IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v40y2023i1d10.1007_s10460-022-10352-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From rainforest to table: Lacandon Maya women are critical to diversify landscapes and diets in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Lucía Pérez-Volkow

    (State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry)

  • Stewart A.W. Diemont

    (State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry)

  • Theresa Selfa

    (State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry)

  • Helda Morales

    (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Carretera Panamericana y Periférico Sur s/n Barrio María Auxiliadora)

  • Alejandro Casas

    (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)

Abstract

Domestic activities, involving productive and reproductive spheres, are mainly performed by women, requiring a great amount of knowledge and skills that are poorly represented in the literature and often undervalued in the society. Women’s role in the food system was investigated in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico, a village inhabited by ~ 400 Lacandon Maya people. This research included participant observation for three months in the community and semi-structured interviews with 10 cis-women and 5 cis-men documenting their recipes, the relationships that are developed along their work in the food systems and actions for the restoration of traditional food. Women’s roles in food systems are central; they have an intricate knowledge of their environment and have principal roles in producing, obtaining, and transforming biodiversity into diverse meals within the kitchenspace. But they do more than producing, collecting, and mixing of ingredients. Their role in the food systems creates different types of relationships; the kitchenspace is a source of empowerment, traditional food is crucial for maintaining biocultural memory, and for establishing relationships with other-than-human beings. However, serving traditional foods is also a potential source for discrimination against their families even from members of their own community. It was recognized by participants that traditional food system is a medium for biocultural restoration in their community. Dignifying women’s work, views, techniques, and knowledge in traditional food systems is critical for food sovereignty, social justice, and biocultural restoration.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucía Pérez-Volkow & Stewart A.W. Diemont & Theresa Selfa & Helda Morales & Alejandro Casas, 2023. "From rainforest to table: Lacandon Maya women are critical to diversify landscapes and diets in Lacanjá Chansayab, Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 259-275, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10460-022-10352-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-022-10352-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-022-10352-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-022-10352-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arslan, Aslihan & Taylor, J.Edward, 2009. "Farmers' Subjective Valuation of Subsistence Crops: The Case of Traditional Maize in Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1-4, April.
    2. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Raney, Terri L. & Croppenstedt, André & Behrman, Julia A. & Peterman, Amber, 2014. "Synopsis of Gender in agriculture: Closing the knowledge gap:," Issue briefs 84, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Clara Mi Young Park & Ben White & Julia, 2015. "We are not all the same: taking gender seriously in food sovereignty discourse," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 584-599, March.
    4. Isidro Cabrera & Emma Martelo & Verónica García, 2001. "Gender, rural households, and biodiversity in native Mexico," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(1), pages 85-93, March.
    5. Marta Derek, 2021. "Nature on a Plate: Linking Food and Tourism within the Ecosystem Services Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Tomasz B. Falkowski & Adolfo Chankin & Stewart A. W. Diemont & Robert W. Pedian, 2019. "More than just corn and calories: a comprehensive assessment of the yield and nutritional content of a traditional Lacandon Maya milpa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 389-404, April.
    7. Cristian Timmermann & Georges Félix, 2015. "Agroecology as a vehicle for contributive justice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 523-538, September.
    8. Hallie Eakin & Hugo Perales & Kirsten Appendini & Stuart Sweeney, 2014. "Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    9. Sri Astutik & Jürgen Pretzsch & Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi, 2019. "Asian Medicinal Plants’ Production and Utilization Potentials: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-33, October.
    10. Agnes R. Quisumbing & Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Terri L. Raney & André Croppenstedt & Julia A. Behrman & A (ed.), 2014. "Gender in Agriculture," Springer Books, Springer, edition 127, number 978-94-017-8616-4, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clare Shamier & Katharine McKinnon & Kerry Woodward, 2021. "Social Relations, Gender and Empowerment in Economic Development: Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(6), pages 1396-1417, November.
