The Meshwork of Alternative Food Systems: Negotiating Sustainability in Chiapas, Mexico Public
King, Hilary Brooks (2017)
Published
Abstract
The relationship of food to political, social and economic life makes it a powerful vector for exploring effects of and responses to agricultural industrialization. Critics of industrial farming have described ecological and socioeconomic crises such as loss of biodiversity, climate change, pollution of natural resources, negative health outcomes, and the displacement and dispossession of small-scale farmers. They see these crises as reasons to develop alternative agricultural systems grounded in different logics. An array of initiatives around the world have galvanized around food as a vehicle for promoting more just, connective, and sustainable food systems.
The nature and potential of "alternative food systems" (AFS) are debated and contested. Through an in-depth ethnographic study of AFS initiatives in Chiapas, Mexico, this dissertation uses the concept of meshwork to illuminate the achievements and tensions generated as people work to actualize competing and sometimes contradictory ideas of sustainability. This dissertation examines how different sustainability criteria - agroecological production methods, social embeddedness, relocalization, and education as a means to build commitment to change - are negotiated and operationalized in Chiapas.
This dissertation illuminates the everyday social change processes through which people and organizations attempt to foster particular values and behavior among varied stakeholders. Extended fieldwork centered on spaces of food production and consumption and initiatives engaged in activities of alternative food systems. Documenting the ways such initiatives succeed and fail to enroll a range of supporters over time reveals the complex and organic nature of these initiatives as they manifest on the ground.
This research contributes to existing anthropological work on social change, the anthropology of food and agrarian studies, and studies of sustainability. By examining diverse approaches to building more sustainable food systems, it explores how this diversity shapes and is shaped by broader economic, cultural, and political forces. This shows that many experiments within alternative food systems are ephemeral, they build upon each other to broaden bases of support and develop diverse, new solutions. Findings will be of mounting significance to scholars and practitioners as they work to understand the ideological and practical tensions that accompany the generation of alternative food systems.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements................................................................................................... i
Dedication............................................................................................................... iv
Table of Figures........................................................................................................ x
Table of Tables......................................................................................................... x
Abbreviations........................................................................................................... x
Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................................. 1
The Globalization of Food.................................................................................. 4
Competing Pathways: Industrial and Alternative Food Systems.............................. 9
Defining Sustainability in Food Systems............................................................. 14
Paths Toward Sustainability: Policy, Processes and Everyday Social Change............ 20
Documenting Everyday Social Change in the Food System.................................... 24
Meshwork: A Relational Framing of Alternative Food Systems................................ 28
Engagement Ladders: Concretizing Understandings of Social Change Processes....... 31
An Ethnography of Everyday Social Change......................................................... 33
Organization of the Dissertation......................................................................... 36
Chapter 2 : Mexico, Maize and Mujeres: Background and Methods for an Ethnography of Everyday Social Change..39
San Cristóbal de las Casas: An Alternative Center................................................. 41
Contemporary Responses to Agricultural Industrialization in Mexico......................... 51
Maize as a Vector for Exploring Food Systems........................................................56
Mujeres y Maí-z: Host Organization...................................................................... 66
The Extended Case Method and Reflexive Science.................................................. 67
Positionality: My Roots in Food Movements........................................................... 71
Data Collection.................................................................................................. 75
Active Participant Observation............................................................................. 75
Interview Data.................................................................................................. 79
Casual Consumer Interviews............................................................................... 79
In-Depth Interviews: Producers, Consumers and Animators..................................... 81
Document Analysis............................................................................................. 85
Data Analysis.................................................................................................... 86
Anonymity........................................................................................................ 87
Limitations and Avenues for Future Inquiry........................................................... 88
Conclusion........................................................................................................ 91
Chapter 3 : The Social Economy of Handmade Tortillas: Webs of Relations in Food Systems in San Cristóbal... 92
Five Vignettes of Handmade Tortilla Sales............................................................. 93
1. Municipal Market............................................................................................ 93
2. Ambulant Sales.............................................................................................. 97
3. Pequeño Sol School - A Fixed, Independent Sales Location................................... 101
4. La Milpa Restaurant - A Project of the Mujeres y Maíz Collective........................... 103
5. The AgroEco Market - Tianguis Comida Sana y Cercana....................................... 107
