Ethnography Theme Analysis

Theme Analysis of “Broccoli & Desire: Global Connections and Maya Struggles in Postwar Guatemala”

In the novel, Broccoli & Desire: Global Connections and Maya Struggles in Postwar Guatemala, written by Edward F. Fischer and Peter Benson, the theme of how broccoli farming influences the desires or Mayan farmers is thoroughly investigated.  In order to truly uncover the correlation between the broccoli agriculture industry and the desires of the farmers, many smaller themes, or sub-themes are discussed in each chapter.  This novel, published by Stanford University Press in 2006, uses data collected in Tecpán, Guatemala during the period from 1993 to 2004, as well as data collected from supermarkets in the Nashville, Tennessee area during years 2002 and 2003, in order to fully come to terms with the connection between broccoli and desire.  The prosperity of each individual farmer, is the limiting factor that influences the desires of the farmers.  Due to these boundary conditions, “limit points” or limiting alternatives to these desires must also be defined.  Limit points arise in the event that the farmer’s export or nontraditional crops are not as successful as he would have hoped.  This theme analysis will be concerned with the introduction as well as the first three chapters of this novel.  The reason being is because each of the chapters deals with their own specific sub-theme that helps to support the main theme of the novel.  As these sub-themes are quite complex themselves, it would be impractical to analyze the entire novel given the constraints of this report.

The first chapter of the novel, which is titled, Something Better, supports the main theme of the novel by first giving the reader a clear explanation of why the Mayan farmers choose to grow broccoli in the first place.  The nontraditional agriculture industry is quite a risky business to partake in around the Highlands of Tecpán, Guatemala.  Some years the farmers may lose money, while others they may gain a slight profit, all in an effort to obtain algo más or “something better.” The risks involved with these crops are ones that North American’s would be unable to imagine, yet they are the factors that keep the Mayan people fighting to survive, year after year, on next to no profit.  One of the main reasons a crop such as broccoli is so risky, is that the farmers can never be sure if there will be enough demand for it, from Western markets.  Without demand, there will be no sales and no income for the farmers.  The Mayan people are very traditional people and refuse to eat export crops, partly because they don’t like the taste, but mainly because it is not a food associated with their history or culture.  When there is no demand for these crops, the produce is simply left to rot in the fields.  This is frustrating and angering to the Mayan’s but there is simply nothing they can do about it.  In light of this, there is little or no demand for traditional milpa crops, such as maize and beans, in the export market.  This is why farmers continue to risk planting export crops.  According to Fischer and Benson, surveys around Tecpán “…found that 98 percent of households maintained subsistence milpa plots, but that 56 percent also devoted at least some land to nontraditional crops.” (pg. 38)  This goes to show that farmers are concerned about staying true to their traditions but are intrigued by the concept of algo más, and having a little extra money in order to give their children an opportunity to do something more with their lives.  However, when discussing the export agriculture industry, many farmers in the Tecpán area, including Kanek López, “…lament its demanding labour requirements, they express frustration with the involved quality control procedures, they worry about the heightened risk of crop failure.” (pg. 40)  Luis Tecum, a Kaqchikel farmer in his late fifties, proclaims it “the wave of the future” for farmers that own small plots and are willing to “work hard and take advantage of the opportunity.” Yet he contradicts himself later when he claims the “…additional economic risks brought about by the export trade outweigh the benefits.” (pg. 42)  It is clear by this statement that the frustration around the industry is overwhelming at times, and can often lead farmers to be indecisive about whether or not the risks are worth it.  These examples from Mayan farmers show that their “…commitment to stick with export agriculture may reveal that their desires are clinging around power, that they actually have little control.  Affluent consumers enjoy a host of benefits, often at the expense of these producers.” (pg.48-49)  When the views of the Mayans are contrasted with those of American consumers in Nashville, the differences are quite shocking.  According to Fischer and Benson, “Supermarket shoppers we interviewed expressed surprise and frustration when certain fruits and vegetables were not available, even if they were out of season.” (pg. 37)  It is clear that the world of the Mayan farmers is completely separated from the Western world, and for the most part ignored as well.  The fact that Mayan farmers risk the well-being of themselves and their families just for that little bit of extra money, all while the consumers of their products are completely ignorant of their struggles, goes to show just how far the Mayans are willing to go to reach their desires.

