The Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 33 (2022)

Copyright © 2022 The Japanese Association for American Studies. All rights reserved.

Promotion of Gastronomic Traditions in
the Sonoran Desert and Changes in
the Representation of the US-Mexico Borderlands

Yuka MIZUTANI*INTRODUCTION
The Sonoran Desert extends to both sides of the US-Mexico international
border, and its approximate size is 260,000 square kilometers (100,387
square miles).1 Tucson, a central city in southern Arizona, is also known
as the principal city of the Sonoran Desert. The city stands roughly 100
kilometers (62 miles) north of the international border, and its population
as of July 2019 is about 548,000.2 In 2015, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Tucson as a
Creative City of Gastronomy (CCG). The city’s popularity then increased
due to its unique tradition of agriculture and food. In this article, I aim
to show how the promotion of local activities in Tucson under the CCG
initiative dismantled stereotypical narratives of the US-Mexico borderlands.
California-based researchers Paul Ganster and Kimberly Collins
wrote that the definition of the US-Mexico borderlands as a region
varies, and it needs to remain flexible, considering that the range wouldchange depending on the topic taken up.3 This article roughly considers
its geographic range to be 400 kilometers (250 miles) northward andsouthward from the international border and the Baja California Peninsula*Professor, Sophia University

87

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YUKA MIZUTANI(Fig. 1). The area defined in this manner covers the entire Sonoran Desert
and significant cities in the US and Mexican states along the border. Thisdefinition is close to the notion of the borderlands defined in historian
Oscar J. Martínez’s book Border People: Life and Society in the US-Mexico
Borderlands.4
Before starting the main discussion, I would like to explain theregional variations within the US-Mexico borderlands. The US-Mexico
borderlands are more diverse than their popular image. In Border People,
Martínez shows that there are four subregions in the borderlands: (1) theSouthern California–Baja California borderlands, (2) the Arizona-Sonora
borderlands, (3) the New Mexico–West Texas–Chihuahua borderlands, and(4) the southern Texas–northeastern Mexico borderlands. They differ inenvironmental conditions and culture. A significant section of the Sonoran
Desert, including Tucson, belongs to the Arizona-Sonora borderland,
which is characterized with a smaller population compared with othersubregions, a harsh desert environment, isolation from surrounding areas,and copper mining and cattle ranching as major enterprises.5 In the same
book, Martínez emphasizes that Tex-Mex is unique to the southern Texas–
northeastern Mexico borderlands. Tex-Mex is a hybrid culture that consists

Fig. 1. Map of the US-Mexico Borderlands (compiled by author from Martínez 1994,
55; Woodard 2011, n.p.; Commission for Environmental Cooperation, “Ecological Regionsof North America,” 2006, US Environmental Protection Agency, https://gaftp.epa.gov/
EPADataCommons/ORD/Ecoregions/cec_na/NA_LEVEL_III.pdf.)

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT89

of norteño (north Mexican) culture and the Anglo-American culture of
Texas; the other three subregions have different cultures.6
Arizona-based historian Thomas E. Sheridan wrote about diversity in thehistorical experience of each region. The historical experience of southern
Arizona in the nineteenth century differed from the experiences of Texas
and California. Sheridan suggests that Arizona remained a tierra incognita,
or a gap between Texas and California.7 As the climate of the Sonoran
Desert is harsh and there are no minerals found in this area, southern
Arizona served only as a place for Anglo Americans to pass through, rather
than a place to stay.8 As a result, in southern Arizona, economic, political,
and sociocultural powers were maintained by the local middle-class
Mexicans instead of being taken over by Anglo-American settlers.9 The
discussions of Martínez and Sheridan indicate that a realistic figure of theSonoran Desert might not precisely match the popular image of US-Mexico
borderlands, which is often influenced by the character of the Tex-Mex
culture originating in the southern Texas–northeastern Mexico borderlands.
I.

MONOLITHIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE US-MEXICO BORDERLANDSThe US-Mexico Borderlands in Colin Woodard’s American Nations
In addition to what was discussed above, the US-Mexico borderlands
tend to be described as a monolithic space. One good example might befrom American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Culturesof North America by Colin Woodard. Readers in the US and beyond havewidely supported this book since its publication in 2011. Woodard calls
the US-Mexico borderlands “El Norte” (the North), consisting of southern
and western Texas, Southern California, southern Arizona, most of New
Mexico, and Mexican states adjacent to the international border.10 In thisaward-winning book, Woodard respectfully describes the situation of El
Norte. For example, with reference to some writings of scholars focusing
on the area, he recognizes that people in the borderlands have cared muchabout their independence and autonomy, distinct from the dominantsociety. Additionally, he praises the fact that Norteños (people in El Norte)
are independent, self-sufficient, adaptable, and work centered,11 and thecultural and political power of Norteños as Hispanics is prominent in thecontemporary US.12 Moreover, Woodard expresses his concern that theexistence of El Norte has been ignored, and people in other regions inNorth America have thought El Norte would be absorbed into the dominant

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YUKA MIZUTANI

society and eventually disappear.13
However, the image of the US-Mexico borderlands presented in
Woodward’s book might not be fully reflecting the reality of the USMexico borderlands. Geographer James M. Rubenstein points out thesame by examining descriptions of Greater Appalachia, which is one of
the eleven rival regional nations Woodard suggests. He concludes that
Woodard’s narrative of North America is flat and stereotypical.14 The same
would apply to the narrative of El Norte. In Woodard’s analysis, Spanish
domination has characterized the history of El Norte. Regarding its culture,
he concludes that El Norte, including on the US side of the border, is partof Norteño culture.15 Norteño culture, in the understanding of Woodard andMartínez, might differ. Woodard’s narrative of the US-Mexico borderlands
sounds as if a general North Mexican culture flatly covers a portion of US
territory.
Regional differences, including history and climate, have had an impact
on the current sociocultural characters of each section of the borderlands.
Ethnic diversity within the US-Mexico borderlands is an example ofthis. Contrary to Woodard’s narrative that residents of El Norte are
predominantly Hispanic,16 Hispanic and Latino populations vary dependingon the area, according to the US Census (Table 1). The Hispanic or Latino
population represents 81.4 percent in El Paso in southwestern Texas.
However, the percentage drops to 43.6 in Tucson. Moreover, in Tucson,the percentage of Indigenous people is over 2.8 times higher than thenational average. When people with multiple racial and ethnic identities,
including Indigenous people, are included, the percentage is even higher.17
In addition, the percentage of Black or African American people in Tucson
is approximately 1.5 to 2 times higher than other major cities in the USMexico borderlands. Furthermore, the Asian population in Tucson is larger
than in the other three cities; so is the population of people with multiple
racial and ethnic identities.
The framework suggested by Woodard could be helpful for the analysis
of US national politics. Woodard seems to have a strong interest in
discussing the political integration of the future US.18 When examining the
US presidential and midterm elections, he refers to the American Nations
framework.19 At the same time, his narrative may veil the historical,
geographical, sociocultural, and ethnic diversity of the US-Mexico
borderlands. Regarding the discussion of ethnic diversity in the US-Mexico
borderlands, the existence of ethnic minorities besides Hispanic and Latino
people is neglected in his theory.

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT91

Table 1. Race and Ethnicity of Major Cities of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands as of 2019
(Excerpt)(%)

Hispanic or Latino
White alone (nonHispanic or Latino)
White alone(Hispanic/Latino
and non-Hispanic/
Latino in total)
Black or African
American alone
American Indian andAlaska Native alone
Asian alone
Native Hawaiian
and other PaciﬁcIslander alone
Two or more races

San Diego(California)

Tucson(Arizona)

Albuquerque(New Mexico)

El Paso(Texas)National
average

34.0
59.3

43.6
43.9

49.2
38.9

81.4
12.8

18.5
60.1

89.2

72.1

73.9

80.1

76.3

2.4

5.2

3.3

3.6

13.4

0.5

3.7

4.7

0.6

1.3

2.0
0.0

3.2
0.2

2.9
0.1

1.4
0.2

5.9
0.2

3.9

5.4

4.4

2.7

2.8

Source: US Census Bureau, “QuickFacts,” https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/
US/PST045219

Images of the US-Mexico Borderlands and Tucson
Woodard is not the only one who fails to present a realistic figure of
the US-Mexico borderlands. Various scholars, writers, artists, and others
have misrepresented the borderlands and associated them with negative
images. This tendency seems to have increased under the Donald Trumpadministration from 2017 to 2021. Various media repeatedly broadcast
news about reinforcement and extension of the fence along the US southernborder and treatment of the refugees from Central America and Mexico by
the US agencies. These reports tended to highlight negative aspects of theborderlands.
Ganster and Collins wrote that negative descriptions such as poverty,
corruption, and pollution are associated with popular myths and stereotypesof the US-Mexico borderlands. According to them, these narratives
obscure the realistic image of the borderlands, which is more complex
and interesting.20 Meanwhile, Kathleen Staudt, a political scientist in El

