Food and Herbalism in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experience from the Sierra Juárez de Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend and dependence on the supply and consumption of poor-quality, processed, and industrialized foods was evident, in addition to the decrease in peasant activities. In response to the food shortage, different citizen initiatives arose: indigenous communities reactivated farmland and community markets, among other actions. In this sense, we address the experience of Zapotec communities in the Sierra Juárez of Oaxaca to reflect on the strategies that have emerged to face the challenges of the production and distribution of food during the pandemic. Likewise, it is proposed that these approaches arise from community organization and enable communal food systems.