Industrial agriculture negatively impacts small-scale farmers and food access in rural communities in Jalisco, Mexico, exacerbating food insecurity for the hardly reached populations. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) have emerged as a transformative solution. AFNs are collaborative relationships formed among various actors within local agri-food systems for the production, distribution, and consumption of food that challenge conventional agro-industrial practices. AFNs prioritize food sovereignty by creating alternative food production, distribution, and consumption systems that empower local communities. The success of AFNs lies in their local focus, diversity, collaborative approach, and adaptability to challenges, exemplifying community-driven solutions that address complex food access issues. As such, this case study explores how AFNs help ensure food sovereignty for the well-being of local farmers and vulnerable communities in Jalisco, Mexico.
This research is conducted in collaboration with ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara.
The Hard to Reach
Small-scale farmers in the state of Jalisco.
Key Takeaways
Lessons learned across Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) include:
- AFNs function as a community-based intervention to improve health and social well-being.
- AFNs foster social solidarity and collaboration.
- AFNs work to decommodify food.
- AFNs embrace agroecological practices to enhance biodiversity.
- AFNs show that food is political.
- AFNs take control of the food system to enhance food sovereignty.
Researchers
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Alonso Munoz Sanchez
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Charles Pinto
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Maya Povhe
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Shreya Agarwal
Mentors
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Erica Di Ruggiero
Associate Professor of Global Health and Director of the Centre for Global Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
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Gregorio Leal
Interdisciplinary Center for Education and Social Vinculation (CIFOVIS)
Acknowledgments
We express our deepest gratitude to Professor Gregorio Leal Martínez for being incredibly generous with his time guiding our research and field trip and for going above and beyond to ensure our stay in Mexico was as incredible as it was. We are also grateful to his wife, Professor Lluvia Medina, for her helpful advice and to their son, Sebastián, for his company. We thank our mentor, Professor Erica Di Ruggiero, for always standing up for and believing in us, for making our time in Guadalajara so fun, and for her incredible support in the literature review, REB, and case study writing processes.
We acknowledge Professors Rebeca Acevez, Jaime Morales Hernández, Rodrigo Rodriguez Guerrero, Andrea Fellner, Della Burke, and all the faculty, staff, and students from ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara for their hospitality on their beautiful campus and for providing us with the resources for successful field research. We are grateful to the Reach Alliance staff for their incredible support throughout this process. Special thanks to Marin MacLeod and Moni Kim for their leadership and for supporting all our ideas and ambitions, as well as Sana Khan, Filsan Dualeh, and Jacqueline Larson for their support in the production and publication of the case study. Thanks also to our coach, Hayley Robertson, for helping us lay the foundation for great team bonding; to Professor Javier Contreras and his Reach student team for showing us a side of Guadalajara we won’t forget; and to our Reach colleague, Minh Nguyen, for being a friend of the team.
Lastly, this research wouldn’t be possible without the people from across Jalisco who welcomed us so warmly to their homes, small businesses, and farms. In particular, thanks to Paulo, Erica, and Lluvia from Cooperativa Milpa; Victor, Marichuy, and Belén from Feria de Productores; Karen, Edu, and Dani from Molino Tenoch; Ana from Mercado Toca; Blanca from Tienda Tlalixpan and Jilote; Mayra from RASOL; Claudia from Opuntia; Ezequiel and his family from Casa del Maíz; Claudio from IMDEC; Joel from CEFAS; Luz from ITESO’s Huerto Agroecológico; and Paye from Rancho Los Alisos.