SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE IN LATIN AMERICA — CRIST 511 



any agricultural activity that is completely market-oriented is also 

 a significant factor in inducing caution, or even inaction, in the 

 production of crops.] 



PROTEIN-CALORIE MALNUTRITION 



To return to the subsistence farmers: The diet of such hand-to- 

 mouth farmers is extremely monotonous for months at a time ; protec- 

 tive foods such as meat, eggs, and milk products are in short supply ; 

 the protein intake of these families is often inadequate and many of the 

 members show signs of undernourishment or malnutrition — a bad skin 

 condition, depigmentation of the hair, the so-called "Dutch hair" in 

 Brazil, and so on. One of the consequences of inadequacy in protein 

 intake (kwashiorkor) is cirrhosis of the liver, which is extremely com- 

 mon even among children in many tropical countries; such people are 

 extremely susceptible to infections and infestations to which better- fed 

 people would either be immmie or highly resistant. Although it may 

 be medical heresy to say so, there may be things of the spirit that in 

 some measure overcome some of these nutritional deficiencies. Once 

 these simple people have propitiated the gods, in whatever is the 

 customary way, they are resigned to their fate ; instead of being a prey 

 to tensions they are relaxed, kindly, hospitable, and fatalistic : what- 

 ever is to be, will be — it is the will of God ; a certain amount of fasting, 

 even when involuntary, may perhaps provide an opportunity for the 

 operation of certain emergency mechanisms built by nature into the 

 human body. Manmade institutions also have evolved that increase 

 survival advantage; every effort is made by the whole family to get 

 to the nearest caserio, or village, on those days of the week or month 

 that are market days, even though the trip requires a whole day, or 

 even longer; going to market serv^es many needs besides the need to 

 buy merchandise and to sell produce, and one of the important benefits 

 for the entire family of attending market is that everyone has a chance 

 to consume quantities of protein and fats in the form of roast pig, 

 guinea-pig, toasted nuts, and so on, as well as fermented beverages, 

 such as chicha, pulque, palm wine, and the like, that contain all the 

 factors of the juices from which they are made as well as those gen- 

 erated by the microorganisms involved in the process of fermentation. 



Comparative studies of dietary regimes carried out recently have 

 shown that teenagers in Michigan who practically live on soft drinks 

 and snacks may have a diet less in balance than their Mexican counter- 

 parts who consume substantial amounts of black beans, tortillas, chile 

 peppers, and pulque. Malnutrition may be a reality even in the midst 

 of plenty. "They are as sick that surfeit with too much," says Nerissa 

 in The Merchant of Venice, "as they that starve with nothing." 

 Ancestral habits and cultural influences greatly limit the type of foods 



