Traditional, Indigenous, and place-based knowledge offer essential insights for sustainable pathways, yet they are regularly excluded from decision-making about agricultural and food system funding, policies, and actions. Centering a diversity of knowledge and ways of knowing is critical to deepening democracy in agricultural research, innovation, and implementation to address these issues and improve outcomes.

This article emphasizes the importance of epistemic justice, intercultural co-creation, and knowledge mutualism and exchange in democratizing knowledge-policy processes. These principles are essential for addressing biases and empowering marginalized communities in shaping food system transformations.