the need for expanded social safety nets. Participants provided critiques of capitalism rooted in their own experiences of extraction, exclusion, and misalignment with community wellbeing. They shared visions for alternative economic models, equity-centred practices, and regenerative approaches to sustainable agriculture. Findings offer a farmer-centred understanding of social sustainability among U.S. Midwestern agricultural workers and highlight multilevel opportunities for policy, organisational, and community action to support equity and well-being within sustainable agriculture.