Food for Everyone: Deities, Nature and Humans

Peru stands out as one of the countries with the greatest agrobiodiversity in the world. This wealth, composed of a varied range of native and wild foods, is not only attributed to the geographical diversity of the territory but also to the tireless work of generations of people working in the fields. From pre-Hispanic times to the present, these families have turned their family crop fields into authentic living laboratories for the adaptation and preservation of essential foods and seeds, crucial for the country's food security and sovereignty. However, amid climate crises and the aftermath of the pandemic, according to data provided by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Peru faces the highest rate of food insecurity in South America. More than half of the population is at risk of food insecurity, and anemia rates persist at high levels.

The question of how this situation is possible in such a diverse territory finds answers in the complexities that cut across political, social, and cultural foundations, constituting an integral part of a profound crisis. This crisis is also reflected in the city where the work has been carried out: the city of Cusco. Located in the southern Andes of Peru, Cusco is one of the main urban centers in this region where tourism, mining, and agriculture play fundamental roles as primary economic activities. To this day, agriculture stands out as the activity involving the largest number of people, especially in the realm of family farming, which also faces various problems exacerbated by climate change.

 How to Imagine the Future in a Moment of Crisis?

I recall that, during a conversation, a friend told me that to be a "runa" (person), to feel complete, one had to understand the land, one had to understand the chacra. It was necessary to forge bonds of affection to comprehend, from a different perspective, what numbers and statistics reflected from a distant standpoint, in order to establish connections with experiences and reflections occurring from other angles. This is where my research begins; the work proposes immersing oneself in individual encounters and dialogues with people involved in the preservation of life's diversity in the city of Cusco.

From different territories of the city, we can engage in dialogue with Rocío Cjuiro, Jessica Nina, Justo Mantilla, Elena Pardo, Hipólito Peralta Cama, Alain Dlugosz and Jennifer Florez, Soledad Secca Noa "Solischa," Jaime Araoz, Roberto Ojeda, and Claudia Palomino. Through conversations, interviews, photographs, videos, collaborative writings, among other means, the work seeks to contribute to reflections on the future, emotional bonds, and food as a connector among all beings in the Andes, prompting us to collectively ask: How can we imagine the future in a moment of crisis?

 Perhaps, to initiate a dialogue of this nuance, it is important to return to a fundamental question: From what perspective do we view the future? At a time when our connection with nature is shattered by extractivism and the systematic quest to consume our subjectivities, how can we be human?

The work aims to contribute to the dialogue on the bonds of affection and reciprocity existing in the Andean world and to appreciate different ways of thinking and inhabiting the world. It also seeks to highlight the importance of imagination and other forms of storytelling, as well as the significance of individual and community organization in the pursuit of a different future where diverse knowledge and visions can converge.