TY - JOUR
T1 - 'We eat meat every day'
T2 - Ecology and economy of dietary change among Oaxacan migrants from Mexico to New Jersey
AU - Guarnaccia, Peter J.
AU - Vivar, Teresa
AU - Bellows, Anne C.
AU - Alcaraz, Gabriela V.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the Johnson & Johnson Foundation for financial support of this project. Maria Vivar provided valuable assistance in setting up the focus groups in New Jersey and Oaxaca. Sarai Sanchez was an able research assistant in Mexico. The authors also wish to thank the State University System of Oaxaca for its support of the fieldwork, especially Ing. Bernardo Rosales Mendez who facilitated the Oaxacan community studies.
PY - 2012/1
Y1 - 2012/1
N2 - In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the USA has experienced large-scale and continuing immigration from around the world, especially Latin America and, within Latin America, from Mexico. One dimension of these transnational processes is dietary change. In this paper, we qualitatively assess the effects of migration from Oaxaca, Mexico to central New Jersey on the ecology and economy of dietary patterns. We explore multiple factors at the micro and macro levels. Data come from focus groups held among Mexican migrants in New Jersey, and in Oaxaca among people from their sending communities. Economic constraints and lack of culturally appropriate foods are larger barriers to healthy eating than lack of knowledge about appropriate diets. We end with recommendations for nutrition education and interventions.
AB - In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the USA has experienced large-scale and continuing immigration from around the world, especially Latin America and, within Latin America, from Mexico. One dimension of these transnational processes is dietary change. In this paper, we qualitatively assess the effects of migration from Oaxaca, Mexico to central New Jersey on the ecology and economy of dietary patterns. We explore multiple factors at the micro and macro levels. Data come from focus groups held among Mexican migrants in New Jersey, and in Oaxaca among people from their sending communities. Economic constraints and lack of culturally appropriate foods are larger barriers to healthy eating than lack of knowledge about appropriate diets. We end with recommendations for nutrition education and interventions.
KW - Dietary change
KW - Mexico
KW - New Jersey
KW - acculturation
KW - migration
KW - transnational and trans-border
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84857983436&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84857983436&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01419870.2011.594170
DO - 10.1080/01419870.2011.594170
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84857983436
VL - 35
SP - 104
EP - 119
JO - Ethnic and Racial Studies
JF - Ethnic and Racial Studies
SN - 0141-9870
IS - 1
ER -