This week’s reading “Broccoli and Desire” by Benson and Fischer was quite interesting, especially to read the two different perspectives of Susan and Pablo! 

I’ll be honest, I never really thought that much about broccoli before, nor do I really spend much time contemplating about where each individual food has been produced in the grocery store. However, reading this made me realize how closely my thoughts aligned with the mentality of the aesthetics surrounding food – and in the context of this reading, with broccoli. I think ever since I was little, broccoli was a food I’ve only seen as “healthy” and nutritious. Similar to the shoppers they interviewed, I also looked towards the freshness, ripeness, color, texture, and consistency of the foods that I am purchasing. Although I mentioned that I don’t think too much about where the produce has been grown and imported – I am also not surprised that lots of the food does come from abroad. Something that I found interesting though, was how some shoppers told them that they prefer imported produce because, “big farms in California use too many pesticides and chemicals”. I thought this was interesting because it brought me back to the concept of “authenticity”, and how there seems to be this theme of looking for this authenticity and Indigenous “authenticity”. But in these instances, failing to recognize that the farmers in Guatemala also use chemicals, and that pesticide applications are one of the main challenges that they face.

Something that I also thought about while reading this, was how many of the Maya farmers and broccoli farmers are looking for a better future through these productions. They are looking to provide for their families, strengthen their values and traditions. Additionally, some farmers believe that shipping produce from their fields to the US, is impressive since they see it has the “biggest” and the “best” market in the world. My main thoughts about this is that, even though there are positive outcomes of agriculture in the region – there can also be a cycle of exploitation present, since the farmers do have the control over the production but they are still dependent on exporters for market access. Especially since they mentioned that there are many small farmers that are preyed upon by intermediaries who use their privileged access to market information and the farmers’ need to sell in order to sustain themselves and their families. I’ve seen it mentioned in a few others blog posts, but it definitely is this idea of chasing the “American Dream”, that the Western way is the best way, and that if you work hard enough you can achieve whatever you want – when that isn’t exactly fair to state since there are economic inequalities that make their life chances different from those (like Susan) who are purchasing and consuming the broccoli, instead of being the ones producing and trying to survive and sustain themselves.