New Tastes in Industrialized Countries and Transformations in the Latin-American Countryside: An Introduction to the Local Cases of Mexico and Chile

The recent reemergence of agriculture as one of the most dynamic sectors of the Latin American economy has once again stimulated research interest in the rural sector. Of particular contemporary interest are the social and political effects of the new agricultural export at the local level. This paper explores the relationship between the social demand for fresh fruits and vegetables from the North and the variable responses of actors and localities engaged in the production of food. lt takes the production of new agricultural exports in Mexico and Chile as examples of the ways in which commodity circulation is re-organizing everyday practices while assessing some of the social consequences. The new rounds of interconnectivity beteen the South and North present opportunities to develop a more comprehensive analysis which includes spatial, cultural and social variability as one of the characteristics of the globalization tendency in agriculture. In conclusion, the paper presents some cultural, social and political issues surrounding the process of fruit and vegetable globalization and the significance of studying social discontinuities in rural sociology.