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Paso, Texas, points out that films produced in the US and Mexico from the
1930s to the present have misrepresented the US-Mexico borderlands.21
Staudt argues that lawlessness, sexual violence, death, and drugs are typicalimages presented in such films.22 In contrast, a limited number of films
portray the daily lives of people living in the borderlands.23 According to
Staudt, these films contain scenes that could cause “emotional reactions that
disgust and distance mainstream viewers from border people and places.”24
Just as the scholars mentioned above claim, eliminating misconceptions
and enhancing a more humanistic representation of the US-Mexico
borderlands area is necessary. I find that the presentation of regional
food and agriculture is an effective way to realize this. Tucson’s CCG
initiative and multiple activities associated with it seem to have caused
positive changes. For instance, an article in the Boston Globe in 2020
focused on Tucson. Its subtitle was: “The dusty western town of old has
metamorphosed into a sophisticated urban destination. And the culinary
scene is on fire.”25 Moreover, in May 2021, Condé Nast Traveler selectedTucson as one of the hot travel destinations in the world due to its local
food culture.26 What made this positive change possible was an effort byresidents and organizations in Tucson, which kept sustaining, revitalizing,
and celebrating the agricultural and gastronomical traditions rooted in
the Sonoran Desert across the international border. The CCG initiative is
promoting the long-term efforts of these local individuals and organizations
nationally and globally.
II. TUCSON AS A UNESCO CREATIVE CITY OF GASTRONOMY
The Designation of Tucson
CCG is a part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)
program established in 2004. This program is meant to be a global platform
for exchange and collaboration among cities that enhance sustainableurban development. On their designation, cities can choose one of sevenfields prepared by the UCCN: crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy,
literature, media arts, and music. By 2020, 246 cities in eighty countries had
participated in the UCCN program, thirty-seven of which were under the
category of gastronomy.27
A nonprofit organization, Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG), is
responsible for managing activities related to the CCG initiative.28
Considering the history of food movements in the US, the importance ofPROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT93

TCoG is evident. Eric Holt-Giménez and Yi Wang explained that what isroughly referred to as the “food movement” consists of multiple movements
related to food security, food justice, food sovereignty, and food safety.
The history, ideology, and purpose of these movements differ.29 Therefore,
the framework of the food movement in the US has been fragmented andsegmented internally.30 TCoG plans and conducts its projects, but more
importantly, it serves as a hub for individuals and organizations whose
activities had existed before the CCG designation. As a result, under its
initiative, various actors segmented in the arena of food movements in
Tucson can communicate and collaborate smoothly.
According to TCoG, there are three distinct aspects of Tucson’s foodtradition: (1) a long history of agriculture started by Indigenous people thathas continued over four thousand years, (2) a variety of edible wild plants
and crops, and (3) a multicultural regional cuisine that is a combinationof Indigenous, northern Mexican or Sonoran, mission-era Mediterranean,
American ranch style, and others.31 This unique food tradition, locallycalled “Sonoran food,” is explicitly rooted in the Sonoran Desert, and
it is distinguished from Mexican food widely found in the US-Mexico
borderlands.32
Comparison of Three CCG Initiatives in the US-Mexico Borderlands
Besides Tucson, San Antonio, Texas, which is also in the US-Mexico
borderlands, was designated as a CCG in 2017.33 In the state of Baja
California in Mexico, which also stands in the US-Mexico borderlands,
Ensenada was designated as a CCG in 2015.34 Each of these threecities conducts its own unique initiative. Regarding the CCG initiativeof Ensenada in Baja California, collaboration among local producers,
researchers, and governmental institutions, particularly in wine production
and fishery, seems to be the focus.35 Therefore, the initiative is quite distinct
from that of Tucson.
As for the initiative’s management, the city of San Antonio is more
directly involved compared with Tucson’s case.36 Additionally, San
Antonio’s CCG initiative partially overlaps with that of Tucson, especiallyin the emphasis on their regional character within the US-Mexico
borderlands. San Antonio is known for the creation of Tex-Mex food,or a fusion of American and Mexican cuisine. In San Antonio’s CCG
initiative, the city’s Tex-Mex food tradition is distinguished from generaland commercialized Tex-Mex food. Sociologists Dennis Ray Wheaton

