Sending, bringing, consuming and researching food parcels

Abstract

In 2008, on my first fieldwork visit to Andean Ecuador, I (Diana) encountered, hanging in the window of a carrier agency in the city of Cuenca, a picture of a roasted guinea pig stuffed with hominy and ready to be sent to the US. The sending of food parcels from this region--locally known as Austro--to the US has long been common practice for local families with members abroad. In particular, guinea pig--locally known as cuy-- is a culturally-loaded foodstuff throughout the Andes (Archetti 1997),widely consumed in festive and ceremonial events in Andean Ecuador, and which reportedly ‘travels well’ (Abbots 2008).