Place, food practices, and scientific knowledge

This commentary seeks to extend the discussion on place, food practices, and ancestral scientific knowledge presented in Silvia Lizette Ramos de Robles’, María Guadalupe Garibay-Chávez’, and Arturo Curiel-Ballesteros’ article, in which the authors conceive of place as defined by the local practices related to the production and consumption of food, and consider within this lens the ways in which Mexican cultural practices surrounding the preparation of local indigenous vegetation for sustenance led to the development of scientific knowledge borne out of centuries of practical application. As someone outside of Mexican culture, I look to understand their arguments through my own cultural lenses and consider the importance of preserving ancestral scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity’s cultural heritage as a means of combatting the commercial forces of globalization.