Traditional agricultural knowledge: The cornfield and nutrition: The case of the Valley of Ixthahuaca, State of Mexico

Studies of archeology, botany, paleoecology and new methodologies for plant genetic analysis, plus isotope studies allow us to say that corn is a plant native to Mexico, from where it spread throughout the Americas. There are hypotheses of multiple origins of domesticated corn, both within Mexico and elsewhere in American countries such as Colombia and Peru. However, these studies still need to know what happened with wild corn about 10 000 to 9 000 years ago in relation to plant domestication processes. In every place where corn was grown, it was adapted to local conditions of altitude, orographic relief, climate, water availability, and soil type. Also we must take into consideration the tastes of the people, different uses for food, size, flavors, cultivation, and possibilities for storage, which over time created new species, sub-species, and varieties of corn. Currently corn is one of the most important grains in the world; its output is geared to a number of both traditional and industrial uses. It is food of enormous importance in the diet and health of millions of people as well as animals in several continents. This paper presents a brief history of its evolution in the central Mexican highlands and, through a study case which presents data about corn local managements and uses. It includes the social organization of labor, food, ideology and corn’s role within the local culture of a village in Ixtlahuaca valley, in the State of Mexico.