Unit 6 Zapotec Blog Post

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Before the class session this week where I was assigned to the Zapotec people I had no knowledge about the group including their history and how they were affected by globalization. It was nice to learn that the Zapotecs have continued to cultivate  some of their original foods  (before spanish arrival) today. This includes for instance the Mezcal, squash such as cucurbits and flor de la cabeza. I want to go back to Mexico to try the Mezcal as last time I was in Mexico (Cancun) I only drank the tequila. Furthermore, I would like to learn from the locals in person what they believe to be within the Mezcal in particular that makes it useful for human healing processes. I also admire the Uso y costumbres system that the Zapotecs have. In the face of globalization and the already existent toll it has already inflicted on the people I hope that this system will be useful in the long run considering the power of the system of globalization that makes it hard to ignore. Also, I was able to make a connection between the fact that the Zapotecs in part cultivate agriculture in mountainous terrains and another class I took this term within Political Science. The class  examined natural resources and how certain  resources  based on given environments are  harder for the state or other systems to influence, in particular the extraction of these resources. I obviously am unable to predict the future but I hope that some of the mountainous areas where the Zapotec cultivate crops will make it more difficult for them to lose their autonomy in given ways due its obscure area.

Unit 5 Post

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The reading by Argumedo and Pimbert resonated with me regarding how given communities in Latin America go about their lives, and how it is different to the western world. Specifically, the point made by the authors that lack of excessive ambition and preference for sharing over competition can increase contentment. I noticed this when travelling across Latin America to certain places. While people had much less than what I had in Canada, once I interacted with them and got an idea of their culture I found them to be  friendly, and not overly consumed with the idea of accumulating a ton of money, resources and getting an edge over others. As long as they had their basic needs, they often spent most of their time socializing and dancing when not working. However, I also understand that this is far from the case in many different places in Latin America where many peoples and communities struggle immensely.

I also came across a barter market when I was in Chile last year. At first from a distance I thought it was a normal market where tourists can go and buy local merchandise however I realized eventually that wasn’t the case. Also, the vast majority of people within the barter market were women, the same as described in the article. The market was also in a very isolated  rural area so after reading the article I have a greater understanding in part why the market is important to them because its an opportunity for more impoverished people at times to conserve autonomy. Overall, this article brought back some good memories from my travels.

 

Broccoli Blog Post

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I throughly enjoyed the reading by Benson and Fischer. In particular, what resonated with me was their discussion firstly surrounding the concept of desire and economic preference. I also agree that while making money is certainly in pursuit of self interest as well as rational decision making, it is certainly the case as well that culture plays a significant role regarding economic and financial values.

Upon analyzing this section of the reading it helped me when analyzing Mayan Farmer’s culinary standards. Specifically, regarding people’s views based on their cultural heritage and background. This can be seen through the fact that plants would throw out broccoli that was slightly discoloured, while the Mayan’s find it immoral to waste any food that is eatable regardless of its colour. In addition, Mayan farmers stances on Broccoli and criticisms of companies practices reminds me of the some of the Garifuna woman, who refused to make their work last less long and become more efficient by integrating the values and customs of another culture.

 

In addition, the Broccoli that was used to hide Marijuana reveals another example of how the meaning of food in western society is different compared to other parts of the world and other people. Whether it is seen first as a cultural practice or what helps people  feed their family from their labour within the food market, or engage in other activities that can be labelled as questionable there are more reasons why food is significant to people outside of allowing them to “be healthy” and “stay in shape” as the article describes.

 

 

Garifuna Foodways and Keyword #2 Reflection

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When examining the reading about Garifuna foodways I was particularly interested by the fact that British separated and imprisoned slaves with the darkest skin while releasing the lighter skinned ones. This reality reminded me of a class in Latin American studies that I took in my first year at UBC where mixed latinos who were mostly white could be considered Spanish, or Africans under certain circumstances could be considered free men. Furthermore, the description of how the British separated the indigenous peoples from “pure Indians” to “Zambos” is a great example of what European colonial powers did when arriving in the western world and Africa. Peoples were characterized by looks and were placed in different “ethnic groups” and hierarchies in which the European settlers were at the top of these hierarchies.

The Casta Paintings keyword provided me with a few personal perspectives. In my view, the Casta paintings were made by the Spanish to a degree to characterize what is acceptable and unacceptable in colonial Latin American society, as people of abundant mixes of minority races or the absolute minority races themselves, were considered peasants. Furthermore, the purpose of illustrating the abundance of ethnicities in Latin America was to compare the skin, social status and mannerisms of everything outside ‘pure’ European. In addition, while discriminatory to  peoples, the Casta paintings do demonstrate the abundance of racial combinations that exist in Latin America today. As someone who has travelled to many Latin American countries and is mixed with Latin American heritage, I am sometimes confused regarding what my race is. Furthermore, while I wouldn’t use a name given to me by Spanish settlers or others,  I wonder how others who are mixed and Latin feel.