A Social Economy of Handmade Tortillas............................................................... 113
Pricing.............................................................................................................. 113
Quality Evaluations............................................................................................. 118
Location............................................................................................................ 125
Degrees of Intimacy and Personal Connection......................................................... 131
Conclusion......................................................................................................... 144
Chapter 4 : Knots in Meshwork: Diversity in Alternative Food Systems ............................... 147
Origins of the Mujeres y Maíz Collective................................................................... 148
From a Basket to a Market to a Collective................................................................ 148
Roots in The Tortilla Crisis: Inspiring the Groundwork for a Regional Maize Economy...... 152
The Blooming of Mujeres y Maíz.............................................................................. 157
Knots in Meshwork: Diverse AFS Initiatives in San Cristóbal........................................ 162
La Casa del Pan - An Established Business with Alternative Food System Values............ 166
Cacao Solidario - A Solidarity Buying Group.............................................................. 170
Meal Vouchers and Healthy Eating Workshops at La Milpa........................................... 177
Engagement Ladders: Understanding Participation in Diverse Food Systems.................. 187
Conclusion............................................................................................................ 195
Chapter 5 : Skill, Benefit and Engagement in Mujeres y Maíz................................................ 196
Mujeres y Maíz: A Growing Collective....................................................................... 197
Roles and Relationships within MyM......................................................................... 202
Fitting into the Mesh: MyM Membership as Part of Diversified Livelihood Strategies........ 205
Programs and Projects of Mujeres y Maíz.................................................................. 209
From Connection to Action: Skill Development and Agency in Meshwork....................... 211
Engagement Ladders: Movement Within the Meshwork.............................................. 214
Benefits of Participation......................................................................................... 216
Paid Work............................................................................................................ 217
Infrastructure Support........................................................................................... 220
Skill and Experience Acquisition.............................................................................. 224
Expanded Social Networks..................................................................................... 229
Personal Development.......................................................................................... 231
The Affective Dimension of Collective Building.......................................................... 235
Expanding the Utility of Engagement Ladders........................................................... 246
Conclusion........................................................................................................... 249
Chapter 6 : Storied Knowledge in Meshwork: Consumer Engagement with Alternative Food System Values and Behaviors................................................................................................................................. 252
Storied Knowledge: Knowledge and Engagement in Meshwork..................................... 253
Demographics of La Milpa Patrons............................................................................ 256
The Storied Knowledge of AFS: The Many Paths of La Milpa Patrons.............................. 261
Food and Taste Preferences.................................................................................... 262
Health Concerns and Health Promotion..................................................................... 264
Economic Support and Solidarity............................................................................. 267
Cultural Heritage................................................................................................... 270
Care for the Environment....................................................................................... 273
Food Sovereignty and Anti-Globalization.................................................................. 275
The Context of Knowledge: Engaging with the Themes of AFS..................................... 278
Applying Storied Knowledge: Behavior Change Among Participants.............................. 283
Changes in Food Procurement and Eating Habits....................................................... 284
Education of Self and Others.................................................................................. 288
Participation in Different Communities and Events..................................................... 291
Adoption of New Food-Related Skills and Practices.................................................... 294
Multiple Ladders of Engagement: Knowledge and Behavior Change............................. 296
Putting Behavior Change in Context........................................................................ 297
Conclusion........................................................................................................... 301
Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Ever-Evolving Weave of Food Systems........................................304
The Ever-Evolving Weave: A Recap......................................................................... 304
Evolutions of Mujeres y Maí-z................................................................................... 306
A Return to Sustainability Criteria............................................................................ 310
A Meshwork of Diverse Food Systems....................................................................... 316
The Potential of Engagement Ladders....................................................................... 319
An Ethnography of Everyday Social Change............................................................... 321
References.................................................................................................................... 327
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