Food Forests at the Border of the Lacandona Jungle

In 2020, the Colaboratory Kitchen team returned to Marqués de Comillas for a six-week fieldwork stay. Residing again in Boca de Chajúl, this year’s interventions took place mainly in the Ejido de Loma Bonita. This rural town has approximately 300 inhabitants, most of whom are non-indigenous farmers (residents of Veracruz, Michoacán and Chiapas) who subsist on food production, cattle ranching, and dairy production. Its relatively small territory and highly diverse sociocultural population make Loma Bonita one of the most vulnerable ejidos in the area. Researchers from UNAM have been investigating the regeneration of the rainforest and agricultural plots in the Loma Bonita territory for more than 20 years, a territory that has welcomed young researchers from all over the world, thanks to universities such as Wageninen University and UNAM.

During the period on site, efforts were focused on building a community plot, beginning to outline the first interventions of the Colaboratory Kitchen space. Through exchanges of knowledge with mobile kitchens, collaborative mapping activities, and a compilation of species and stories for a biocultural archive, we investigated the ingredients, biodiversity, and stories of this ejido. Throughout the 6 weeks on site, our field work was dedicated to the participatory design, co-construction and opening of a long-term space that will be the heart of the long-term activities of Cocina Colaboratorio. This space that will take place in a communal plot of the Ejido de Loma Bonita will include botanical gardens or agro-ecological plots, food forests, residence spaces for researchers, creatives and chefs, and social spaces for workshops and experimentation. The space will be the meeting and experimentation point for processes that promote fairer, more resilient and sustainable food systems.

STREET KITCHEN ACTIONS
February to March, Ejido Loma Bonita
Chefs Daniel, Jail, Nelva, Lulú, Oralia, Celina, Rafa

The Street Kitchen Action, culinary exchanges in public space, are the heart of the interactions within the on-site project. These are moments where local and transdiciplinary knowledge come together to generate new recipes, cook new visions and personal networks of affection and collaboration. From the kitchen table cooking happens with local ingredients, either from “producers” or local chefs who market their products, or from organic plots, and from tropical plants and trees found in the region, both in the populated areas like in the jungle. The central idea is to provide a platform to promote local practices and the (sometimes unknown) natural edible diversity of the area. During the 6 weeks that the team was on site, four public actions were held with different themes.

BIOCULTURAL ARCHIVE
February 20 – March 20, Ejidos of Loma Bonita and Boca de Chajúl

Between February 18 and 27, 2020, six activities related to the Co-design of a food forest were carried out in Loma Bonita. The objective of these activities was to gather and share with all the project stakeholders, the knowledge that exists about the management of local biodiversity, as well as to understand the ecological processes that are occurring and contribute to the current socio-ecological configuration of the region. First, the biologists provided a list of local “useful species” based on previous studies- plants that could potentially be used for medicinal, material or food purposes and that play a crucial role in the local ecosystem. This list was translated into a visual library: an inventory of leaves, flowers, and seeds. In a collective effort, local residents were invited to identify these plants and their relevance in terms of utility. This mapping will help to design an agro-forestry system ad hoc to the uses and customs of the community. For a mobile museum, we collected seedlings and flowers with women from the towns and experienced botanists from the area, to create an exhibition of the plants found in the community.

BIOCULTURAL GARDEN OF LOMA BONITA
March 9 to 19, Comunal plot in Loma Bonita

In an attempt to visually capture the myriad interconnections between the many types of local diversity, we co-built together with the community, a botanical garden – part of a living biocultural archive. On the experimental plot, we collectively planted this botanical garden over the course of two weeks, using seedlings donated by members of the community. In this way, the garden reflects the importance attributed to certain species by local residents. In addition, the garden functions as a living archive, accessible to all the inhabitants of Loma Bonita, which can be used to make cuttings and therefore reproduce endlessly. Fertile soil for the plot was prepared in parallel in the making of a Bocashi compost, a collective ritual that had to be performed every day twice a day.

TORRE MIRADOR
February 24 to 26, Communal plot in Loma Bonita

The Torre Mirador is a sculpture and a space for the admiration of the Lacandona Jungle in the Ejido of Loma Bonita. Framing the view of the river and the natural reserve of Montes Azules, the viewpoint serves as a space for reflection, a meeting place and a symbol of the community. Designed by Rob Sweere, built by Cocina Colaboratorio and the Loma Bonita community.

Colaboratory Kitchen is possible thanks to PAPIIT: National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) through the Support Program for Research and Technological Innovation Projects (PAPIIT) No. IV200120 2020 – 2023 and the Wageningen University through the INREF-FOREFRONT program.

Collaborators

Producers and Community

Comunidades de Loma Bonita, Ejido Boca de Chajúl
Asamblea comunitaria y comité de autoridades de Loma Bonita
Rafael Lombera
Paco Jamangapé
Lourdes
Don Freddy
Nelva Jamangapé
Miguel
Don Jesús
Adriolo y Oralia
Celina y Don Rafa

Researchers
Biology

Miguel Martínez
Mayra Fragoso
Aline Pingarroni
Delia Caldera

Agro-ecology

Paulo Dionisio
Diego Hernández

Chemistry

Xariss Sánchez

Agronomy

Azahara Mesa

Gastronomy

Shantal Arias

Chefs

Daniel Nates
Jail Nava
Anna Kooi
Shantal Arias

Creatives

Fiona de Bell
Mariana Martínez
Roel Schoenmakkers
Teresa Borasino
Michael Bloos
Rob Sweere