Agricultural and Dietary Meanings of Mandioca in Rural Paraguay

In this paper we use mandioca (Latin: Manihot esculenta) as a lens through which to examine agricultural and dietary continuity and change, and questions of food sovereignty practice in a rural, smallholder community in Paraguay. Mandioca is a preferred, staple food and a ubiquitous crop in the area, and the ways farmers conceptualize it as both a crop and as a dietary staple highlights local complexities when it comes to control over agricultural and food systems. Our discussion of the economic, culinary and dietary meanings of mandioca in this community demonstrates how the concept of food sovereignty can play out in terms of the practical, everyday realities that shape farmers' control over their agricultural decision-making, and in their access to foods that they deem healthy and culturally appropriate.