THE ROLE OF THE HEALTH FOOD STORES IN THE DISSEMINATION OF PLANT PRODUCTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED KNOWLEDGE

ARENAS,PATRICIA MARTA; PUENTES, JEREMÍAS PEDRO

Congreso; VII International Congress of Ethnobotany ? I International Congress of Ethnozoology; 2019

Health food stores (locally know as "dietéticas?) are urban sale sites that commercialize diverse plant products used for both food and therapeutic purposes. For about 20 years, numerous studies have been carried out on the role and importance of ?dietéticas? in urban pluricultural contexts. This contribution is part of a line of research in Urban ethnobotany developed in the LEBA, pioneer in our country, carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA). The "dietéticas" are an appropriate option for urban consumers who prefer a healthy diet. In recent years, the diversity of plant products offered by these sales sites has increased, as has the dissemination of products through different mass media, especially the Internet. The importance of the "dietéticas" centers on their role of visualization agents by disseminating not only plant products, many of these novelties, but also the knowledge associated with these products, often linked to the traditions of origin of different immigrant groups. The objective of this contribution is to analyze the importance of the ?dietéticas? in the dissemination of plant products and their associated knowledge in the AMBA. In this sense, open and semi-structured interviews with sellers and consumers of both sexes and different ages were conducted. Some examples of plants whose products circulate in the restricted commercial circuits of Chinese and Bolivian immigrants are presented. When these products enter into the general commercial circuit (sales sites outside the immigrant circuit) they become visible to the majority of the local urban population. This passage from the restricted circuit (immigrants) to the general circuit is called the visualization process, and occurs mostly in the "dietéticas". In this process, many uses linked to the traditions of immigrants suffer a resignification of uses, more in line with the urban style of "healthy life". The circulation of new plant products and their associated knowledge implies an increase in the local biocultural diversity and demonstrates the role of ?dietéticas? as a reservoir of that diversity and as a visualization agent within the study area.