Out of the Field and Into the Kitchen: Agrobiodiversity, Food Security, and Food Culture in Cochabamba, Bolivi

This dissertation reports a multi-disciplinary study of native, traditional, and Andeanized crops (NTACs) in household food security and food culture in the Bolivian Andes. It presents primary data gathered in 2012-2014 via fieldwork in the Department of Cochabamba, Bolivia, in nine field sites ranging from 2200-4200 meters above sea level. Sites were distributed along a rural-urban gradient from the city of Cochabamba to the nearby municipality of Colomi.;Data was collected via a mixed-methods approach, grounded in environmental anthropology, and complemented by ethnobotany and public health nutrition. Data on local uses of NTACs were gathered via qualitative, ethnographic methods, including participant observation in cooking and eating, semi-structured interviews and oral histories with female household heads, agronomists, and professional chefs, and focus-group discussions with female food preparers. In collaboration with colleagues at Fundaci6n PROINPA, a Bolivian agricultural research NGO, ethnobotanical methods were used to study the agronomic and culinary characteristics of some 35 varieties of potato (Solanum spp.). Finally, a two-period household survey collected data on the role of NTACs in household culinary practices, and their association with indicators of food security and nutritional health.;Following background on methods and theoretical framing (Chapter 1), the first body chapters of the dissertation describe the use of NTACs in Cochabamba cuisine. Chapter 2 describes three tendencies in the culinary uses of NTC's: comida tipica ("typical" food), comida rural (rural food), and la cocina novo-boliviana (nouveau-Bolivian cuisine). Although potatoes feature prominently in comida tipica, other NTACs appear only infrequently in these dishes, and are instead more commonly utilized in comida rural. The third tendency, the nouveau-Bolivian cuisine movement (la cocina novo-boliviana), seeks to revive or "rescue" indigenous foods, reinterpreting them in ways which challenge past discrimination against material elements of indigenous culture, and instead raise their appeal to an urban public.;Survey data (Chapter 3) confirms the relatively limited use of non-potato minor NTACs in household food preparation. Twenty-four hour culinary recalls indicate a bifurcation in the caloric contribution of native crops at the household level. Potatoes and the potato derivative, chuno, account for 30-some percent of caloric availability. Meanwhile, no other NTAC species accounts for more than 2% of household caloric availability.;Understanding the limited consumption of non-potato NTACs required considering them as both symbolic and material objects. Chapter 4 considers how NTACs relate to historical trade patterns in the Andes, and particularly to processes of valuation, or how individuals ascertain and assign value. It argues that, in a context where the provisioning of goods is patchy, cyclic, and sometimes unreliable, the symbolic systems associated with multinational corporate capitalism are of reduced utility to consumers seeking to judge the value of a particular item. In parallel to their assessment of the symbols associated with brands, Bolivian consumers also practice valuation by direct engagement with raw material objects, a process requiring knowledge and labor.;Chapter 5 explores the aesthetic dimensions of NTACs, and specifically their taste, smell, and texture. Many NTACs have developed phytochemical defenses to aid survival in harsh high-altitude environments. These chemicals often have unpleasant flavors, a fact at evidence in ethnographic examinations of Bolivian consumers' interaction with NTACs. Research interlocutors tended to prioritize the consumption of bland, sweet, or salty flavors, eschewing flavors that were bitter, acid, or astringent. I argue that Bolivians' sensory assessments of NTACs should be seen as part of an "aesthetic of risk avoidance," a larger evaluative framework prioritizing familiar foods and flavors, and encouraging skepticism foods that might pose culinary, economic, or health risks.;Finally, Chapter 6 considers the future of NTAC-based food systems under climate change. Changing weather in Colomi threatens agrobiodiversity by driving the cultivation of native varieties to higher altitudes. Shifting weather patterns may also threaten indigenously developed NTAC processing systems, which remove bitter high-altitude toxins, and which rely on the availability and predictability of particular environmental resources and conditions. In sum, climate change threatens not just the production system for NTACs, but the larger systems of post-harvest processing and preservation that maintain diverse crops in both rural and urban foodways.;The concluding chapter offers policy recommendations. First, it underscores the need for more research on the potential impacts of climate change on NTAC-based food systems, including not only agricultural production, but also to post-harvest processing and storage. Second, movements to promote NTACs would benefit from explicit acknowledgement that their work is not just economic, but also cultural, and aesthetic. Addressing larger issues of cultural stigma and palatability has the potential to strengthen agrobiodiversity conservation in Bolivia, and the Andes more broadly.