Alternative Food Networks in Monterrey Mexico

The agri-food system in Monterrey, Mexico is structured by three segments.  One segment consists of the "traditional" Mexican diet of corn, beans, rice, chicken and pork.  For residents of Monterrey, these foodstuffs are usually purchased at local mercaditos from local vendors who have acquired the foods from long supply chains.  The second segment consists of the rapidly growing middle class and upper class.  They purchase their foods at national and transnational superstores, and they tend to consume a more international middle class diet.  The third segment is an emerging alternative food network that emphasizes locally produced foods, distinctive traditional foods, heirloom varieties of vegetables, organic farming, and artisanal food production.  This segment attracts both middle class and upper class shoppers, who find these foods in health food stores, niche shops, and periodic alternative food markets.  The third segment is framed both as an attempt to re-invigorate local culinary traditions and as an effort to separate one's consumption from the transnational agri-food system.  This emphasis is then articulated in distinctive local restaurants as well as shops and markets.