Food for Thought: How Food and Economics Intersect in Rural Ecuador

Authors

  • Lindsay Stone Boston College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6017/eurj.v13i2.9955

Keywords:

diet, food, nutrition, culture, Ecuador, economics

Abstract

Dietary trends can have large implications on public health. there is a strong physiological connection between food consumption and one’s well-being. Thus nutrition is an important factor in a nation’s overall health. many factors contribute to how and why an individual eats certain foods. In ecuador, historical, socioeconomic, cultural, behavioral, and environmental factors influence the different diets, and thereby, the nutritional conditions, of different ethnic, and regional geographic populations. discrepancies among these groups are particularly noticeable in sierra, Ecuador’s the highland region. This paper examines the prevalence of malnutrition across Ecuador. Specifically, it considers how the Ecuadorian diet took shape, and how different sub-cuisines contribute to malnutrition. While all regions are considered, a focus is placed primarily on the Sierra, given that levels of malnutrition are noticeably higher in this region, and that this highland area is home to large rural and indigenous communities who are most significantly impacted by the area’s nutritional conditions.

Author Biography

Lindsay Stone, Boston College

Lindsay Stone graduated as a member of the A&S honors program in the spring of 2017 with a degree in Biology. Upon her graduation from Boston College, Lindsay is attending Teachers College, Columbia University for a M.S. in Nutrition & Exercise Physiology, as she progresses toward becoming a registered dietician nutritionist. In addition to her passion for nutrition, Lindsay’s experiences studying abroad in Quito, Ecuador inspired her to research the nutritional conditions and diets of the people living in this Latin American country. After experiencing the diet and public health conditions in the Ecuadorian Sierra firsthand, she was inspired to write her research paper.

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Published

2018-06-10

How to Cite

Stone, L. (2018). Food for Thought: How Food and Economics Intersect in Rural Ecuador. Elements, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.6017/eurj.v13i2.9955

Issue

Section

Articles