Milpa ecologies: Transgenerational foodways in Tlaxcala, Mexico

Abstract

Through a case study born from archaeological fieldwork in Tlaxcala, Mexico, this article provides an example of place-based foodways that have been used to transmit belief systems and ways of life that resist dominant frameworks of power across time. Foodways, as a site of daily engagements with the full food cycle, can be used to concretize dominant systems of power (e.g., industrial agriculture) but can also be used to build countersystems. Using the example of milpa agriculture and “Maíz Culture,” this case study demonstrates how key ecological philosophies have served as effective and resilient adaptive strategies from which to respond to shifting threats across time—from Aztec and Spanish colonialism to contemporary resistance to neoliberalism. Although agroecology is rooted in indigenous origins, the global adoption of agroecology often focuses heavily on what is planted but fails to center the how—the relationships and values that indigenous ecologies embody. To adopt the planting principles of agroecology without centering indigenous philosophies results in food systems that replicate colonial extraction. While these philosophies are rooted in locally defined practices, they also serve to support a broader unlearning of colonial worldviews within the systems that overshadow the day-to-day experiences of researchers. Using foodways to bridge the time between the archaeological past and agroecological present unmasks normalized worldviews, such as capitalism, neoliberalism, and industrialism to show that, while they are dominant, they are not inevitable nor singular. Please refer to Supplementary Materials, Full text Spanish version of this article, for a full text Spanish version of this article.