Humberto Thomé-Ortiz

Motives for food choice of consumers in Central México

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify segments of Mexican consumers with regard to their motives for food choices. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire based on the Food Choice Questionnaire was applied to 1,202 consumers. A factor analysis and a cluster analysis were performed on the data. Findings Ten factors were identified: care for weight and health, social sensitivity, practicality, economic aspects, non-industrialized, hedonism, traditionality A, familiarity, traditionality B, and no added sugar. Resulting clusters were named as: traditional, healthy, conscious, and careless. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found due to gender, age, marital status, and educational level, but not for body mass index. There are signs of different consumers, but it seems that Mexican consumers in general express low sensitivity to issues of health and nutrition, even more so towards animal welfare and products that are friendly to the environment. Research limitations/implications The large diversity of motivations and behaviours in food consumption in Mexico are not all addressed in this study. However, this work opens a new area of research in Mexico so that in the near future studies on the diversity of Mexican consumers are undertaken, looking at the transformation of their food preferences. Practical implications In Europe, governments have addressed the new forms of consumption taking advantage of opportunities that benefit local producers, through the generation of added value as “Protected Designations of Origin (DOP)”, geographical indications, collective brands, ecological produce, local products of the land, among others. These proposals are promoted as a path to follow in Latin America, assuming that Latin American consumers have the same characteristics or interests as in those developed countries. But, not knowing consumers motives of preference represents a problem in the processes of valorization of food products. Social implications Economic development, demographic, and sociocultural changes in Latin America have promoted phenomena both in the polarization of livelihoods in their societies as well as changes of lifestyles in different social strata. Therefore, studies are needed on the effect of these changes not only in food consumption, but also on the symbolic elements when consumers choose their food. Originality/value In Mexico, the study of food consumption has followed diverse approaches, as a matter of policy, from an economic perspective, from anthropology, particularly focussed on indigenous cultures, from the nutrition and health field or emphasizing economic aspects. As in other developing countries, those works do not address the role of the consumer and their motivations, so that research that studies their motives in the choice of foods is needed.

The consumer of food products in organic markets of central Mexico

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of consumers of organic food, based on their motivations. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire based on the Food Choice Questionnaire was applied to a 656 consumers. A multivariate factor analysis and cluster analysis was performed to the data. Findings Seven factors were identified: ecological concern; nutritional content; availability of natural products; sensory aspects; certifications, health and confidence; and economic aspects. Resulting clusters were named as: conscious and interested in certification; conscious with no interest in certification; opportunist in transition; unconscious opportunist. There are signs of different consumers. The consumers of these products are characterised by an interaction between hedonic and ethical motivations, where the most important motivation is environmental concern and the least important are the economic aspects. Research limitations/implications The reduced number of alternative markets in Mexico limits the amplitude of the research. Practical implications The work herein reported is pioneer and contributes to reduce the lack of studies on the motivations and characteristics of consumers of organic foods in Mexico. Findings may set a path for new research in other cultural contexts; as well as for more specific work in Mexico as of consumers of industrialised organic products. Social implications Characterising consumers of organic foods will enable the development of these markets. Originality/value Social studies of eating habits have taken place in European countries; and several works have been developed in other areas of the world to determine the way in which consumers build their preferences and food choice patterns. In Mexico, specifically in organic foods, studies have focussed in agrarian economics, but the analysis of motivations for choice has not been addressed. Therefore, it is important to research this issue given the relevance for consumers.

