Full Description
An approachable ethnography of how grasshoppers are harvested, sold, and consumed in Oaxaca.
Chapulines (toasted grasshoppers) are not a delicacy in Oaxaca. They are just food-good food-and a protein-rich seasonal snack that is the product of a long-standing industry based overwhelmingly on the labor of women. Jeffrey Cohen has interviewed dozens of these chapulineras, who harvest insects from corn and alfalfa fields, prepare them, and sell them in urban and rural marketplaces. An accessible ethnography, Eating Grasshoppers tells their story alongside the broader history of chapulines.
For tourists, chapulines are an experience-a gateway to the "real" Oaxaca. For locals, they are ordinary fare, but also a reminder of Indigenous stability and rural survival. In a sense, eating chapulines is a declaration of independence from a government that has condemned eating insects as backward. Yet, while chapulines are a generations-old favorite, eating them is not an act of preservation. Cohen shows that the business of this allegedly traditional food is thoroughly modern and ever evolving, with entrepreneurial chapulineras responding nimbly to complex and dynamic markets. From alfalfa fields to online markets, Eating Grasshoppers takes readers inside one of the world's most fascinating food cultures.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction. Chapulines, Food, Thought, and Economy
Part I. Approaching Chapulines
Chapter 1. Chapulineras: The Women Who Sell Grasshoppers
Chapter 2. The Harvest and Production
Part II. Eating and Thinking Chapulines
Chapter 3. Chapulines on the Table
Chapter 4. The Chapulines Experience
Part III. Marketing Chapulines
Chapter 5. How to Sell Chapulines in Oaxaca
Chapter 6. Building a Touchless Economy
Conclusions. Why Chapulines?
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
