Food Tank (in Spanish at Pie de Página)
The Christmas holidays in the United States are nothing compared to the celebrations in Mexico. And even less so compared to those in the indigenous southern state of Oaxaca, where I’m lucky enough to be spending the holidays. Schools and government offices closed December 15 and continue until January 8. The celebrations are non-stop.
Religious and civic processions known as calendas, with giant puppets and marching bands, shut down traffic. The saints do indeed come marching in. One after another—the Virgen of Guadalupe, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad—is feted with a public celebration. Nativity scenes cover the city. There is even a Oaxaca Radish Festival December 23 when elaborate scenes and figures are carved from giant radishes in an annual competition dating back 126 years. The mezcal flows freely all the way through New Year’s Eve to Three Kings Day January 6.
The Three Kings brought gifts, but the Three Panelists empowered to settle the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Mexico over genetically modified corn—Christian Häberli of Switzerland, Hugo Perezcano Díaz of Mexico and Jean E. Kalicki from the U.S.—seem not to be in the same festive spirit.
(read the full article on Food Tank, or in Spanish on Pie de Página)