In addition to pumpkin flowers, a wide variety of wild flowers grow among the Milpas that serve as food for pollinator species important for the growth of the edible varieties such as bees and beetles. Eudelia, a Nahua woman poses with a bouquet of edible flowers in her Milpa in Ixtlahuaca in the State of Mexico.
WORDS & IMAGES BY GRETA RICO
Based on data from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, around 40% of the planet's land areas are degraded, in addition to this, the number and duration of drought periods have increased by 29% since the year 2000 throughout the world. The UN call for World Environment Day 2024 talks about restoring soil, stopping desertification and strengthening resilience to drought.
Since pre-Hispanic times, one of the most appreciated and valued products of the Milpas is huitlacoche, which is the name given to a fungus that grows naturally on maize during the rainy season. Dishes made with huitlacoche are part of the gastronomic culture in Mexico, however, in crops where agribusiness uses practices such as monoculture, pesticides and hybrid or transgenic seeds, huitlacoche no longer grows.
When talking about the environment and climate change, rarely we talk about one of the sectors that most affect the care of the planet and its population: agriculture. In Mexico alone, 80% of maize crops are seasonal, meaning it depends on the rainfall cycles. The outlook is not favorable since 5 heat waves are expected during 2024 within which our territory breaks historical records in high temperatures. But, how does this affect agriculture, native seeds, traditional milpas and our food systems?
Gardens of chaos: the extinction of food is a visual research that explores crop loss and related impacts of climate change in native maize and Milpa agriculture in Mexico and the challenges faced by small-scale farmers. This collaborative project in dialogue with peasant and indigenous communities highlights the Milpas and as a positive solution that can mitigate food insecurity because of climate vulnerability in the region.
To make Milpa, farmers cultivate native maize together with other species like beans, squash, broad beans, medicinal plants and fruit trees who live with other edible plant species that grow wild. This traditional agricultural method has represented a highly nutritious diet and the basis of food sovereignty to the peoples in Mexico for 5,000 years. However, two main factors are putting Milpas in danger of extinction: crop loss related to climate vulnerability and corporate colonization during the so-called Green Revolution between the 60s and 80s that still promotes monoculture, pesticides and GMO seeds.
Industrial agriculture has contributed significantly to food extinction; according to the FAO, 75% of the world's plant varieties have been irretrievably lost. In addition to this and in accordance with the Climate Change Research Program, Mexico is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The increase in annual temperature is higher than the world average. The temperature in the country has increased by 1.69 ºC, which can cause the continuous loss of crops and plants and thus a severe lack food in the future.
In recent decades, the industrialization of the countryside has caused the unification of many crops, prioritizing the most profitable varieties and relegating those most adapted to local contexts. This endangers the biodiversity and genetic variety of cultivated species around the world. In addition to this, the US Environment Agency has indicated that climate change is modifying the productivity of crops around the world.
Given this scenario, the genetic information from the Milpas and the seeds of native corn from Mexico may be the answer to the problems of the future. The traditional Milpa provides great environmental benefits such as water collection and biodiversity conservation by planting and exchanging native seeds. This peasant technology recognized by the FAO provides the guarantee of autonomously producing and disposing of food for the present and the future, therefore, they represent models of sustainability and resilience necessary to face climate change.
In seeds we find compassion because they are the answer to saving the planet and preserving life. The work of small farmers around the world contributes to ending the injustices that aggravate food crises and to building food systems that are more resilient to climate change and that are above all at the service of the people.
This photo essay is a way to honor those who represent resilience and resistance, but it is also a way to tell us that the hope of the world is in the countryside, in the knowledge and peasant science of the families that take care of biodiversity by preserving native seeds and traditional Milpas.
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