Natasha A . Fernandez-Preston
University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology, Graduate Student
- Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Anthropology, Undergraduateadd
- Historical Anthropology, Food Studies, Plant-human Relations, Political Economy, Caribbean Studies, Materiality (Anthropology), and 34 moreDecolonial Thought, Postcolonial Studies, Puerto Rican Studies, History of Capitalism, Imperialism, Critical Race Theory, Anthropology of Food, Archaeology of food, Foodways (Anthropology), Paleoethnobotany (Anthropology), Contemporary Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Food History, Agricultural History, Agro-environmental politics, Agricultural Economics, Multinational Corporations, Transnational Corporations, Human-Environment Relations, Space and Place, Food Politics, Public Policy, Social Activism, Food Sovereignty, Food Justice, Social Justice, Environmental Justice, Agroecology, Agroecologia, Organic Farming, African Diaspora, Black feminism, Gender and Race, and Puerto Ricoedit
- I’m currently exploring what contemporary archaeology and the study of the food system can contribute to issues of environmental politics and social justice in Puerto Rico. My two working projects examine: 1) how food practices are entan... moreI’m currently exploring what contemporary archaeology and the study of the food system can contribute to issues of environmental politics and social justice in Puerto Rico. My two working projects examine: 1) how food practices are entangled with the military and colonial history in Puerto Rico (through the analysis of phytoliths and historical documents); and 2) how foodways and food practices in twentieth and twenty-first century Puerto Rico can help us understand state and corporate governance, food vulnerability, and possibilities of sovereignty and freedom in neoliberal capitalist and colonial contexts (through archival research, landscape mapping and participant observation).edit
In this SAPIENS article, the authors explore some of the memes that were shared through social media after Hurricane Maria, and unpack the humor expressed in these to understand how they illuminate "hard truths" about the social,... more
In this SAPIENS article, the authors explore some of the memes that were shared through social media after Hurricane Maria, and unpack the humor expressed in these to understand how they illuminate "hard truths" about the social, political, and economic conditions of life after the disaster.
Research Interests:
This research will investigate the role flour and flour-based foodstuffs had in the Spanish Caribbean colonies, as they have been traditionally associated to Middle Eastern cereals which are not successfully harvested in the region. Thus,... more
This research will investigate the role flour and flour-based foodstuffs had in the Spanish Caribbean colonies, as they have been traditionally associated to Middle Eastern cereals which are not successfully harvested in the region. Thus, access to these products during the colonial period was limited to importation. Nonetheless, some institutions of power possessed privileged positions regarding the acquisition of exotic foodstuffs. Because of this, this study chose to focus on the militia by examining military and navy documents regarding provision supplying in the Spanish Caribbean militias. The quantity of mentions of flour-based provisions to non-flour ones was compared and the situations in which they were mentioned were analyzed. Flour-based provisions were found to be an important part of the militia diet, being the most mentioned with a ratio of 2 to 1 with respect to non-flour provisions. In addition, the situations in which they were mentioned indicated that they were considered valuable luxuries, rewards, and staples. This study aspires to contribute to discussions of how certain foodstuffs can possess both tangible and symbolic power in colonial situations.
Research Interests:
In this paper the problem of foodstuff's supply in the early years of conquest in Puerto Rico is analyzed. Products made of wheat were a central part of the Iberian food system, but because of the inability to harvest this crop in the... more
In this paper the problem of foodstuff's supply in the early years of conquest in Puerto Rico is analyzed. Products made of wheat were a central part of the Iberian food system, but because of the inability to harvest this crop in the Caribbean, they had to be imported. However, because of economic, political and environmental factors, importation dependent on transatlantic travel was not constant. In these cases, people had the choice to consume Caribbean products, such as cassava and maize. Based on the documents of the Real Hacienda (Royal Treasury) of Puerto Rico, in this article I compare imports of wheat flour, biscuits, bread, cassava and maize to the ports of San Juan and San German, and analyze the social causes of similarities and differences in the pattern of goods between the two settlements.
Research Interests:
This ethnographic study examines gender through the use of expletives (“bad” words) among university students in Puerto Rico. Expletives are words that are afforded a great quantity of social power and are more accepted in the dominant... more
This ethnographic study examines gender through the use of expletives (“bad” words) among university students in Puerto Rico. Expletives are words that are afforded a great quantity of social power and are more accepted in the dominant gender (masculine). Men use expletives to compete with each other and boost their virility (anti-femininity). However, women that use expletives are taking on masculine roles and challenging social conventions.