Blog Post Week 5

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I found the Arrevalo article to be particularly interesting. When I studied Spanish in Ecuador for two months I heard about the shaminism rituals that were within the amazon(I wasn’t in the amazon area). I then learned from my mom after telling her about shamanism that a friend of hers from a long time ago went to the amazon for this specific therapy and came out of the experience with a new identity. What I found interesting specifically within the article was why people want an experience with plant medicine . I feel truly fortunate that I haven’t had some of the problems that some people have had that go for medicinal therapy. What also struck me about the people who go for medical treatment is they are mostly from Europe or America. Outside of the problems listed by Arrevalo, I wonder to a degree  whether some people  go for the experience because they are tourists and want to try something totally different or because they just have certain problems that may only be in the developed world. Im not sure what Arrevalo meant by Americans being “enslaved with their work” but  I think to a degree many people in developed countries are constantly worrying about money and their financial status more than people who truly don’t have much money in developing areas such as Latin America. At least from my travels to a few countries in Latin America, I noticed that a lot of people are relatively happy with their lives as long as they have sufficient food, water and shelter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keynote 1 Post

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Regarding the land tenure Keynote I learned that land tenure was actually a policy of Indigenous peoples during pre-colonial times. Under land tenure, the majority of pre-colonial indigenous lands were almost exclusively for the ruling classes. However, when there was land tenure there were benefits in terms of sustainable land management and climate mitigation. I also learnt that Indigenous customary laws had a wide variety of land access and management rules that vary based on location, cultural tradition, ecological landscape and local historiography. Also, under the existing conditions, Indigenous peoples have to deal with a system that doesn’t work in their favour in fighting to maintain some autonomy over their land use and management.

 

As a result, this keynote illustrates to me that Indigenous peoples had their own laws and policies before settlers arrived. Within the context of state and indigenous relations today, this further illustrates to me why Indigenous peoples have had such great difficulty in attempting to exercise their full autonomy over settlers. Indigenous land tenure that acted as climate mitigation also reminded me about the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia, where the governments presence on their lands inherently harms the climate, as well as their right to sovereignty over their territory. In this sense, the connection I have made between an example of Indigenous struggle in Latin America and my home province allows me to believe that the concept of land tenure for indigenous peoples stretches across continents. As a result, my previous conception of colonialism has been changed through reading this keynote regarding colonialisms catastrophic impact on indigenous peoples.

 

 

“I am from” poem

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“I am From”

I am from yuca

From vegetation and clean air

And the Pacific Ocean

I am from rocks and cobwebs

Grey and white, big and small

I can hear the rocks being kicked

 

From Compassion

From Carmela

From Christina

From Chamomile

and Lettuce

 

I am from the Pot

Heating

Black Beans

Carrots

and getting together when it matters most

 

Hi, my name is Roberto and I am a fourth year political science student. I am taking LAST 303 to you learn more about Indigenous food within Latin America. I have eaten Cuy which is a traditional Andean dish within the mountains of Ecuador, near the city of Quito. I look forward to the rest of this course!

 

 

 

Why study food?

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Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the readings from Unit 1, I found particularly interesting the reading “Why Study Food”. Whenever I eat food I don’t usually analyze where they all come from and the connection they may have to certain lands and peoples. Furthermore, foods that contain a great deal of ingredients that come from all different areas in the world. I was able to come to these realizations through the quote from Wendell berry, stating “the ideal corporate customer is the industrial eater who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical.” This also makes me think about the chemicals that are unknown to the many people within populations including myself within the food we eat.

 

This passage and reading also reminded me of another course about Latin America that I took in my second year in UBC having to do with Latin American History. Through this class I learnt about how dependent the world truly is on Latin American agriculture. I learnt about how cocoa beans, bananas, fruits, rice, and other foods all are based in Latin America and are inherently connected to the peoples and land of its countries. Furthermore, in connection to the reading from Unit 1 it reminds me that so many people don’t think about  where a lot of these foods that I have mentioned come from, nor how they are produced. I had the great pleasure of visiting Nicaragua, Cuba, and Ecuador, all countries in Latin America with an abundance of agriculture, in which I was able to develop a greater perspective of food. In this sense, the reading also gave me reassurance of how I felt when seeing the people’s connections to these foods and lands in Latin America.