Food systems contribute to multiple crises while failing to deliver healthy, nutritious food for all. A substantial amount of research suggests that the root cause of this issue lies in the complete integration of food systems within global capitalism and the consequent subordination of fairness and sustainability to profit accumulation.

This paper draws on critical political economy to explore how the integration of food systems within global capitalism and their subordination to profit occur. Subsequently, it illustrates how this subordination erodes the autonomy of food producers, with strong environmental and social consequences for consumers and society at large.

Lastly, the paper discusses how agroecology could transform food systems and enhance producers' autonomy while mitigating environmental and social dysfunction. We stress how the transformative power of agroecology lies in its double nature: concrete (technical) and social (political). By acting in both dimensions, agroecology can help reorient food systems away from profit accumulation and towards better meeting community needs, in line with the tenets of food sovereignty.