Actividades recreativas y conservación en Áreas Naturales Protegidas en el centro de México: un enfoque desde los Socioecosistemas

Delgado L.A. 2018. Landscape Heterogeneity and tree species diversity in a tropical forest. Development and validation of a methodological proposal. Ecosistemas 27(1): 105-115. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.1475 Many landscapes exist as unstable spatial-temporal mosaics where changes in patterns of biodiversity are affected by nature processes and the dynamic interaction between social and ecological factors. It is a consequence of the natural dynamics of socio-economic systems that regulate man-made tropical forests. However, a significant proportion of studies have made generalizations about the relative values of biodiversity, without taking into account the high levels of internal heterogeneity in the biophysical properties and land uses of each site. The purpose of this study is to propose and validate a methodology to delimit the heterogeneity of the landscape based on criteria that integrate the coupling of human-ecological systems such as: space-time dynamics of deforestation and fragmentation; complexity of the landscape structure; current and historical land use and biophysical variability. For this, the use of satellite images, landscape metrics, field work, documentary review and multivariate analysis were combined. The proposed methodology is intended to help guide the empirical delimitation of landscape heterogeneity as a prerequisite for the selection of similar landscapes and forest patches in studies of the diversity of tree species, in order to provide an opportunity to control the possible difficulties caused by variability in the proportion of forests, landscape configuration and successional states, in estimating its effects on forest richness and floristic composition.

Information Mycological Systems and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: The Case of Mycological Tourism in Central Mexico

Wild edible fungi are non-timber forest products that have great relevance for forest communities in central Mexico. Texcaltitlán is a rural community known for its traditional ecological knowledge on the use and identification of wild edible mushrooms. The aim of this work is to link Geographic Information Systems and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, in order to generate Mycological Information Systems. This is a qualitative, quantitative and exploratory research, which seeks to determine the usefulness of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to systematize and locate mycological resources for use as a tourist attraction. The results show the existence of a wide variety of edible mushrooms in the region, along with a wide mycological traditional knowledge. Both aspects reflect the existence of unique natural and cultural features that can be the basis to build a unique tourism product in central Mexico. It is concluded that GIS are useful tools to build a multifunctional vision of mushrooms.

Desenvolvimento rural da região dos Caminhos de Pedra, no município de Bento Gonçalves/RS – Brasil

O roteiro pertinente a este estudo esta localizado no interior do municipio de Bento Goncalves, na Serra Gaucha, e trata-se de um dos maiores projetos de desenvolvimento pessoal e material existente no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, local de imigracao italiana e que mantem fortes tracos dessa cultura. A partir disso, o presente estudo pergunta-se que problemas trouxe o desenvolvimento do turismo no espaco rural da regiao dos Caminhos de Pedra, em Bento Goncalves/RS – Brasil? A partir da questao-problema, cria-se o objetivo geral, que consiste em identificar quais os problemas trazidos pelo desenvolvimento do turismo no espaco rural da regiao dos Caminhos de Pedra: Bento Goncalves/RS – Brasil. A metodologia pertinente a pesquisa consiste em uma pesquisa de campo, exploratoria, quantitativa e qualitativa, utilizando, para o levantamento de dados, entrevistas com os donos das atracoes locais. Diante dos dados colhidos, foram identificados os seguintes problemas, ocasionados pelo desenvolvimento do turismo no espaco rural da regiao dos Caminhos de Pedra: degradacao do meio ambiente e especulacao imobiliaria.

Heritage cuisine and identity: free time and its relation to the social reproduction of local food

ABSTRACT Mexico City is the world’s fourth largest metropolis with more than 20 million inhabitants. Due to its integration with a global world, the dietary habits of its population have undergone significant transformations, which include an increased consumption of industrialized products. At the same time, there is a growing interest in local food consumption, linked to aspects such as health, the environment and cultural identity. One of the most consumed traditional foods in central Mexico is slow-cooked lamb (barbacoa de borrego), a dish prepared with the Mayan ‘pib’ cooking method, which consists of using an earthen oven in which the animal is placed, wrapped in maguey cactus leaves and cooked throughout an entire night. Texcoco is a small city 40 kilometres outside of Mexico City whose fame for preparing barbacoa attracts thousands of visitors every weekend. The purpose of this work is to analyse the role that personal identity and free time play in the reproduction of heritage cuisine in contemporary societies. It concludes that tourism practices enable the continuity of certain local foods, reinterpreted in the light of urban consumption.