Contribution de la biodiversité à l’alimentation

En décembre 2008, une quarantaine de chercheurs et de doctorants de plusieurs pays du monde se sont réunis à Paris au Musée de l’Homme, sous l’égide du CNRS, du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle et de l’ICAF, pour échanger les résultats de leurs recherches et de leur expérience sur le thème de la contribution de la biodiversité à l’alimentation humaine. Ce colloque a constitué le 26e symposium de l’International Commission for the Anthropology of Food. Nous avons souhaité offrir la public..

Contribution de la biodiversité à l’alimentation

En décembre 2008, une quarantaine de chercheurs et de doctorants de plusieurs pays du monde se sont réunis à Paris au Musée de l’Homme, sous l’égide du CNRS, du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle et de l’ICAF, pour échanger les résultats de leurs recherches et de leur expérience sur le thème de la contribution de la biodiversité à l’alimentation humaine. Ce colloque a constitué le 26e symposium de l’International Commission for the Anthropology of Food. Nous avons souhaité offrir la public..

¿Qué futuro para la alimentación de la especie sapiens?

Based on the research work and reflections made by five authors who approach historical subjects of anthropological, sociological, political and economic nature, a possible future of the society of sapiens on planetary scale is outlined, in parti- cular respect to the food question. As part of it, some recent prominent examples of famines in human history are briefly reviewed, and some data on the present food situation as well as the economic framework in which it happens, will be depicted.A partir de las pesquisas y reflexiones de cinco autores que abordan temas históri- cos de índole antropológica, sociológica, política y económica, se esboza un esce- nario posible sobre el futuro de la sociedad de los sapiens a escala planetaria, espe- cíficamente respecto de la cuestión alimentaria. Como parte de ello, se repasan brevemente ciertos ejemplos sonados de hambrunas recientes en la historia huma- na, se presentan algunos datos sobre la situación alimentaria actual y se bosqueja el telón de fondo económico en lo que ello ocurre

Morir, comer y compartir en Oconahua.

The present work intends to make a brief account of the treatment given to funerals in Oconahua, a mestizo village in Western Mexico, and their relation with eating and drinking. A reflection is also made on such acts in the throes of death and its correlative rites.Se presenta un recuento sucinto del tratamiento que se da a las defunciones en Oconahua, un pueblo mestizo del oeste mexicano, y la relación de éstas con el comer y el beber. Se reflexiona igualmente sobre dichos actos en el trance de la muerte y sus ritos concomitantes

En quoi la téquila est-elle un patrimoine ?

The tequila is a Mexican emblematic beverage. It began to be famous outside national borders in the middle of the last century. However, the cultivation of agave, the plant from which tequila is extracted, dates back to pre-Hispanic Mexico. This article aims to provide timely data on the historical process that gives origin to the tequila. It describes the paradoxes of its production and patrimonialization, ambiguities in the law that protects its production and international monopolization, the depletion and margination of small producers of agave, the loss of biological diversity, as well as of the traditional knowledge that exists on the agave and distilled beverages. Finally, it attempts to sketch an alternative to overcome this situation

Biodiversité et viabilité de l'agriculture paysanne dans la Réserve de Biosphère Sierra de Manantlán, Mexique

Biodiversity is a fundamental property of life and an essential component of ecosystem processes that regulate environmental conditions, provide the natural resources that sustain human societies and, particularly, agricultural food production. The conservation of a significant portion of biodiversity depends on the persistence of traditional farming systems. The case of the Biosphere Reserve Sierra de Manantlán (SMBR), a mountainous region of western Mexico, shows both the potential and limitations of protected areas to conserve agro-biodiversity, i.e. the variety of both cultivated and wild species, and the different agro-ecosystems and associated habitats in the rural landscape. The conservation of the téosinte Zea diploperennis and other wild relatives of cultivated plants, of land-races of traditional crops such as corn and other species and habitats associated with the agricultural landscape, has been one of the goals of the SMBR since its foundation 25 years ago. But peasant farming systems, of which depends the maintenance of agro-biodiversity, have undergone a process of transformation due to : cultural, economic, social and demographic changes in agrarian communities, economic development policies, pressures on the commercial exploitation of natural resources (mineral, forest and phytogenetic resources) and new forms of marginalization. The conservation of agro-biodiversity has been a marginal issue in conservation policy focused on the protection of wild species and wilderness. Although the biosphere reserve management approach integrates conservation goals with the sustainable use of natural resources for local development, currently there is a downward trend towards the conventional model of nature protection excluding or limiting human activities and imposing land use regulations with direct costs to peasant landowners that accentuate their disadvantage. Therefore the design and implementation of conservation programs should provide instruments to offset the exceptional conditions created by protected areas, and to implement actions to strengthen the communal institutions, to promote the creation of effective participatory mechanisms for reserve management, and to contribute to capacity building, recovery of traditional knowledge and sustainable resource management techniques and the design of new forms of land management that allow conservation of ecosystems and agro-biodiversity, food self-sufficiency and improvement of the living conditions of the rural population. Peasant agriculture offers opportunities to implement alternative forms of sustainable agricultural production and agro-biodiversity conservation compatible with the protection of nature