TY - JOUR
T1 - Hungry, Hungry Gringos
T2 - Solving the Problems Posed by Feeding Tourists
AU - Griffith, Lauren Miller
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank the farmers, staff, and owners of Pepem Nah for their friendship, their willingness to share their culture with me, and their continued support of this research. A large debt of gratitude is also owed to everyone at the Institute for Social and Cultural Research in Belize for their immense assistance and support. Many thanks as well are due to Gianna Bennett for her assistance in the field and to Texas Tech University and Hanover College for their financial support of this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the American Anthropological Association.
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Tourist demand for food stuffs like delicate lettuce varieties that are ill-suited to the local environment are setting off a chain of reactions within the Cayo District of Belize. To meet demand, farmers are learning to grow these crops organically, synthesizing knowledge from a variety of sources in order to succeed in this new market. This paper takes readers through the experiences of villagers who work in several key sites of a luxury eco-resort—the restaurant, kitchen, store room, and organic farm—before turning to the implications for the village at large. Though catering to tourists’ tastes is often treated as a form of neocolonialism, this case study examines the agency and creativity expressed by local community members as they adapt to this changing market.
AB - Tourist demand for food stuffs like delicate lettuce varieties that are ill-suited to the local environment are setting off a chain of reactions within the Cayo District of Belize. To meet demand, farmers are learning to grow these crops organically, synthesizing knowledge from a variety of sources in order to succeed in this new market. This paper takes readers through the experiences of villagers who work in several key sites of a luxury eco-resort—the restaurant, kitchen, store room, and organic farm—before turning to the implications for the village at large. Though catering to tourists’ tastes is often treated as a form of neocolonialism, this case study examines the agency and creativity expressed by local community members as they adapt to this changing market.
KW - contact zone
KW - lettuce
KW - organic
KW - tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055577826&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/cuag.12223
DO - 10.1111/cuag.12223
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85055577826
SN - 2153-9553
VL - 41
SP - 24
EP - 33
JO - Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
JF - Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
IS - 1
ER -