Strengthening of a good, clean and fair food system in Yucatan and Chiapas

The project will build upon the work already carried out by Slow Food and the Kellogg Foundation on the Maya agro-forestry system with actions on the creole hairless pig, native xunankab bee and pumpkin seeds Presidia in Yucatan.

Furthermore, the best practices and lessons learnt in the first phase of the previous project carried out in Yucatan will be extended to Mitontic, Teopisca, San Cristobál de las Casas, Las Rosas and Comitán municipalities in the Chiapas region of southern Mexico. Here work will focus on native and underutilized varieties of maize and on the communities, who base their livelihoods on said varieties.

Key to this initiative is the valorization of the milpa ecosystemic approach typical to Mesoamerica. The milpa is a complex coassociation system that dates back to the Neolithic and that provides synergies from an agronomic and nutritive point of view, intercropping maize, legumes and cucurbits. 

The broader project aims to continue in the implementation of a sustainable food production/consumption system that improves the standard of living of indigenous Mayan communities and brings economic, cultural, social and health benefits to the region. To this end, it will address, in Yucatan, a total number of 40,000 beneficiaries targeting specifically 300 direct beneficiaries and, in Chiapas 10,000 and 110 respectively (mainly local indigenous women).

The indirect beneficiaries number includes all the members of the municipalities affected by the project, as we believe that all of them will benefit from the results brought by the project. In the Slow Food experience, in fact, it is clear how the valorization (gastronomic, economic and cultural) of traditional and local products and the development of a system of virtuous dialogue between producers and consumers benefits not only the producers themselves, but also entire community, thanks to the generation of greater revenues related not only to sales, but also to related activities such as, for example, gastronomic tourism. 

A project financed by the WK Kellogg Foundation and developed in collaboration with:  

• Centro de Capacitación, Asesoría, Medio Ambiente y Defensa del Derecho a la Salud (CAMADDS) AC, San Cristóbal: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Camadds-a-C-Centro-de-Capacitacion-y-Asesorias-Medio-Ambiente-y-Defensa/1702759750010089 
• Centro de Investigación y Servicios profesionales (CISERP) AC, San Cristóbal: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009432260056 
• Colectivo Feminista Mercedes Olivera y Bustamante (COFEMO) AC, San Cristóbal: http://cofemo2013.blogspot.com/   
• El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad San Cristóbal: https://www.ecosur.mx/unidad/san-cristobal/ 
• El Hombre sobre la Tierra AC, Mérida: https://elhombresobrelatierra.org/ 
• Escuela de Agricultura Ecológica U Yits Ka’an AC, Mérida: http://www.uyitskaan.org/ 
• Instituto para el Desarrollo Sustentable en Mesoamérica (IDESMAC) AC, San Cristóbal: https://issuu.com/idesmac