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Traditional Foods, Globalization, Migration, and Public and Planetary Health: The Case of Tejate , a Maize and Cacao Beverage in Oaxacalifornia

Author

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  • Daniela Soleri

    (Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060, USA)

  • David Arthur Cleveland

    (Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060, USA
    Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4160, USA)

  • Flavio Aragón Cuevas

    (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Villa de Etla, Oaxaca 68200, Mexico)

  • Violeta Jimenez

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA)

  • May C. Wang

    (Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA)

Abstract

We are in the midst of an unprecedented public and planetary health crisis. A major driver of this crisis is the current nutrition transition—a product of globalization and powerful multinational food corporations promoting industrial agriculture and the consumption of environmentally destructive and unhealthy ultra-processed and other foods. This has led to unhealthy food environments and a pandemic of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, as well as negative impacts on the biophysical environment, biodiversity, climate, and economic equity. Among migrants from the global south to the global north, this nutrition transition is often visible as dietary acculturation. Yet some communities are defying the transition through selective resistance to globalization by recreating their traditional foods in their new home, and seeking crop species and varieties customarily used in their preparation. These communities include Zapotec migrants from the Central Valleys of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca living in greater Los Angeles, California. Focusing on the traditional and culturally emblematic beverage tejate , we review data from our research and the literature to outline key questions about the role of traditional foods in addressing the public and planetary health crisis. We conclude that to answer these questions, a transnational collaborative research partnership between community members and scientists is needed. This could reorient public and planetary health work to be more equitable, participatory, and effective by supporting a positive role for traditional foods and minimizing their harms.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Soleri & David Arthur Cleveland & Flavio Aragón Cuevas & Violeta Jimenez & May C. Wang, 2023. "Traditional Foods, Globalization, Migration, and Public and Planetary Health: The Case of Tejate , a Maize and Cacao Beverage in Oaxacalifornia," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jchals:v:14:y:2023:i:1:p:9-:d:1050105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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