Making masa with open-pollinated maize: Local crop adaptation in local food system initiatives

Given the unevenness of ecological sustainability outcomes within local food system initiatives (LFSI), attention is needed to the particulars of LFSI to better understand the unique social and environmental dynamics which lead to positive ecological LFSI outcomes. The local adaptation of open-pollinated crops for low-input systems has become a prominent theme in LFSI studies recently due to the practice’s potential to contribute positively to local ecological sustainability. This article follows a social-ecological embeddedness approach to studying the ways in which ongoing social relations influence farmer environmental practices within LFSI, through a qualitative case study with nine small nixtamal tortilleria owners across the U.S., processor-retailers within their LFSI who are sourcing local corn for their masa. Through a thematic analysis of in-depth conversational interviews and research visits, the article discusses the ways in which ongoing social relations with practitioners of traditional nixtamal foodways motivate these tortilleria owners to source not only locally grown corn but also open-pollinated, locally adapting varieties of maize. These business owners are also working with local farmers to adapt open-pollinated maize to those farmers’ low-input farming systems and encouraging local maize adaptation within their LFSI more generally. I highlight the finding of local crop adaptation for low-input systems in this case study as a farmer environmental practice motivated by social embeddedness which indicates the potential for positive ecological sustainability outcomes in these LFSI.