For the first time, I have seen it written in paper that Latin Americans believe that whatever the US consumes, is the best. Living in a country like Peru for 6 years, I eventually grew up with the confusion in my head of why so many claimed that North America did everything right and we didn’t, something that did not sit right with me.

“some shoppers told us that they prefer imported produce because, as one man put it, “big farms in California use too many pesticides and chemicals”.” (Benson and Fischer, 2007, p. 809) demonstrates the ignorance of the consumers of today who fail to see that Guatemalan farmers grow their produce in a very similar way to Americans these days. I will admit, I used to think the same thing when entering a supermarket; if a product was imported, it was better quality, especially regarding fresh fruits and vegetables. However, now I know that is not the case. Thanks to the substantial increase in demand for crops like broccoli, Maya farmers have been obligated to use pesticides in order to meet the quantity needed. On top of that, crops having to pass certain standards of quality forces them to throw out 15% of the broccoli, which is not only wastage but taboo in the Maya culture. (Benson and Fischer, 2007, p. 807) Globalization can be blamed for this as the neoliberal perspective is making cultures believe that their thoughts and traditions no longer matter. As I discussed in my previous reflection, although some communities like the Garinagu have been able to fight for Indigenous rights, so have the Maya from Guatemala but continue to struggle with recognition and control over their ways of agriculture.

This idea makes me believe that the American dream is now being chased by the underdeveloped countries, those who could not catch up with the rest and continue thinking the Western way is the only path to success. Nevertheless, I do believe this applies to the non-Indigenous population, as the Indigenous population seems firm on their ways of living, which I highly respect!

References:

Benson, P., & Fischer, E. F. (2007). Broccoli and Desire. Antipode, 39(5), 800-820. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2007.00519.x