ABOUT THIS BOOK

As the birthplace of maize and a celebrated culinary destination, Mexico stands at the crossroads of gastronomic richness and stark social disparities. In México Between Feast and Famine Enrique C. Ochoa unveils the historical and contemporary forces behind Mexico’s polarized food systems.

México Between Feast and Famine provides one of the first comprehensive analyses of Mexico’s food systems and how they reflect the contradictions and inequalities at the heart of Mexico. Ochoa examines the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of neoliberal policies that have reshaped food production, distribution, and consumption in Mexico. Ochoa analyzes the histories of Mexico’s mega food companies, including GRUMA, Bimbo, Oxxo, Aurrera/Walmex, and reveals how corporations have captured the food system at the same time that diet-related diseases have soared. The author not only examines the economic and political dimensions of food production but also interrogates the social and cultural impacts.

As debates around food sovereignty, globalization, and sustainable development intensify globally, México Between Feast and Famine provides a timely analysis that counters conventional narratives about Mexican cuisine. Even as it looks back, this work looks to the future, where more equitable and sustainable food systems prioritize social justice and community well-being.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Enrique C. Ochoa is a professor of Latin American studies and history at California State University, Los Angeles, where, in 2013–2014, they were the President’s Distinguished Professor. A community-based public historian, Ochoa works to link community struggles to their teaching and research.

REVIEWS

“In this critical and thought-provoking study, Enrique Ochoa explores the historical roots of the current paradox that dominates Mexico’s food systems: a rich, diverse, and world-renowned cuisine and a majority of the population suffering chronic malnutrition and diet-related illnesses. This study outlines a long history of how colonialism and capitalism captured Mexican food systems—and of the resistance from below that seeks to take them back.”—Alexander Aviña, author of Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside

“México Between Feast and Famine provides a detailed analysis of how food production and policy have changed in Mexico, particularly due to neoliberalism. It is an essential book to understand current-day Mexico, as it shows how the Mexican government favored the growth of particular industries and delegated them the responsibility of feeding the country. Through detailed case study analysis, this book reveals the industrial success of companies like Bimbo and Maseca at the expense of the Mexican population, who are losing their health and culinary culture.”—Sandra Aguilar-Rodriguez, Moravian University— -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Toward a Holistic Approach to Mexican Food Systems

1. Commodifying a Way of Life: Food, Capitalism, and Coloniality in Mexican History

2. “A Better Diet for Our People”: The Persistence of Inequality in the Postrevolutionary Food System

3. Corporate Power and the Neoliberal Assault on Mexico’s Food System

4. Men with Machines: GRUMA and the Transformation of the Tortilla Industry

5. The Gran Familia Bimbo: Catholic Patriarchy, Industrial Bread, and Whiteness

6. Supermarket Colonialism: Walmart de México and Oxxo in the Restructuring of the Food System

7. “Paradise of Junk Food”: Popular Struggles, Corporate Power, and the Social Costs of Mexico’s Food System

Conclusion: The Battle for Mexico’s Food System

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author