Ethnobotany, Food, and Identity - Griffith

Ethnobotany, Food, and Identity

 

CHAIR: FOWLER, Emily E. (UIC)

 

FOWLER, Emily E. (UIC) Traditional Maya Medical Practices, Ethnobotany, and Western Medicine GRIFFITH, Lauren and GRIFFITH, Cameron (TTU), CHO, Juan (Ixcacao) Agree-culture as Local Ecological Knowledge GAMWELL, Adam (Brandeis U) Culinary Catalysts and Scientific Shifts: Peruvian Quinoa in the Age of Genetics and Gastronomy

 

FOWLER, Emily E. (UIC) Traditional Maya Medical Practices, Ethnobotany, and Western Medicine. This paper explores ethnobotany and traditional Maya of Central America medical practices and how they may be used in conjunction with Western Medicine. I argue that small-scale neighborhood and community utilization of plants traditionally used by the Maya for medical purposes, as a supplement to our more mainstream practices, would lead to a more sustainable medical practice. I use ethnographic data from time spent with a Maya indigenous knowledge scholar and the existing ethnobotany literature to analyze the possibilities for a practical application of these ideas, such as community gardens and community development programs that include education on such practices.

 

Session took place in Santa Fe, NM at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2017.