Culinary tastes, social inequalities, and ecology in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Fried chicken or a vegetarian lunch? Dried llama meat or filet mignon? The cuisine in the “culinary capital of Bolivia”, the city of Cochabamba, is very diverse. Ethnographic research carried out by the author shows that the diet of the “Cochabambinos” is intimately linked to social status and social power struggles. In this paper, the author uses Bourdieu’s notion of the “field” in order to analyze the dynamics of culinary tastes in Cochabamba city. The author adds a normative dimension to the analysis by discussing traditions and new tendencies in the Cochabamba food system in the light of questions of “food justice” and the sustainability of food production and consumption.