Strategies for maximizing the gastronomic value of the chinampero products from Xomichilco area in Mexico city. Experiences from a Higher Education Institution

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the strategies that have been applied by a Higher Education Institution (HEI) to value the chinampero products within the gastronomic scene of Mexico City, in order to show its role as a key actor within the value chain of local-growth products, and the effects it has in the food system of Mexico City. Through a qualitative approach structured under a retrospective analysis of a series of strategies related to the mis-en-scene of chinampero products within the gastronomic arena, this study seeks to explain how a university can be observed as an agent of legitimization for the value of products and practices related to a specific way of production, through the recognition of different organoleptic attributes of its products, and the study of new food representations around social, environmental and cultural value associated with them. Thus, this study highlights the importance of the HEI, and especially those that are more intensely dedicated to food and/or gastronomic studies, to include concern for and promotion of food systems in their fields of both research and social action of the territories they are part of.