I just want to thank Tamara for leaving us with such an interesting last unit to reflect upon, honestly, this reflection will not be close to the thoughts I have on the Quechua community. As a student studying food and resource economics, Caffentzis and Federici’s reading appealed to me in the sense that I realized that there is a way to sustain a community economically without involving the government. In economics, tragedy of the commons is given a very negative connotation, in the sense that thanks to personal interests, there is no advantage overall to the society and there is a faster depletion of resources than there would have been, had there been a government present in regulating these. However, the ways in which these authors discuss the advantages of this situation has led me to believe that self-sufficiency is indeed possible and has been seen by the Quechua people for thousands of years.

Barter exchange was the first type of exchange ever known to humanity, and it shocked me that it is still used in Lares Valley and has been able to contribute to such positive aspects for the community. It reminded me of how “commons” should be managed by us, not the state because decision-making should be done by those who are affected by its results, something that was also mentioned in the Hija de la laguna documentary. Transitioning into the documentary itself, I found it ironic how the jeweler constantly talked about the value that jewels have, at ceremonies, weddings, representing promise, yet the process to get it is so cruel and requires hard work at the expense of destroying the environment. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the father coming back home and telling his daughter that he was fired because his daughter had taken part in the protest against the Conga mining company. Despite trying to provide for his daughter’s education, Indigenous people continue to struggle to fit into modern society, when they should be given all the rights to the city in the first place.

I want to end with the change globalization has brought to the Quechua communities where Indigenous food is now seen as shameful, and commercial food seen as a privilege. If this is how we change their mentalities, beautiful traditions such as Ayni that sustain so many families will eventually disappear. I know I have talked about quite a few topics, but I just want to end with the importance of help. Help does not mean going to a community and telling them what you are going to do, it means asking them what their needs are, and then applying what you know you can do to have an impact on their lives. I mention this because I believe that it is very easy to write about these conflicts that we see, but it should be of even more importance to raise our voices and see what we can do to preserve these alluring cultures.

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

As I finished Unit 3, the first keyword that came to mind was agency. In the blog post, it is defined as “someone’s capacity to act and make free choices, independent of a supervising authority” (Lalonde et al., 2020), which instantly made me think about how the Garinagu people of Honduras (although I shouldn’t say this as they have various origins) have been able to successfully establish themselves as an Indigenous group, and gain their rights to food sovereignty, as discussed in the podcast lecture. Furthermore, it proves how globalization is not necessarily inadequate when it comes to smaller communities. Instead, it has allowed locals to gain further access to foodstuffs from abroad as they do in Belize and has encouraged them to participate in social movements to continue fighting the appreciation for Indigenous groups.

The way Kern described how women of the Garinagu weren’t “bound by most of the culturally defined and socially enforced restrictions…instead, they act as the primary enforcers of those ‘rules’.” (1983) gave me mixed feelings on the fact that these women are so proud of their identity, yet the author had to constantly had to reinforce and repeat these ideas on how society did not make women the center of this group, they were always like this. It shows how nowadays it is hard to believe that women have been capable of taking care of their families for years, which is quite unfortunate. Nonetheless, as I was watching the video by Native Dish, I noticed that women see themselves as resilient, survivors, and take their African roots very seriously. It made me think about how I knew none of this, all because of the way our world is shaped, how we are given access to the histories of elite groups, those that have made the world as it is, and fails to recognize those who have originally lived on our lands for centuries.

Even then, thanks to globalization and agency, the Garinagu people have had the chance to connect with the outer world while maintaining their origins, something I wish I am able to do as I grow up.

Works Cited:

Lalonde, G., Sever, A., Nogués, G., & Vyskotova, K. (2020). Keyword 2: Agency [Web log post]. Retrieved 2020, from https://blogs.ubc.ca/course0935bb2c1345dfa4e91d0701421d97f5c03a0045/2020/10/10/keyword-2-agency/

Hall, K. M. (2019). Honduras’ Ereba Makers. Naming a Transnational Black Feminist Framework, 27-48. doi:10.4324/9780429290923-2

Unit 2 readings made me reflect upon the definition of food, how exploitation of a cultural object with meaning can convert into a commodity and the unfortunate situations that may occur when trying to earn money.

I remember from my own experiences at high school how many of my Peruvian friends would tell me about this magical drink and how it makes you see things and guides you spiritually and used to laugh it off thinking it wasn’t true. However, as time passed and I became more conscious of my surroundings, it is clear to me that there has been an enormous amount of distorted information as well as myths surrounding ayahuasca and its purpose. Homan discusses how all Shipibo and ayahuasca related objects and artwork are readily available on the internet, which further proves my point. (Homan, 2017, p. 169) Any object that has an extremely profound meaning to a particular culture, once it is spread to other cultures, specifically developed ones, tends to break out into combinations of other traditions and begins to have meanings that are not necessarily true. Not only does it become disfigured by outsiders, but it also brings negative externalities to the place of origin, in this case, a higher disparity between shamans and other locals, cases of sexual abuse, and even loss of traditional knowledge.

I also really enjoyed the interview with Professor Smith, especially when she discussed how ayahuasca in her opinion would not necessarily be considered a food, and I completely agree with that. Food, apart from the purposes of nourishment, provides us pleasure, we feel happy and content when we eat it. Ayahuasca, although it may provide you with inner peace and spiritual guidance, doesn’t necessarily fit the classification of food. Then again, this definition of food was created by Westerners, what would the Shipibo-Konibo say?

Works Cited:

Homan, J. (2017). Disentangling the ayahuasca boom. The World Ayahuasca Diaspora, 165-177.

Tamara’s Unit 2 Podcast Lecture

Never had it occurred to me the importance of understanding our food, its origins, and appreciating the food we eat and prepare. After reading the three readings assigned, the take away for me personally was to simply understand that food, being the largest industry present on this planet for the longest time as mentioned by Belasco, is constantly studied in terms of negative consequences, how it is unequally distributed, how we can create more because there isn’t enough, how so much of it is gone to waste. Despite all these ongoing consequences, it is important to simply appreciate the value of food, and how the preparation, act of eating, unites so many cultures and communities.

Tuhiwai Smith, Tuck, and Yang state the significance of nature, particularly land and water, and how no one seems to relate to our surroundings, as we have been so immersed in other issues including development, trying to become modern, grow as a nation. However, simple core values such as gratitude are overlooked and fail to be seen today, and that is something I had not noticed until now. Globalization and mass media are intertwined, mass media gave globalization power and vice-versa yet, no one took the time to use this new interconnectedness to recognize the people before us, whose land we are living on, the Indigenous peoples.

I personally failed to consider the creation of the endless objects we take for granted, especially our food, and after conducting the activity of recording what I eat in a day and observing where it came from, I was shocked to see that I am eating literally a World cuisine from the comforts of my own home! I feel that it added an elevated touch to our everyday nourishment. Nonetheless, I do believe that I must begin to realize and recognize that Indigenous peoples have been appreciating the resources that our planet has given them much longer than us, and suggest that we must learn the endless teachings they implement themselves to further value the world we live in.