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Conservation and development agencies in Petén, Guatemala have been promoting home gardens among migrant families in order to improve the welfare of these families and to conserve natural resources. The agencies have not been successful. However, native Peteneros do have a productive gardening system that is compatible with resource conservation. This essay describes the structure, management, and economic and social benefits of 23 traditional Petén home gardens, which have over 180 useful plant species. Traditional gardens in Petén are highly diverse, rich, and productive (mean number of species per garden is 54; mean number of plants is 392). In addition, the gardens can contribute up to 15 percent of household income, improve family nutrition, and strengthen social networks. However, for reasons described in this essay, traditional home gardening is declining in Petén.

PurposeHealthcare is an ever‐growing segment of the American economy. Transparency facilitates better decision‐making and better outcomes measures. The purpose of this paper is to present the human and economic results of increasing transparency.Design/methodology/approachThe ASIMP Working Group on Healthcare Transparency represents a diverse yet conscilient group of practitioners, researchers, regulators, economists, and academics. Given the need for re‐envisioning healthcare to include more accountability, evidence of efficacy and transparency, this integrative medicine (ASIMP) working group is suitable to address the above purpose.FindingsSubstantial opportunity exists to reduce morbidity and mortality, suffering and excess death, unnecessary costs and risks. Greater transparency facilitates the transition to safer, more effective, more humane healthcare.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper starts from a need to improve clinical outcomes and value for resources devoted. Best efforts of a national working group are presented. The implications of the report, when tested, will determine the enduring value of this work.Practical implicationsConsumers and business, administrators and practitioners can improve care at lower cost by increasing transparency. This will accelerate the diffusion of effective approaches that are not yet in widespread use despite replication of efficacy.Originality/valueThis is the first time an integrative approach has been compared with conventional healthcare models, particularly with regard to the role of transparency in healthcare management.

Why do some people change their religious affiliations, with all this may imply for family and community relations? Why are some communities more receptive than others to religious innovation? Are there any patterned relationships among social position, group organization, and community culture which help account for intra‐ and intercommunity variation in religious conversion? In Latin America, one area for investigating these questions is the conversion of traditional and folk Catholics to Protestantism and to modern Catholicism. The questions are, of course, related to the larger issues of change and stability, and for those interested in applied anthropology the answers may bear on the strategy used in approaching “target” societies; for others, the answers are relevant to theories of cultural innovation and continuity.