Quinoa In Peru

As the population of the world increases, so does the need for food. This population increase is going to put a strain on the food available as well as other resources. The resource strain created by the increased population has gathered the attention of both researchers and academics alike. Such theorists have created many ways to remedy this food strain through means of altering our foodways to be less wasteful and more sustainable, discovering new or modifying existing foodstuffs that are easier to grow and are more nutritious, and also creating new, more efficient agricultural methods and equipment. One of these ways, however, has been at work recently. There has been a global trend of discovering and consuming “superfoods,” foods that

Out of her research, one can conclude that quinoa, like other superfoods, is important in its high nutritional value but, unlike other superfoods, is important in that it also represents the culture in which it originated.

Quinoa was not always known as a superfood. Quinoa was first consumed by the natives of South America, primarily around the high plains near Lake Titicaca in Peru. In her research, Andrews (2017) states that “quinoa was likely domesticated near Lake Titicaca, as that is the place of greatest genetic diversity…” (p. 16). Evidence shows that quinoa was an important agricultural product consumed by the natives as early as 2000 B.C. Along with being a source of nutrition for the natives, quinoa was used for religious purposes. Andrews (2017) states that “[quinoa] was used by the Inca to produce fermentation of chicha, which was used in religious rituals for the Andean seasons of harvest and sowing, and to thank Pachamama, or Earth Mother, for her generosity, and so ensure prosperity” (p. 16). Despite the native’s use of quinoa in religious functions and as a nutrition source, the conquistadors who conquered the native

In Spanish colonial times, quinoa was suppressed and treated unfairly similarly to the natives who used quinoa in agriculture. While quinoa was suppressed almost to extinction, the natives were treated unfairly and enslaved, mirroring the harsh treatment of quinoa. However, today, quinoa is celebrated along with the traditional culture of those who traditionally cultivated the crop. In marketing quinoa, traditional culture is often used to make the crop seem sacred and exotic. Examples can be found in Whole Foods and Kroger that market quinoa as a traditional food of the Incans and other ancient cultures that cultivated