In this, the jumbo epoch, corporate logos pop up everywhere. Mexico is no different. There seems to be a race on to shed old skin and cover the new one up with an overcoat from Sam's Club. Small scale economies are being replaced by cyclopean vendors pitting cultural heritage and small scale entrepreneurship against corporate mammoths with freshly hypnotized hordes of consumers more than willing to support them. However, there are pockets of resistance to the "gimme heaps of it yesterday" crowd and some sectors in the world where shopping "small" is and has always been the norm. That's what I want to explore,,, the reasons for the continued existence of these remaining collective markets that are not consciously resisting an inundation of brand names but live on because they are truly a viable alternative or they appeal to our humanity. I also want to explore if they share common elements that define their persistence.
Let's concentrate on the food chain. There are thousands of markets in Mexico and other parts of the world, some suceeding and some diminishing. Given national tendencies to copy North America it is a surprise that any alternative survives. Is Tenancingo unique in some aspect providing a climate that allows for the traditional tianguis (open air market) right in the center of town? Toluca, in The State of Mexico for example, is an example of a tianguis that has diminished replaced by brand names encrusted into an eternal parking lot. The market in Toluca that was located in front of the bus station was forcibly evicted in 2007 displacing twenty thousand itinerant traders The removal operation began at 11:30 PM one evening with a deployment of 800 municipal policemen who surrounded and sealed off the market area. The police, supported by nine backhoes, began a grand clean up. Although there were no injuries, policemen and merchants exchanged blows,. The government did provide another location for the tianguis however located 8 kilometers outside of town on the highway that leads to Atlacomulco.The city government in Toluca felt the tianguis was outdated and took up too much prime real estate. This is the second time Toluca has chosen to remove a market. The oldest market on the town square was removed and turned into the now famous Cosmo Vitral, a stained glass enclosed garden of eden,,, but Toluca has been more than willing to give itself over to a different prosperity.
One local tianguis is a long chain of small businesses from production to buyers that provide thousands of families with a living and in addition a great portion of the money generated stays in the respective pueblos not flying up and away to a corporate headquarters outside of the country. Note: Research has estimated that one Walmart store will decrease a community's economic output over 20 years by millions of dollars and will cost the community additional millions in lost wages over those next 20 years. Also there are many social costs in cities that have invited a market upgrade.The presence of big box stores breeds hate groups. That research, conducted by professors at Penn State University, New Mexico State University and Michigan State University, argues that local businesses are pillars of the community and promote civic engagement and foster community values. When Walmart comes to town and puts those companies out of business, it creates a business vacuum which weakens the community's civic "backbone" and creates an atmosphere ripe for hate groups to form and gain power in the absence of strong leadership among local business owners and community leaders. Although no figures seem to exist on the subject of who employs more, Walmart or the mexican traditional market I would bet the farm on the traditional market. If Walmart employs .000005% of the workforce in a Mexican town, I'd bet that a traditional market in that same town employs 30,000 times that figure.
I want to make a comparison between the tianguis, or open air market in Tenancingo, The Mercado San Juan in Mexico City, and a market in Rome, Italy, called Il Trionfale. Why do these markets survive,, in fact thrive, and why haven't supermarket chains and clothes stores completely replaced them by now? Certainly shopping in a well lit place with spacious aisles, deep shopping baskets, ample parking, armies of products in neat rows, and superabundance even if the employees know nothing about the products, should have by now displaced the crowded cacaphonous disorganized ancient tianguis in Tenancingo,, the opulence and cultural tradition of Il Trionfale, or the exotic specialties in Mercado San Juan. However, a common thread that unites all three market cases, Tenancingo, Il Trionfale, and San Juan is authentic choice and family ownership. There are of course other special parameters that help but the former links them all.
Images of the market in Tenancingo
La Mujer de Los Nopales
Below: images of the Tianguis or open air market on sunday along Calle Guadalupe Victoria.
Chiles and dried shrimp
Wall of Meat
Carnicero. Carne de puerco,, chorizo, longaniza, cecina.
Polleria Nava
Doña Morena, the strawberry lady
Chayotes and stringbeans
Tools
Just a cutie bundled up in her tub
Below: some of the genuine mexican food you can buy in the Tianguis in Tenancingo.
Gorditas de haba, papa, frijoles, or chicharron.
Salsa de molcajete
Gorditas con maize azul
Tacos Dorados
Chicharron
Obispo
Pancita de Res
Guacamole
Mojarra
Pozole
Enchiladas
Tamales
Flowers of the Zompantle, food of your ancestors that can be prepared in an omlette.
