With the aim of analyzing the viability of recovering corn fields and vegetable gardens families in the valley of Toluca, academics from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) Javier Jesús Ramírez Hernández, Jessica Alejandra Avitia Rodríguez and Erandi Tena Luis, carried out a study on sustainable agriculture, in which they considered innovation and ancestral practices for the present.
The academics explained that their study on sustainable food options focused on diversifying food production. The preparation and consumption of these crops is necessary to conserve gastronomic patrimony while also protecting the environment, by helping reduce pollutants, given the reduction of transportation for these products.
They explained that the in pre-colonial times people harvested many different types of food on the same lands. Thanks to this, families could have access to varied food all year round. This manner of organizing production and consumption, known as “milpa,” helped cultivate corn, beans and chili, among other crops.
Over time, however, milpa has disappeared in favor of others forms of food production, leading to monocultures. The academics’ aim is to recognize the gastronomical richness of milpa, to both recover it and take advantage of its benefits.
This work is especially important in the context of loss of ancestral knowledge in preparing food, due to a lack of oral or written transmission, as industrial products are more and more used instead of local production.
