For this blog post I want to focus on the barter markets that are talked about in Argumedo and Pimbert’s text: “Bypassing Globalization: Barter markets as a new indigenous economy in Peru”. I first want to start by saying that I loved this reading! I found it quite inspiring and it reminded me of what my neighbourhood used to do a while back. We would gather what we no longer used; for example, appliances, furniture, clothing, etc., and we would all exchange our goods. It was always such a fun experience (especially for us kids), and I think it really brought our neighbourhood together! Ironically, later on people started having garage sales instead, and our tradition of setting up our own little market ended there. 

Argumedo and Pimbert describe the barter markets as “not only a material exchange network, but also a symbolic and friendship network.” To tie in a keyword, I think these women at the barter markets must feel such a strong sense of agency because as Argumedo and Pimbert explain, the women who directly participate in these markets are those who make the rules and “administer the use of the foods in the households.” I also think it’s really interesting that the principles of reciprocity and solidarity serve as guides for these economic exchanges. In this (mostly) capitalist world, anything that doesn’t just solely focus on money makes me stop and think. Instead of focusing on profit, the women that participate in these barter markets focus on ensuring that the needs of people are met. I think these women are driven by the natural instinct in them to protect and support their community (the people and the land) by means of creating access to food security/nutrition and local control over production/consumption, as well as conserving the agricultural biodiversity. 

For this post I want to talk about the “Broccoli and Desire” reading by Peter Benson and Edward Fisher. Reading about Susan’s trip to Kroger (on the first page of the reading) reminded me of what I see when I take a trip to the grocery store. In fact, as I write this at a friends house, there are three bunches of bananas sitting in the fruit basket, along with a few other fruits. Each of the bunches has a different sticker: one is “Whole Trade” from Peru, the other is “Dole” from Guatemala, and the third is “Chiquita” from Guatemala. In other classes we have talked in depth about the controversy surrounding companies like Dole and Chiquita, and I do think it’s a rather tough situation. On the one hand, these workers need us to keep purchasing so they can stay employed, but on the other hand, it doesn’t feel very good to support companies who exploit their workers, among other things.

Referring to Benson and Fisher’s idea of “needs” versus “desires”, apart from being a great example of globalization, being able to buy fruits and vegetables year-round, fresh or frozen, is what being driven by desire looks like. And that’s not to say it’s intentional or that it comes from a place of greed, but it’s the reality. When it comes to food, privileged people like me and Susan always have a choice, and we use our desires to make these choices. If we’re craving watermelon in January, we can easily get it. But as Benson and Fisher state, this is only possible because of the “low returns and high risks” that farmers face. As Benson and Fisher state: “There is much more at stake in Pablo’s relationship to broccoli than Susan’s” (801). Susan’s is driven by desire, whereas Pablo’s is driven by need. I’m running out of words, but the last thing I want to say is that the ways in which Benson and Fisher explain and compare “desires” and “needs” are very interesting and really got me thinking beyond the basic surface-level definition of these two words.

For this blog post I want to talk about the interview with Guillermo Arrévalo – I found this interview to be so interesting! There are a few things I want to point out. Firstly, my aunt is a psychologist who works in Toronto, and last Christmas I remember having a conversation with her about ayahuasca, and how many of her patients raise the topic with her asking for her advice on whether or not it’s a good idea for them. Some of them struggle with severe depression and anxiety, and others see her for a variety of other reasons. My aunt said she, and other psychologists, have had to look into ayahuasca more and more in the past few years as it has become quite a popular topic. It’s interesting to me that Arrévalo sees it essentially as a money grab: “… most of all this is a type of commercial shamanic done in order to extract money from people.” The reality is, like Arrévalo says, “the community lives from tourism”. My aunt seemed to share the same views as Arrévalo. Some of her patients express their interest in going down to Peru for months at a time, sometimes even longer. This is excellent for the tourism industry! Perhaps the most interesting part about this interview was when Arrévalo describes the reasons why tourists go to Peru. He says that the most popular reason is to resolve social problems, but people also go to look for spiritual responses. Arrévalo even suggests that in North America there exists a spiritual and psychological crisis, where many people are suffering from depression, are slaves to their work, have a bad relationship and/or are consumed by materialism. I think that Arrévalo is right, but I also think that for some people, ayahuasca is just a subject of curiosity. The problem is, what happens when this curiosity dies down? Just like Homan says, trends come and go. How will this effect the local people? I suspect that the local people will be greatly effected in many ways, mostly negative.

Chapter 1 of Belasco’s book, “Why Study Food” made me think a lot about the ways in which the food is approached as a topic of study in the academic world. Belasco suggests that food is taken for granted in academia, partly due to the fact that intellectuals tend to participate in what he refers to as a “classical dualism that prizes mind over body”. Although I myself am fascinated by food behaviours across cultures, I think that this ‘mind over body’ tendency in the academic world definitely plays a large role in discouraging topics like food from receiving lots of attention. The topic of food has definitely appeared in some UBC courses I have taken, but has been approached differently depending on the area of study. Many of the Spanish courses I have taken talked about food in a way that drew attention to its positive aspects, such as exploring the large role it plays in nourishing the human body as well as fostering and maintaining a strong sense of community and connectedness. In contrast, I took a health psychology course which also included some talk about food, but the major focus was on the harm that certain foods are capable of causing to the human body. There was also a focus on eating disorders. Interestingly, Belasco states that there may be more research that targets women’s eating disorders versus women’s positive connections to food. A study done by Kolar, Rodriquez, Chams and Hoek (2016) suggests that while the prevalence of anorexia nervosa is lower in Latin America than Western countries, the prevalence of bulimia nervosa is higher in Latin America than in Western countries. They claim that “some facets of Latin American culture might be protective for the development of anorexia nervosa and increase the risk for bulimia nervosa” (Kolar et al., 2016). It is super interesting to think about how different cultures have distinct ways of engaging with food.

Kolar, David R.; Rodriguez, Dania L. Mejía; Chams, Moises Mebarak; Hoek, Hans W. Epidemiology of eating disorders in Latin America, Current Opinion in Psychiatry: November 2016 – Volume 29 – Issue 6 – p 363-371 doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000279