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Corn or granos de elote for tortillas
Elote
Corn for tortillas
Baskets of Tenancingo
Tenancingo, is not a rich city, yet it is the most important economic center in the south of the State of Mexico. It's population of perhaps 140,000, helps to maintain a large central market populated by familiy owned stalls, speckled with indigenous ladies and men who hawk special homegrown items the stands don't handle. On thursdays and sundays the tianguis covers 8 square blocks of the center of town with fruits, veggies, meats, clothes, pens, pads, machetes, traditional mexican food, and much more. It is visited by people from towns all over the region. The market is rich with colors, sounds, and abundance. If you don't like what you see move on down the line to another vendor. I believe a true marketplace must have diversity, close competition between sellers, and price, and when I speak of close competition I mean city blocks of nothing but fruit sellers,, one after the other three aisles thick. Price and quality then become more imminent.
The stalls, as in Tenancingo are family owned. In fact in Tenancingo at least 99.99% of the businesses are small or it might be said even microscopic. However I want to concentrate on the raizon d'etre for the tianguis and other markets. The Markets in Rome and Tenancingo are not supported by nostalgia. That counts for little in economics. Tenancingo has a long tradition of shopping in the open air market. That shapes habits and expectations. Lack of unlimited cash keeps people vigilant for a place where quality and price intersect. Vast selection offers choice.
Another important ingredient that is not immediately visible is politically engineered chaos. The lackadaisical politics of enforcement in Tenancingo makes for a crowded hectic chaotic scene but this, I believe has a purpose. All shoppers are served well by the range of price and offers.The city attracts people from outside who spend their money here. Tens of thousands of people make a living from the tianguis so the madding volatile crowd beast remains calm. Commerce is no 1. but politics have perpetuated the existence of the tianguis as well.
I speak of tradition and chaos in Tenancingo. The tianguis in Mexico is a precolumbian phenomena. People have come to market to buy and sell since before Cortez's arrival.
In Tlatelolco for example, in Mexico City, there was and still is an outdoor market of immense porportions originally organized by the Aztecs. Merchants brought to Tenochitlan, the Aztec water bourne island capital, items such as jade, cotton, cocoa, and precious metals.They also brought vegetables, meats and fruits from Xochimilco. The market was designed in the time of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina and since Tlatelolco did not have docking facilities a canal was dug through La Lagunilla, a kind of cove or small bay in which several thousand canoes could fit.
Below: Precolombian Market en Tlatelolco
Below: Il Mercato Trionfale, Italy.
An in market deli
Mouth watering pizza
Below: Formaggio
Meat roll. As close as one comes to just pop it in the oven food
Prociutto
Trionfale Market
In some european countries, notably in Italy, markets have maintained their status against the large chains.Il Trionfale market is the largest food market in Rome, offering insight into Roman cultural tradition. There are rarely tourists at this market, so there are countless opportunities to observe Romans in their element. There are 270 stalls spread over 6.000-square meters of floor The market is organized by color coded stalls, according to the merchandising category: green for fruits and vegetables, red for meat and blue for fish. market has been operating since the end of the 19th century and known as the ‘mercato di populari,’ meaning the market for the people. It is named mercato di populari but it is opulent. Variety and choice make it an outstanding example of shopping small.Tradition is the motivation and quality is the engine that keeps this market viable and counterbalances the large food conglomerates. In Italy a discerning selection of foods, tradition, conviviality, space, constant updating of infrastructure, and price have maintained the market's place in the lives of Italians. You can pass the morning shopping, can taste the soul of Rome in small eateries amidst the fruit and vegetable vendors who shout their offers of the day. The atmosphere is authentic. The aromas of spices, fish, and cheese mingle with fresh baked breads and pastries like a perpetual fiesta for the senses. with the This is a place that transcends time where you shop and taste the products before buying them because quality and the relationship between each merchant and buyer still counts. The merchants know their products and their history and offer suggestions for the preparation of various foods. It is a place where you are likely to encounter a discussion about current events, or philosophy.
It is the family business that responds to its clients. This is one key element to food market survival. Across all continents, family businesses represent a key component of each area’s economy, not only in terms of their numerical impact but above all thanks to their contribution to GDP and employment.
Let's diverge for one moment to a general assessment of small business. In Italy there are estimated to be around 784,000 family businesses – more than 85% of the total number of business constituting around 70% of employment. In terms of the impact of family businesses, the Italian context is in line with that of the main European economies such as France (80%), Germany (90%), Spain (83%) and the UK (80%), whilst the factor that sets Italy apart from these countries is the lesser recourse of family businesses to external managers: 66% of Italian family businesses are fully managed by family members, while this applies to only 26% of French family businesses and just 10% in the UK.
