Author: Gabriel G. Roman
Dates: March 2026
Venue: Cultural Anthropology – Theorizing the Contemporary Series
Link to the publication: www.culanth.org

In the Mixe highlands of Oaxaca, caring for maize seeds is a vital responsibility that has long structured relations between cultivators and their milpas. However, the increased emigration rates have disrupted the intergenerational transmission of native seed stewardship, forcing elderly cultivators to “eat their own seeds.” Inspired by this oxymoronic figure of a cultivator who eats their own seeds, this essay reflects on the responsibilities (and responseabilities) of eating and cultivating seeds in times of ecological loss.