Quinoa: Food politics and agrarian life in the Andean highlands By Linda  Seligmann. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2023. 201 pp.

This book seeks to understand the local consequences of quinoa's transformation from “a minor crop to a major export commodity” (p. 5). The study focuses on Huanoquite, a rural district in Paruro Province, in the Cusco region of the southern Peruvian highlands. Linda Seligmann's research underscores the necessity of scrutinizing a broad spectrum of global processes that extend beyond quinoa yet profoundly affect indigenous farmers in the local context. These processes include the expansion of mining, owing to high international metal prices; the push against communal land property toward individual ownership; the expansion of markets and public infrastructure; and the growing presence of state institutions and NGOs. This book is based on ethnographic work conducted in Huanoquite during the northern summers of 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, it is essential to emphasize that this research unquestionably benefits from the author's extensive fieldwork research in Huanoquite since 1984, which includes previous investigations into the consequences of Peru's 1969 agrarian reform and an exploration of the roles of women as economic actors. The data emerges through participant observation, informal conversations, and interviews with local farmers, community leaders, local authorities, government officials, and US quinoa importers and consumers. Furthermore, it integrates data from the author's previous field studies and a diverse array of secondary sources. The book has two parts. The first part consists of three chapters that provide the backstories to the second part, which analyses the effects of quinoa's transformation into a superfood. In chapter 1, the author establishes Huanoquite's current context and emphasizes the aftermath of the 1969 agrarian reform. Seligmann lays out a scenario in which inequality has deepened; some more prosperous people have obtained individual land titles, while “peasant communities,” though weakened, continue to hold communal land titles. Chapter 2 examines the repercussions of Huanoquite's new infrastructure. For example, the paving of the road between Cusco and the town of Yaurisque in 2006 had a direct impact on Huanoquite. The paved road did not arrive at Huanoquite because the state prioritized the interests of large mining companies. Chapter 3 discusses the alternative development pathways pursued by the state, NGOs, and the people of Huanoquite. While the social programs of the state and the projects of NGOs occasionally yielded positive results, more often than not, they faltered, owing to “attitudes and assumptions underlying the projects being saturated with paternalism, ineffectiveness, and an uncritical adoption of Western notions regarding modernization and development” (p. 59). In contrast to this, the author highlights the initiatives of the people of Huanoquite, highlighting women's projects, going well beyond the stereotypes that label indigenous Andeans as being exclusively “peasants.” These initiatives frequently revolved around a pivotal institution, the “peasant community,” where its assemblies were often rife with tensions and conflicts between communal and individual projects alongside the persistent struggle of women seeking to make their voices heard. The book's second part zooms in on the politics of quinoa production and consumption, both in the local community and beyond. Chapter 4 elaborates on the Quinoa Cultivators Association (QCA), formed in 2013 by 44 landowning Huanoquiteño households, which became part of a project initiated by state institutions to expand quinoa cultivation. The project encountered many challenges, including the state institutions’ failure to acknowledge the contributions of women, the reliance on nonindigenous Huanoquiteños as intermediaries between QCA and the state institutions, and systemic racism, which affected interactions among the project's participants. QCA members also had to contend with abrupt shifts in quinoa prices owing to overproduction, allegations of chemical fertilizer and pesticide usage, limited access to credit, and inadequate market networks. Although the project abruptly ceased in 2018, about half of QCA members have continued to cultivate quinoa and are sharing their knowledge and experiences within a broader network of cultivators across the region. Chapter 5 discusses the consequences of quinoa's recent rise to superfood stardom, which has driven the cultivation of commercially viable varieties for export, often at the expense of the existing rich diversity, thus threatening local food security and sovereignty. The newfound global interest in quinoa is also linked to local concerns about biopiracy. The author explains that the available data are inconclusive, preventing a definitive confirmation of whether the increased demand for quinoa is leading to reduced rural local consumption of this staple. She also highlights that people from Huanoquite, NGOs, state institutions, and international consumers hold disparate views on food security, grounded in varying assumptions concerning risk, profit, sustainability, and racial-ethnic ideologies. Chapter 6 is focused on the multiple meanings and values that quinoa has for the diverse actors involved in producing and consuming it. Locally, people hold quinoa in high regard for its diversity, much of which may not be lucrative, and for its many applications and flavors, as well as its nutritional and fortifying qualities, many of which are intricately tied to the labor and expertise of women. The author explains that, in contrast, for US consumers, tourist-oriented restaurants, and the Peruvian state's promotional efforts—all linked to the surge in Peruvian gastronomy—quinoa is celebrated but often serves to exoticize indigenous highlanders, predominantly women. Chapter 7 shifts from quinoa and analyses the growing presence and interest of mining companies in lands adjacent to Huanoquite, including the crucial water sources like the lakes of Qaranqa. This phenomenon is part of a broader trend unfolding across the Andes, driven by the international metal prices. The residents of Huanoquite harbor deep concerns about the potential hazards that mining poses to their environment and way of life. Quinoa: Food Politics and Agrarian Life in the Andean Highlands holds value for scholars and graduate students in anthropology, agrarian studies, and related fields, particularly those with an interest in food politics, food security, and sovereignty, as well as the multiple connections between rural communities and global processes. It offers a panoramic view of the processes taking place locally in the rural Andes within the broader context of global market expansion, mining, neoliberalism, and climate change, as well as increased mobility and inequality. Moreover, the book closely examines the consequences that Huanoquite brought about by quinoa's recent global fame.