The second chapter, titled, Discourses of Development: Maquilas, Cooperatives, Government Directives, explores the notion that global capitalism is responsible for the unequal dispersion of prosperity between producers in the export agriculture industry of Guatemala, and consumers in North America.  There are quite a few factors that prevent the Highland farmers from seeing the profits that are being made from this industry.  First and foremost, connections mean everything in this industry for small producers.  Unless the farmers have a reliable and honest produce exporter, they are usually doomed to failure in the industry.  ‘Coyotes’ steal many of the profits, gangs and drug lords manipulate and often steal produce, maquilas provide the poorest working standards imaginable, and imposed US government standards often reject much of the produce from the farmers.  However, “…Tecpanecos we have talked with do not lay blame on the structure of capitalism for the circumstances in which they find themselves, but do place blame with the way the system is manipulated for gain by particular individuals, with apparent disregard for the moral dimensions of life.” (pg. 57)  The Highland farmers accept the inequalities associated with the nontraditional crop industry, but are very frustrated with the lack of morality shown by the powerful dictators of the industry.  What makes this even more frustrating is that the farmers are entirely at the mercy of these immoral exporters.  This point introduces an important “limit point” when Alberto Simón, Mayan farmer, claims, “It is much better to have a job than to get involved in crime or gangs or drugs…” (pg. 58)  This limit point shows that Alberto is managing his expectations from the broccoli industry and thus choosing an alternative desire.  Instead of desiring algo más, he is settling for just being able to keep his nose clean and stay out of trouble.  This“it could be worse” mentality is another component of the complex dynamic of the broccoli industry that encourages farmers to take the risk.  This risk of pursuing nontraditional farming is the farmers’ way making sure that no matter how bad the outcome is, they know it could’ve been worse had they chosen a different crop.  Some of the other risks associated with nontraditional crops were the introduction to government standards, particularly those of the US government.  Before these regulations, Mayan farmers had no rules to follow.  They could use any methods they desired to produce their crops, even if it meant going to the washroom right in the middle of their fields.  With new standards introduced, Mayan farmers were shortchanged even more; along with these standards came increased production cost.  Now they were required to use designated washrooms, meet certain quality standards and upgrade equipment.  “Many of the dangers involved in export agriculture have to do with the fact that farmers in the Highlands have little experience with these codes and the technology needed to comply is expensive.” (pg. 65)  In an effort to minimize the uneven distribution of prosperity in this industry, the state of Guatemala introduced Proyecto de Desarrollo Integral de Comunidades Rurales (Integrated Development of Rural Communities Project of DICOR).  DICOR’s “…purpose is to operationalize a particular model of development, supported by the state and international consensus, that seeks to leverage private investment in bureaucratically identified sectors of the economy and geographic regions.” (pg.67)  Basically what this means is that private funding is used to better educate the farmers in terms of the strict codes and standards they must meet, as well as introduce them to the proper connections with exporters required to profit from their crops, and last but not least, to help promote industrialization of the industry.  This is further supported by Danis Romero and Milhelm Orozco, who are both state employees associated with DICOR.  Romero states:  “What we need to do is modernize our agriculture in order to focus on industrialization, which is what we need to get out of our situation of underdevelopment.” (pg.69)  Projects like DICOR do quite a bit to help out the small scale farmers in Guatemala, but there is still a lot of risk associated with the industry.  Unfortunately for the farmers, the aid provided by DICOR is not able to reach everyone.  With the risk still high in the industry, it is astounding that Mayan farmers still choose to partake in nontraditional agriculture.  Thus, the theme of this chapter further supports the main theme of the novel by proving that even with the unequal dispersion of power and money, farmers are still committed to their broccoli crops in hopes of attaining their desires.

