Thursday, October 16, 2025
Torian Room, duPont Library
7:00pm
Please join us for a talk by Emma McDonell, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. This talk traces how–and with what consequences–a humble Andean grain was transformed into a development miracle crop.
Based on ethnographic work centered around Puno, the main quinoa production area in Peru, this research shows how even well-intentioned efforts–counteracting the homogenization of global food supply, empowering small-scale farmers, revaluing local food cultures, and adapting agricultural systems to climate change–can generate new kinds of oppression.
At a time when so-called forgotten foods are increasingly positioned as sustainable development tools, quinoa’s story offers a cautionary tale of fleeting benefits and ambivalent results.
