Caliata: An Indigenous Community in Ecuador Offers Lessons on Food Sovereignty and Sustainable Diets

Abstract

Background To achieve a healthy sustainable food system globally, it is imperative to understand how local food systems can provide healthy and sustainable conditions. Objective To explore, through the indigenous community of Caliata in the Ecuadorian highlands, the factors that support or hinder sustainable Andean food systems. Methods We designed a participatory mixed-methods study in Caliata (Chimborazo, Ecuador), and an inclusive and transdisciplinary research process with constant member checking. The study combined culturally validated qualitative methods (n = 49), agroecology-based site analysis, and household surveys (N = 57), including a modified 48-hour recall. We used the NOVA food classification to categorize the diet according to levels of processing and analyzed categorical and numeric data to understand the interplay of parcel size, agrodiversity, and diet diversity. Results First, the agroecological space is defined by the stewardship of Pachamama (Mother Nature), a central role in Andean cosmovision, leading to trophic interactions and cycles characterized by a diversity of heterarchical social organizations and agroecologically useful species. Second, consistency was found in dietary patterns; all respondents consume their produce, fruits being the most popular snack (in a 24-hour period 70% reported an average of 2.2 servings), and two-thirds of households consume unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Third, gendered agriculture and population aging represent demographic challenges, while chronic health problems remain relatively infrequent compared to the general population. Fourth, food sovereignty is an ecocentric concept based on production, exchanges of seeds and produce, consumption of produce, and knowledge of how agroecological space is treated. This system represents a nutrient loop tied to a system of knowledge about how to care for soil, land, and the ecological community. Conclusion Caliata provides important perspectives on linkages between diet, biodiversity, use of agroecological space, and rural-urban dynamics. This small indigenous community offers lessons for achieving both healthy ecosystems and food security.

Indigenous food sovereignty assessment—A systematic literature review

“…Characteristics of included studies are summarised in Table 2. Indigenous food sovereignty was assessed mostly in Canada (n = 13), 12,20,22,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] followed by United States of America (n = 8), 23,26,[37][38][39][40][41][42] India (n = 3), 25,43,44 Ecuador (n = 3), 24,45,46 Australia (n = 2), 47,48 and one study from Uganda, 49,50 South Africa, 51 China, 21 and Namibia respectively. 52 Seven studies used validated frameworks, with the most frequent being the socioecological model (n = 3).…”

“…22,33,38 The most frequent assessment method was interviews (n = 29), 12,21,[24][25][26][27][28][29][32][33][34][36][37][38][39]45,[47][48][49][50][51][52] followed by focus groups and meetings (n = 23). 12,24,[27][28][29][30][31][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][46][47][48][50][51][52] The most frequently used tool was the Traditional Food Frequency Questionnaire (n = 7), 20,[29][30][31]34,…”

“…Seven studies used validated frameworks, with the most frequent being the socio‐ecological model ( n = 3) 22,33,38 . The most frequent assessment method was interviews ( n = 29), 12,21,24–29,32–34,36–39,45,47–52 followed by focus groups and meetings ( n = 23) 12,24,27–31,33–40,46–48,50–52 . The most frequently used tool was the Traditional Food Frequency Questionnaire ( n = 7), 20,29–31,34,35,45 and Household Food Security Survey Model ( n = 4), 26,28,30,31 which assessed inclusion of traditional and local food.…”

Child dietary patterns in Homo sapiens evolution

“…Today, increasingly homogenized and global food systems enable populations to disassociate from local environments and more easily access ultra-processed and evolutionarily novel food items. In some Indigenous communities today, traditional diets have been recognized for environmental sustainability, though unfortunately, substantial shifts away from these patterns are evident in these populations as well [ 88 , 89 ]. Two studies in the review were from island communities and illustrative of ecosystem synchrony.…”

Ultra-processed foods in a rural Ecuadorian community: associations with child anthropometry and bone maturation

“…This variable was obtained from responses on child dietary intake from a validated 24-hour Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), which is based on a comprehensive list of foods with their standardised serving/portion sizes identified from extensive formative research (29) , our previous studies in young children living in the Cotopaxi region using FFQ (24) and national studies examining child diets using 24-hour recalls in Ecuador (30) . Intake frequency was based on different food categories meeting the NOVA classification of UPF specifically adapted for Ecuador's context (31,32) . The NOVA classification establishes four categories: unprocessed or minimally processed; culinary ingredients; processed and ultra-processed (12) .…”