Italian family businesses are also set apart by their longevity: of the world’s 100 oldest businesses, 15 are Italian and, of these, 5 – Fonderie Pontificie Marinelli (founded in 1000), Barone Ricasoli (1141), Barovier & Toso (1295), Torrini (1369) and Marchesi Antinori (1385) – are among the top ten oldest family businesses still active today.Because the weavers on the other side of the valley specialize in cashmere, and the nearby Loro Piana company has a two-year monopoly on the supply of vicuna wool, Paolo Ferla is betting his company's future on the highly prized fleece of the baby alpaca.
Italian family businesses are also set apart by their longevity: of the world’s 100 oldest businesses, 15 are Italian and, of these, 5 – Fonderie Pontificie Marinelli (founded in 1000), Barone Ricasoli (1141), Barovier & Toso (1295), Torrini (1369) and Marchesi Antinori (1385) – are among the top ten oldest family businesses still active today.Because the weavers on the other side of the valley specialize in cashmere, and the nearby Loro Piana company has a two-year monopoly on the supply of vicuna wool, Paolo Ferla is betting his company's future on the highly prized fleece of the baby alpaca.
Few Americans may realize it, but in Europe, as in the United States, small businesses are assuming an increasingly crucial role as engines of economic growth. While the problems of huge industrial conglomerates like Germany's Daimler-Benz A. G. or Italy's Olivetti S.p.A. grab the headlines, thousands of family enterprises are quietly innovating, increasing sales and exports, and creating jobs.
The Mercado San Juan
The Mercado San Juan on Ernesto Pugibet in Mexico City is reknown for its quality and exotic offerings. You can see the quality the moment you enter. The fish are fresher and larger, the meats are extraordinary,, even outlandish. Although not known for its vegetables,, the presentation and range of variety are surprising. It is one place in Mexico where you can purchase food outside the local food chain.
In addition to lamb, venison and duck, in this place it is possible to order cuts of crocodile, ostrich, lion, wild boar or buffalo. Several of their products are imported from places like New Zealand, Spain or the United States. Like Il Trionfale there are restaurants on the premises that serve the exotic as well as imported opulence. Enjoy baguettes and panini with meats and cheeses from all over the world. Ask for the wild barbecue, which brings a bit of everything. Dessert can be crepe of chapulines or honeyed mascarpone de bufala that will leave you surprised.
What makes the Mercado San Juan endure. It fills a niche. The products they sell are specialty items that cannot be bought anywhere else in Mexico. Also, and more importantly, the food stalls supply restaurants with quality products and deliver the goods via bicycle and small trucks. The fact that they are located in one of the largest cities in the world provides a large enough economic base to keep on keepin' on.
What makes the Mercado San Juan endure. It fills a niche. The products they sell are specialty items that cannot be bought anywhere else in Mexico. Also, and more importantly, the food stalls supply restaurants with quality products and deliver the goods via bicycle and small trucks. The fact that they are located in one of the largest cities in the world provides a large enough economic base to keep on keepin' on.
Below: Images of The Mercado San Juan Mexico City.
Chapulines (Grasshoppers)
Ants from Chiapas that taste like cheese
Wild Boar
Gusanos de Maguey
Escamoles or ant eggs, a precolumbian delicacy. Don't knock 'em if you haven't tried them
Humiles or aphids to add to salsa. Eat your enemy!
Alacranes or scorpions
Veggies in Mercado San Juan
Morels
Piglets
Rabbit
A variety of pescado
Huachinango
Weighing a salmon
Pulpo or octopus.
It seems trade deals, like NAFTA have created narrow corridors of wealth for a few at the same time devastating local agriculture as is the case in the Mexican corn industry. I am priviledged because I can buy large perfect very expensive apples from Washington State, and immature tasteless plums from California, or Bing cherries from Michigan. in the Tenancingo market,,,, however there are options.still,,,, copy cat fruits... smaller much less expensive apples from Mexico,, local plums, and now there are cherries coming from the State of Chihuahua.
Many may argue that the dominance of mega business is part of an inevitable economic evolution benefiting consumers in the long run, providing an abundance of products, at better prices, while involving people from many different corners of the world in the production of these commodities. Our health, wealth, and nutrition are inexorably linked to these behemoths. Others claim that mega business has destroyed local economies, that have traditionally provided a living for for many more people and that most of those profits stay local.
I am a post WWII baby. I have lived in both the fading glow of an older economy of scale and the modern world populated by corporate dinosaurs. I am not a Luddite but I do retain certain prejudices. I try not to wax romantic about the 50's because one must take the entire package,, bomb shelters and prejudice to name two yet I do miss the milk man, the corner grocer, the shoe repairman, the watchmaker, and the gypsy knife sharpener. They were players in an accessible economic culture on a scale one could apprehend. On the other hand who could possibly idealize the loss of the world of mega corporations. It's all products and no people. Some of those products ease the burden of living but a lot of them are barely justifiable.
