422 Pablo Usobiaga - Building nature's favourite restaurant in Mexico City

About this episode

Pablo Usobiaga discusses the ancient chinampa farming system in Mexico City and its significance in sustainable agriculture.

An ancient farm system, built by hand on top of water, hidden inside one of the largest cities on earth and almost nobody knows it exists. The chinampas of Xochimilco are human-made islands, constructed over centuries in the lakes that Mexico City was built on. At their peak they fed an entire civilisation. Today, more than 60% are abandoned, the city is slowly swallowing the edges, and once a chinampero stops farming, another one rarely takes their place. Pablo Usobiaga from Arca Tierra is t...

People in this episode

Host: Koen van Seijen

Guest: Pablo Usobiaga

Topics covered

• chinampas
• sustainable agriculture
• urban farming
• cultural heritage
• food systems

Keywords

• chinampas
• Mexico City
• sustainable farming
• urban agriculture
• Arca Tierra

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Arca Tierra

Places: Mexico City, Xochimilco

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