The More You Love
Quinoa, The More You Hate Bolivians
by Judy Molland
Care2, January 18, 2013by Judy Molland
Pronounced keen-wa, quinoa has an ancient origin, in the Andes Mountains of
South America, where it was one of the three staple foods of the Inca
civilization, along with corn and potatoes. The Incas called it “the mother
grain,” and today the quinoa seed is considered a super-food, valued for its
high protein content, fiber, essential amino acids and overall great
nutritional value.
You can eat it as a side dish or a main dish for lunch or dinner, have it
for breakfast in place of oatmeal, bake cookies with it, or even use it in
drinks. It’s light, tasty, and easy to digest and tastes great!
For all these reasons, sales of quinoa have exploded, and this increased
demand means that the basic price of this seed has tripled since 2006, while
the more unusual black, red and “royal” types come at an even greater cost.
But there’s a dark side to this popularity. From The Guardian:
There is an unpalatable truth to face for those of us
with a bag of quinoa in the larder. The appetite of countries such as ours for
this grain has pushed up prices to such an extent that poorer people in Peru
and Bolivia, for whom it was once a nourishing staple food, can no longer
afford to eat it. Imported junk food is cheaper. In Lima, quinoa now costs more
than chicken. Outside the cities, and fuelled by overseas demand, the pressure
is on to turn land that once produced a portfolio of diverse crops into quinoa
monoculture.
The idea that it’s cheaper to buy imported junk food in Bolivia and Peru
than to purchase a pound of healthy quinoa is a frightening one. In the U.S.,
there are numerous studies showing how eating junk food contributes to our soaring
obesity rates. And as American junk food spreads to other countries, with
McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut, among others, opening up franchises in
Vietnam, China and Japan, so the obesity rates start growing there too. In El
Salvador, there’s been a dramatic increase in rotten teeth, the result of an
influx of American soft drinks.
That’s one disastrous aspect of this situation.
Another is the notion that with all our
well-intentioned nutritious eating habits, by consuming so much quinoa, we are
driving up poverty rates in Bolivia and Peru.
The Guardian article goes on to compare quinoa to other imported produce
such as asparagus and soy, and reports that in both
cases, increased exportation of these foods has led to environmental
destruction and poverty in parts of South America.
Should we all cut back on our consumption of quinoa to
stabilize the market and make sure it’s available to everyone at a fair price?
Will that solve the problem?
Obviously, it’s not as simple as that. If we all stop
buying quinoa, then farmers in Bolivia and Peru will lose their jobs, and they
won’t have money to buy any quinoa. A better solution is to begin growing
quinoa in other parts of the world.
Every crop originally came from a specific place, so
quinoa production will spread, given demand, as has the production of corn and
potatoes, the two other staples of the Inca diet.
What do you think?
Páginas Paralelas:
Blythman, Joanna (2013, 16 January). Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? The Guardian.
Quinoa recipes at BBC Good Food
Care 2 WebPage: for good causes and healthy habits!
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