The main idea behind the third chapter, titled, Ultimatums, Moral Models, and the Limit Points of Hegemony, is to show that even though the Highland farmers take on the risk of farming broccoli to reach algo más, they are still comfortable living in constant hegemony to the consumers of the products they work so hard to produce.  Fischer and Benson start this chapter by explaining a game used frequently around the world to assess the cooperation between local people.  The game, called the Ultimatum Game, works by first giving a certain amount of money to person ‘A’, and explaining to person ‘A’ that he or she must offer a portion of his or her initial amount to some person ‘B’.  If person ‘B’ accepts the offer then both players keeps the money, but if denied the money must go back into the pot.  “In fact, in several rounds of the Ultimatum Game played in Tecpán (n=72), we found unusually high offers, suggestive of a high degree of cooperation.  The average offer in Tecpán was 51 percent of the total, among the highest recorded anywhere in the world…” (pg. 76)  What this proves is that the Mayan farmers have an overwhelming sense of cooperation and community.  The majority of the farmers chose to give away half of their money because they feel that their neighbors need it just as badly as they do.  “Hegemony as a social process actualizes a double bind in the context of everyday life, where people are shortchanged, both empowered and constrained, in struggles to define how the world ought to be.” (pg.80)  This concept is trying to explain that the power held by the consumer in places like Nashville out-trumps the power held by the producers in Tecpán.  In a perfect world, the hegemony between these two parties would disappear and the wealth and power of this industry would be shared equally.  However, the chances of that happening are slim to none, and that is why the Mayan farmers have limit points on their desires.  “It is around limit points that hegemonic processes achieve stability and yet also become ambivalent.” (pg. 80)  These limit points make the farmers feel better about their shortcomings and support a society “…where individuals and collectives come to desire in certain ways only.” (pg.82)  The limit points and existence of the hegemonic process associated with the broccoli industry are what legitimize the risks taken by Mayan farmers.  Without these important aspects, the risks would never seem to outweigh the benefits, thus leaving a large hole in the production chain of nontraditional crops.  Fortunately, the export agriculture industry lives on, allowing both producer and consumer to strive to reach their desires.

The authors’ purpose in writing this ethnography was to shed light on the connection between two unlikely business partners, and their struggle to reach their desires.  The broccoli producers of the Guatemalan Highlands, are in an indirect relationship with the broccoli consumers of the Western world.  Whether each parties knows it or not, they are both dependant on one another to fulfill each others desires.  Westerners desire to eat broccoli regardless of whether it is in season or not.  This could be due to healthy eating concerns or just a pure enjoyment of the taste.  Mayan farmers depend on Westerners to keep the demand high in order for them to make a little extra money; this gives them and their families a higher quality of life.  Both producer and consumer are entitled to their desires, and their desires are influenced by the hegemonic situation created between both parties.  The risks involved on the producer side are substantial, but the rewards have the potential to outweigh the negative aspects.  If not, why would any Mayans even bother trying to grow broccoli?  The authors are very successful in providing an extremely deep understanding of the complexities of this connection.  At times the information may be a little overwhelming or hard to grasp, but overall the novel is very interesting and detailed.  The writing is not overly compelling, but it serves the purpose of getting the facts across in a fairly effective, easy to read and comprehendible manor.  I think this book’s biggest weakness is that it really doesn’t appeal to a wide variety of readers.  Many readers may have trouble finding aspects to relate to, and thus they may become bored reading the book.  On the contrary, I found the book rather easy to relate to.  This is mainly because I believe that like the Mayan farmers, I have put a lot of time and effort into trying to reach my desires.  I am currently trying to finish my chemical engineering degree in hopes of become a successful entrepreneur and business man in the future.  While I’m not in school I work at internships, in an attempt to get a leg up on my peers and competition in the workforce.  I can relate to the struggles of the Mayan farmers because I often have to sacrifice the fun things I would rather do in order to do well in my studies or in my job.  I would recommend this book to people eager to learn about Latin American culture and the history and hardships of the small-scale farmers living there.  Overall I found this book a pleasant read with some very interesting perspectives and facts.