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GRETEL H. PELTO Social Class and Diet in Contemporary Mexico IN CONTEMPORARY MEXICO THERE ARE SHARP CONTRASTS BEtween the diets of the great masses of poor families and those of the (largely urban) middle and upper classes. The contrasts are demonstrable in data on "habitual diet," "amounts spent weekly on food," "degree of dependence on purchased foods," "variety of foods consumed," and "provenience of food items." Less obvious, but highly important, are the contrasts in "per capita nutrients consumed." Total energy costs, as well as other costs involved in the production and distribution of foods, also differ sharply when one compares the mass of low-income families with the more affluent sectors of the Mexican population. At yet another level of comparison, more fine-grained analysis would demonstrate important differences in bacterial and parasitic contamination , which are in part the result of differing conditions of food conservation and preparation. Many of the dietary contrasts between rich and poor are closely linked to rural-urban differences, and it is difficult to disentangle the effects of social class from rural-urban factors. Although the complex mosaic of food-use patterns in Mexico must be viewed in the light of long-term processes of cultural evolution, the velocity of these processes has increased greatly in the latter part of the 20th century. The difficulty of analyzing such changes, with their multiple effects on the diets of rich and poor alike, is compounded by the fact that cultural change in modem nations takes on different forms in rural, economically marginal regions and continually modernizing urban centers. The consequences of these differences can be examinet at the individual, community , and national levels, including the consequences for indivdiual health, for mortality and population structure, and for national resource utilization. I will begin this discussion with a brief sketch of food use in two families in order to describe dietary differences in a qualitative fashion. I will then present 517 v. The Political Economy and the Political Ecology of Contemporary Foodways statistical data concerning differentials in dietary patterns and nutrient intakes, followed by analysis of the consequences of these patterns. Dietary Patterns: Two Case Studies Javier and Guadalupe Maria Lopez and their five children live in a small mountain village in the state of Mexico. They eke out a meager living through a combination of activities. They grow maize; Javier works occasionally as a day laborer; they sell foods such as squash blossoms, mushrooms, and maize fungus from their small fields; and periodically Javier travels to Mexico City to find temporary (unskilled) construction work. Early morning in the Lopez household starts with coffee, laced with a couple of heaping tablespoons of sugar per mug. After several hours of work, Guadalupe Maria and the children gather for a mid-morning breakfast of tortillas and beans (cooked with onion, garlic, and salt), served with a sauce of coarsely chopped onion and chili. Javier's food is brought to him in the field during the agricultural season. His tortillas and beans are augmented by a liter of pulque, the moderately alcoholic beer made from the sap of the maguey plant (Agave atrovirens). The main meal of the day (the comida), served after 3:00 P.M., when nineyear -old Danielo (the eldest son) returns from school, includes tortillas and a pasta (macaroni), prepared as a dry sopa with onion, garlic, salt, tomatoes, and a commercial soup concentrate for extra flavor. Sometimes rice replaces the macaroni, and sometimes beans are the main dish. The children drink water flavored with sugar and lime juice. Javier and Guadalupe Maria drink pulquefor Javier his third liter of the day. In the early evening Guadalupe prepares tortillas, with "something" to put inside, wrapped to make a taco. In March and April that "something" is likely to be nopales (cactus leaves), chopped and fried with onion and chili. Fried potaotes , scrambled with an egg, beans, squash blossoms, or leftovers from the comida are likely alternatives. Sometimes the family has nothing available for the evening meal and goes to bed without eating. Sunday is different. Sunday is market day in the nearby town. Often the family buys a little chicken, occasionally beef, to be prepared as a stew with squash, cabbage, or a few carrots. White bread rolls and sweet bread are also purchased. These are saved for breakfast and supper in the days following market day. Other special foods are purchased in the market to be eaten on the spot-frozen ices, smoked fish, and candy...

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