I.

INTRODUCTION

"We must repeat: Mesoamericans do not sow corn, we Mesoamericans make corn. And these are things

different because corn is a plant and corn is a way of life. The cornfield is the matrix of civilization

Mesoamerican. If we really want to preserve and strengthen our deep identity, not only agro-ecological

but socio-economic, cultural and civilizational, we must move from the corn paradigm to the milpa
paradigm: a concept

complex that includes the corn but goes beyond it...

... "The strength of the cornfield is not in the productivity of the corn or the bean or the pumpkin or the
chili or the tomatillo

separate measures. Its virtue lies in the synergic harmony of the whole".

Armando Bartra

The field of food today is at the centre of attention and

concerns of people and institutions.

In recent decades, Mexico has undergone an announced transformation of the standards

epidemiological, resulting from changes in consumption patterns, lifestyle, as well

as well as increased life expectancy. This has meant, among other things, a

increase in obesity, diabetes, kidney failure, women's diseases, the

older adults and others called chronic degenerative, among many others.

It is a historical fact that in the 20th and 21st centuries, human nutrition varied

considerably, and one of the key aspects of this change was the increase

of carbohydrate intake, canned and sausage foods, and the decrease of

fiber content. At the same time urbanization increased, changes occurred

and cultural factors that have led to less physical activity and more sedentary lifestyles.

increased sadness and depression. This has resulted in the increase

alarming about obesity and diabetes.

It is paradoxical how at the same time medical science is advancing in the treatment of

the development of the above-mentioned diseases, nor has it been possible to

provide effective and low-cost therapeutic measures to deal with them, which implies a

serious social cost both in the number of lives lost, the quality of life of the sick,

as well as a very high expenditure on human resources, inputs, medical procedures and money

that has unbalanced the burden on the health services.

The degree of misinformation that the population has regarding the

the food, its ideal characteristics, the nutritional values of the food, as well as

of the consequences of the feeding it does.

In Mexico there is a contradictory situation, on the one hand it suffers from poor nutrition, from

According to official figures, there are more than 28 million Mexicans in

food shortage and more than 48 million overweight or obese and is a

country with a wide biological and cultural diversity, with a society with profound

knowledge of the sustainable management and care of its natural and extensive resources

culinary knowledge, various specialists report that small producers

"produce about 40 percent of the national food we consume daily

and are responsible for over 80 percent of our food diversity. 2

1 Bartra, Armando; "De milpas, mujeres y otros mitotes", La Jornada del Campo No 31, 17 April 2010.

2 César Arellano García. Conclusions of the forum from the small producer to the consumer: diversity
and nutrition. Newspaper La

Day. Thursday 28 May 2015, p. 38.

Much is said in Mexico about healthy eating; it is now fashionable to talk about

vegetarianism or veganism, however the vegetarian or vegan diet with

dishes and seasoning with which it is spread is generally difficult to accept in Mexico,
because we're used to certain combinations of foods, tastes and smells. At

to us Mexicans they seem to be insipid and insubstantial diets. On the other hand, the diet of

the milpa is supported by culturally relevant food, which rescues

many of our culinary traditions and way of life.

Every day, regional models of healthy eating become more important, as a

This is a concrete example that takes into account the particularities of the human being, his geography
and culture,

to propose and adapt the food, taking advantage of all the contributions offered by the

regional biodiversity. This is how this proposal was born, which we have called the

"the diet of the milpa", whose origins are very old in our country, and which has now

strengthened with multiple specialist research highlighting their contributions

We have been able to recover, systematize and order them, to present them in a

in a coherent and comprehensive manner, in order to harness and implement it for the benefit of the
health of

our population.

II. OBJECTIVE

General Objective

Defining and disseminating a healthy food-based eating model

Mesoamericans who are part of our ident