The energy of food. Polyphony and food ambivalences in communities of Oaxaca

Abstract

In an epidemiological context marked by increasing rates of metabolic disorders and dietary concerns, a “discursive polyphony” related to dietary prescriptions, reproduced by different subjects, has emerged. This multiplicity of often contradictory discourses contributes to generate resignifications in the population on the proposed prescriptions that translate into refractory food practices. The concept of “energy”—managed in food labeling, biomedical discourses on metabolism, and the population's lay understandings of strength and health—constitutes a key piece in this discursive polyphony. Drawing on ethnographic examples from Oaxaca, southern Mexico, we analyze the different connotations that the concept of “energy” has in relation to food and health, taking as an example the case of maize and dietary restrictions in indigenous people with diabetes. We show how calories, energy and strength generate discrepancies and assonances in the various discursive subjects, and how all this is accompanied by emotional concerns and ambivalences.