Critical Approaches to Food Heritage in Latin America. Introduction

We are pleased to present this special issue of Revista del CESLA: Interna-tional Latin American Studies Review,“Critical Approaches to Food Heritage in Latin America.” It features contributions from an international group of sociocul-tural anthropologists and other food scholars who examine the ways in which food and food-related practices are constructed as food heritage or patrimony in Mexico as well as selected regions of Latin America. The focus on Mexico is not coincidental: it was one of the first countries, in 2010, to secure a UNESCO In-tangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) designation for its cuisine and has served as a model for other countries seeking UNESCO recognition. Ratified as “Tradi-tional Mexican Cuisine—ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm,” Mexico’s UNESCO bid revealed not only a nationalist agenda for raising global awareness about its gastronomy but also for promoting tourism among other developmental programs.1 The intervening decade has witnessed the acceleration of the heritagization of Mexican cuisine at multiple scales. But this is not limited to Mexico, as the authors here demonstrate using case studies from Bolivia, Cuba, and Peru. Throughout the Americas there has been a prolifera-tion of both public and private initiatives aimed at “safeguarding” regional and national foods and their associated culinary knowledge, often accompanied by aggressive marketing.