    2. George W. Norton & Jeffrey Alwang, 2020. "Changes in Agricultural Extension and Implications for Farmer Adoption of New Practices," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 8-20, March.
    3. Khushbu Mishra & Abdoul G. Sam & Gracious M. Diiro & Mario J. Miranda, 2020. "Gender and the dynamics of technology adoption: Empirical evidence from a household‐level panel data," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(6), pages 857-870, November.
    4. Anirban Pal & Piyush Kumar Singh, 2021. "Do socially motivated self‐help groups perform better? Exploring determinants of micro‐credit groups’ performance in Eastern India," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(1), pages 119-146, March.
    5. Abubakar Rasheed & Gershom Endelani Mwalupaso & Qasir Abbas & Xu Tian & Rafay Waseem, 2020. "Women Participation: A Productivity Strategy in Rice Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Sudhanshu Handa & Paul Winters, 2019. "The Household and Individual-Level Productive Impacts of Cash Transfer Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1401-1431.
    7. Thanh Ngo & Hai‐Dang Nguyen & Huong Ho & Vo‐Kien Nguyen & Thuy T. T. Dao & Hai T. H. Nguyen, 2021. "Assessing the important factors of sustainable agriculture development: An Indicateurs de Durabilité des Exploitations Agricoles‐Analytic Hierarchy Process study in the northern region of Vietnam," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 327-338, March.
    8. Eva‐Maria Egger & Aslihan Arslan & Emanuele Zucchini, 2022. "Does connectivity reduce gender gaps in off‐farm employment? Evidence from 12 low‐ and middle‐income countries," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 197-218, March.
    9. Mauricio R. Bellon & Alicia Mastretta-Yanes & Alejandro Ponce-Mendoza & Daniel Ortiz-Santa María & Oswaldo Oliveros-Galindo & Hugo Perales & Francisca Acevedo & José Sarukhán, 2021. "Beyond subsistence: the aggregate contribution of campesinos to the supply and conservation of native maize across Mexico," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 39-53, February.
    10. Hambulo Ngoma & Henry Machina & Auckland N. Kuteya, 2021. "Can agricultural subsidies reduce gendered productivity gaps? Panel data evidence from Zambia," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(2), pages 303-323, March.
    11. Maligalig, Rio L. & Demont, Matty & Umberger, Wendy J. & Peralta, Alexandra, 2017. "Intrahousehold decision making on rice varietal trait improvements: Using experiments to estimate gender influence," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258522, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Quetzalcóatl Orozco-Ramírez & Marta Astier, 2017. "Socio-economic and environmental changes related to maize richness in Mexico’s central highlands," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 377-391, June.
    13. Cory W. Whitney & Eike Luedeling & John R. S. Tabuti & Antonia Nyamukuru & Oliver Hensel & Jens Gebauer & Katja Kehlenbeck, 2018. "Crop diversity in homegardens of southwest Uganda and its importance for rural livelihoods," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(2), pages 399-424, June.
    14. Florence Nakazi & Paul Aseete & Enid Katungi & Michael Adrogu Ugen, 2017. "The potential and limits of farmers’ groups as catalysts of women leaders," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1348326-134, January.
    15. Gloria Otieno & Wesley Mlsna Zebrowski & John Recha & Travis William Reynolds, 2021. "Gender and Social Seed Networks for Climate Change Adaptation: Evidence from Bean, Finger Millet, and Sorghum Seed Systems in East Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.
    16. Qanti, Sara Ratna & Peralta, Alexandra & Zeng, Di, 2021. "Social Norms and Perception on Women's Participation in Agricultural Decisions: The Case of West Java, Indonesia," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 314984, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Steven Kayambazinthu Msosa, 2022. "Challenges Facing Women Cooperatives in Accessing Markets for Agricultural Products: A Systematic Literature Review," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 12(6), pages 37-43, November.
    18. Benjamin Davis & Leslie Lipper & Paul Winters, 2022. "IFAD Research Series 70: Do not transform food systems on the backs of the rural poor," IFAD Research Series 320710, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    19. Cheelo, Tulumbe, 2019. "Milk production and marketing channel decisions of smallholder farmers in the Zambian milk value chain," Research Theses 334747, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    20. Lungu, Harad Chuma, 2019. "Determinants of climate smart agricultural technology adoption in the Northern Province of Zambia," Research Theses 334754, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10460-022-10352-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.