Food networks in migrant families: mixed methods to analyze the relationship of ingredients and food consumption strategies in Argentina

People's migrations and plants for food: a review for fostering sustainability

“…The incorporation of industrialized food was also mentioned by several authors. For example, this phenomenon is reported in Argentina for migrants from the highlands to the lowlands [40], and in Australia for women refugees from Somalia who replaced traditional bread with readybaked ones [28]. However, in this last case, women also incorporated the consumption of vegetables and fruits not consumed in Somalia [28].…”

“…Examples are several species bought in ethnic markets by Chinese and Taiwanese in USA [39], and in Bolivian markets among internal migrants in Argentina [40]. In 34% of the studies, the plants used for food were obtained in a combination of these actions (cultivated and gathered 19%; cultivated and markets 7%; cultivated, gathered and markets 9%), and in 7% we could not determine the people's agency on the plants.…”

“…For 52% of the studies (n = 44) we observed adaptations on the use of plant species-which are obviously always also related to plant knowledge-and these adaptations were most frequent for gathered plants (24 studies) than for cultivated (15 studies) or obtained in markets or via exchanges (8 studies). Among all the 44 studies which mentioned adaptations in food plant species, maintenance in the use of plants appears as a way to keep cultural memories, or in different degrees, with an identitarian role [1,29,40,57], which can be present in the way some plant ingredients were prepared [58]. This maintenance is also evidenced in the names attributed to plant species, such in Suriname [26] for West and Central African names (Ewe, Fon, Bantu-Kikongo, and Akan) given to plants of African origin and for some American plants introduced in Africa before the slave traffic.…”

“…For people from highlands Andean Argentina who migrated to the lowlands, but also in the source area [40] Sedum sp. and Talinum sp.…”

“…For example, if the target environment is markedly different from the source environment, we could expect less availability of known native plants (except for widely distributed species), contrasting conditions for cultivation, and less availability of habitual plant foods in the markets. The dependence on markets will be affected by their availability, in which ethnic food markets in large urban centers play an important role in enabling access to food plants related to multicultural identities [39,40]. On the other hand, dependency on markets reduces the user autonomy on the plant resources, as observed in studies where foraging is being replaced by market purchasing [73].…”