Edible plants as a complement to the diet of peasant farmers: a case study of the Totonacapan region of Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

Peasant societies have traditionally produced food for themselves and for the market based on a diversity of plants that they grow and cultivate in their agroecosystems; however, these societies are modifying their agriculture, their consumption, the structure and composition of their plots and abandoning the consumption of these species, which are gradually ceasing to be part of their diets. This research aimed to analyze the contribution of local crop diversity to the peasant diet of the Totonacapan region of Puebla, Mexico. During 2020, 270 dietary surveys were applied, and in 2022, the richness of edible species in 146 peasant plots was recorded and 69 semi-structured interviews were conducted to document ethnobotanical information on edible species. A total of 102 edible species were identified in the plots; 65 are native and 37 are introduced. The milpas and the family garden are the main areas where food for self-consumption is grown: corn, beans, and some grean leaves (quelites). Meanwhile, coffee plantations and horticultural areas mainly contain food for sale; coffee, fat pepper, bananas, oranges, and chili peppers stand out. Half of the plants inventoried (53%) were not recorded in the diet surveys. Absent foods were fruit trees, roots and tubers, spices, quelites, and local vegetables. On the other hand, most of the 48 species recorded in the plots and the dietary surveys had a very low frequency of consumption. The limited consumption of this group of species is largely because they are no longer suitable for consumption, are difficult to cook, or require much time for collection and preparation. The reason villagers conserve these plants may be because they are emergency foods. After all, they consume them eventually or in times of scarcity, hence the importance of keeping them in the plots. Even though a great wealth of edible plants is grown in the campesino plots, it does not mean they have a relevant presence in the diets.