Nutrition, Inequality and Agriculture

Ronald Nigh Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social

Recovering Dietary Diversity and Health through Local Food Systems in Chiapas Mexico

Mesoamerican farmers domesticated more than 70 crop species that now provide some 35 Mesoamerican farmers domesticated more than 70 crop species that now provide some 35 to 55% of the world's food.to 55% of the world's food.

Mesoamerica-Ancient Agrarian Mesoamerica-Ancient Agrarian

CivilizationCivilization

TEN PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG MEXICAN MEN 2007

ABNORMALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH INSULIN RESISTANCE/COMPENSATORY HYPERINSULINEMIA

• Some degree of glucose intolerance

Impaired fasting glucose

Impaired glucose tolerance

• Dyslipidemia

↑ Triglycerides

↓ HDL-C

↓ LDL-particle diameter(small, dense LDL particles)

↑ Postprandial accumulation of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins

• Endothelial dysfunction

↑ Mononuclear cell adhesion

↑ Plasma concentration of cellular adhesion molecules

↑ Plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethyl arginine

↓ Endothelial-dependent vasodilatation

• Procoagulant, inflamation markers , apnea and other factors

Reaven 2005

H

Health Impacts of Industrial Monocultural Food System

Dietary simplification (fewer food choices, refined ingredients)

Micronutrient deficiencies ( high calorie, low nutrient density)

The Mitochondrion –source of energy for all cells and mediator of cell signaling

• Micronutrient deficiencies—pyridoxine, pantothenate, Zn, riboflavin, Fe, Cu and biotin—among others—can affect mitochondrial function and give rise to degenerative disease (Ames 2007)

Importance of Small Farmers

'Millions of small farmers in the Global South still produce the majority of staple crops needed to feed

the planet's rural and urban populations. In Latin America, about 17 million peasant production units occupying close to 60.5 million hectares, or 34.5 per

cent of the total cultivated land with average farm sizes of about 1.8 hectares, produce 51 per cent of the

maize, 77 per cent of the beans, and 61 per cent of the potatoes for domestic consumption

-M. Altieri

Small farmers as Stewards

Small farmers are the first-line cartakers of our biodiversity and local ecological landscapes

Small holder production in traditional local food systems preserves dietary diversity and health.

Small Farmers Political EcologyOnce regarded as relics of the pre-industrial era, peasants

are now leading the opposition to a capitalist industrial agriculture that would consign them to the dustbin of history. They have become what Karl Marx described as a politically conscious "class for itself," contradicting his predictions about their demise. With the global food crisis, they are moving to center stage--and they have allies and supporters. For as peasants refuse to go gently into that good night and fight de-peasantization, developments in the twenty-first century are revealing the panacea of globalized capitalist industrial agriculture to be a nightmare. With environmental crises multiplying, the social dysfunctions of urban-industrial life piling up and industrialized agriculture creating greater food insecurity, the farmers' movement increasingly has relevance not only to peasants but to everyone threatened by the catastrophic consequences of global capital's vision for organizing production, community and life itself. -W. Bello

Network of Organic Farmers Markets

Dana Association Seed Garden in Rancho Esquipulas

Organic Wheat Project

Mujeres y MaízMujeres y Maíz

Native Maize Network

School Gardens for Science Education

Chiapas, Mexico

¡Gracias! ¡Gracias!