Can you tell us about your course and subject?

I studied a research PhD in History at the Department of History. I worked on the history of foods, drinks and bodies in the colonisation of Mesoamerica, a region comprising modern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Why did you choose this field of study?

It was one of Mexico’s National Research Council Priorities because NAFTA (Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, USA and Canada, 1994) has had a great impact on the diet of Mexicans, while conversely, we have one of the most renowned cuisines, and I analyse a similar case of change in diet imposed by a colonial power.

Why did you choose to study at History Warwick? 

Because of its reputation and because, after a couple of email interactions with Professor Rebecca Earle (historian of food), I was drawn by the possibility to work under her tutelage. Warwick History Department has a long-standing reputation among Latin American historians due to the work of E. P. Thompson on social history, and Anthony Macfarlane, Rebecca Earle, and Ben Smith on comparative and social history.

We would love to hear about your choice of subject and why you decided to focus on this area?

History of foods, drinks and the impact on our bodies has strong connections with the history of my family and the region I grew up in, Michoacan in Western Mexico. I come from a family of grocers, engineers, and rural teachers and growing up I had a privileged direct experience on how much the types of foods and drinks sold at corner shops were changing. My grandmother used to make sandwiches and sweets with whatever fruit was in season, guavas, figs, sweet potatoes, and we would sell these sweets on paper wrapping. That has been gradually but steadily changing as transnational food corporations took over the market, even the corner shops. Locally sourced fresh foodstuffs were gradually replaced by imported foodstuffs full of high-calorie substitutes for sugar and wrapped in plastic. As NAFTA agreements on agriculture were realised, fruits and vegetables became more expensive and more difficult to find. Low-income people’s reliance on newly introduced high-calorie foodstuffs has resulted in rampant diabetes and coronary disease at all age levels. Nonetheless, at the same time, Mexico provides a clear example of how Indigenous peoples and labourers in general organise to resist, and negotiate the destruction of food production systems, which ultimately will change diets for worse. Via Campesina, Maiz Nativo and Sin Maiz no Hay Pais social organisations for example, are but some of the ways people engage with this kind of capitalist oppression on people’s diets. My research focuses on a similar process as Spanish colonisers in sixteenth century Mexico and Guatemala aimed to change the diets and mores of Indigenous peoples from the Americas by introducing Mediterranean foodstuffs, demanding wheat and wheat breads as taxation and producing tirades against Indigenous foodstuffs. My thesis focuses on how Indigenous peoples resisted, reinterpreted and repurposed newly introduced foodstuffs to preserve their local economies and to keep preserving core aspects of their Indigenous religiosity.

What did you particularly enjoy about your course?

The freedom to conduct research, and the exceptional privilege to engage with fellow academics from South Asia, South America, Africa and Europe.

How did your course and your experience at Warwick aid your personal and professional development? 

Personally, my time at the University of Warwick has been both a challenging adaptation to an entirely different culture, and the chance to live this with my two children and my partner. Professionally, my time at the Department of History has opened many opportunities such as getting involved in an international Digital Humanities project, being part of a community of food historians, and consolidating history research skills by exploring repositories of Latin American primary sources in France, and the UK.

What was the most important thing you learnt from your time at Warwick?

Patience.

What is your favourite memory of studying at Warwick?

Monthly meetings to discuss my progress with my supervisor.

What is your favourite place on campus?

Piazza on a sunny day, because they are so rare precious gems, or the 3rd Floor Library Extension -nerd of reference books and paper magazines.

Ricardo Aguilar-González

PhD History, 2023