Marchantas in the Capital Region of Veracruz: the food knowledge of a productive/commercial activity

In the city of Perote, seat of the municipality of the same name, belonging to the Capital Region of Veracruz, peasant women from other municipalities in the region who go door-to-door selling traditional seasonal foods, grown in backyard gardens by themselves or their families, are called marchantas. The aim of this article is to bring to light the food knowledge that the marchantas possess in order to develop their productive/commercial activity and to learn through whom it was transmitted to them. This knowledge includes: how and where it is obtained, and how to prepare, serve and consume these products; to know the seasons, placesand techniques necessary to obtain them, etc. (Aguirre, 2016; Troncoso, 2019). Through a census, in-depth interviews, and participant observation, the food knowledge they possess was identified, as well as from whom and how they acquired it. It was found that the marchantas learn from childhood, and, as we will see, the women of the family and the community, as well as some male relatives, are of particular importance in this learning process at certain stages of the transmission of knowledge.