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YUKA MIZUTANIand Glenn R. Carroll describe contemporary Tex-Mex food as “cheap
mass-industrialized food.”37 Adán Medrano, however, a local chef andfood writer, states that the cuisine in San Antonio is not the same as TexMex food. In his idea, the people who belong to the US dominant society
established the category of Tex-Mex food for themselves. Contrarily,
according to Medrano, the regional cuisine in San Antonio is based on the
Indigenous food culture around San Antonio and is inherited by the city’s
residents.38
The following two points differentiate the CCG initiatives of Tucson
and San Antonio: the geographic scope of the initiative and the presenceof Indigenous peoples. First, TCoG aims to support local food movementsin the Sonoran Desert across the international border rather than those of
the city of Tucson exclusively. A restaurant and some wineries certified
by TCoG are not in the city boundary of Tucson but still in the range of
the Sonoran Desert on the US side.39 TCoG has not certified any Mexicanorganizations. Still, some local organizations recognized by TCoG, such as
Native Seeds SEARCH, San Xavier Co-Op Farm, and Friends of Tucson’s
Birthplace, are protecting the environment, history, and culture of theSonoran Desert extending toward Mexico.40
Second, Indigenous peoples, mainly the Tohono O’odham and the Yaqui,participate in the gastronomic activities. The federal government recognizes
the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Members ofboth Indigenous peoples also live on the southern side of the international
border, as their traditional territories extend toward the current Mexican
territory. Meanwhile, archaeological and historical studies indicate thathumans settled in San Antonio more than ten thousand years ago.41 More
important, some people identify themselves as descendants of Indigenous
people who lived in San Antonio, such as the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan
Nation and other Indigenous peoples. They have established groups andcall for official recognition.42 Although the influence of Indigenous
cuisines on San Antonio’s regional food culture is addressed, it is notclear if those who identify themselves as Indigenous people of the area
actively participate in San Antonio’s gastronomic movement. This may bepartially because the federal government does not recognize the Tāp Pīlam
Coahuiltecan Nation and other Indigenous peoples of the area. Withoutfederal recognition, their sovereignty is not guaranteed, and they cannot
have a reservation. To revitalize agricultural activities, tribally owned landis essential.

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT

III.

95

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THEIR CULTURES IN TUCSON’S GASTRONOMY

Mission Garden Serving Agricultural Revitalization
The tribal land of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the San Xavier Districtof the Tohono O’odham Nation are within Tucson’s city boundary. People
actively farm there, especially in the San Xavier District of the Tohono
O’odham Nation, where they run the San Xavier Co-Op Farm. The co-op
provides workshops for members to help them learn how to harvest andcook wild plants, such as cholla cactus buds and mesquite pods. At a store
on their farm, they sell food items harvested from and processed in the
Sonoran Desert.43 TCoG recognizes the contribution of San Xavier CoOp Farm to the city’s food culture.44 It is not in the central part of the city,
however, and its agricultural tradition might not be so visible, particularly
for visitors. Mission Garden, operated by Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace,presents Tohono O’odham agricultural traditions on their behalf. Friendsof Tucson’s Birthplace is one of the crucial nonprofit organizations in therevitalization of agricultural heritage in Tucson,45 and TCoG highly regards
its activities as a crucial part of Tucson’s CCG initiative.
Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace is run primarily by Tucson residents,
and it aims to “preserve, honor, protect, restore, re-create and promote thecultural heritage and historical landscapes of Tucson’s Birthplace.”46 In
2009, Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace received permission to build a garden
called Mission Garden,47 which was meant to be “a living agricultural
museum of Sonoran Desert–adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional local
heirloom crops, and edible native plants.”48 Mission Garden stands in aquiet residential district in the western part of Tucson, by Sentinel Peak,also known as “A” Mountain. The foothills of Sentinel Peak is an area
called Tucson’s Birthplace, where the original inhabitants of Tucson settled
at least 3,500 years ago.49
Mission Garden consists of the following themed gardens: an early
agriculture garden; Hohokam garden; O’odham garden; Mexican-era
garden; Anglo territorial–era garden; Chinese garden; Yoeme (Yaqui)garden; African American garden; Z garden in honor of a local citizen,
Nancy Zierenberg; and Michael Moore medical garden.50 According to one
of Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace’s documents, some of the gardens listed
above, including the Yoeme garden and African American garden, remain
unfinished as of January 2021.51 Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, a nonprofit
organization relying on donations and volunteers, however, maintains

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YUKA MIZUTANI

an effort toward completing all these gardens. In addition to the gardens
listed above, the Spanish Colonial Orchard was established in part of thegarden in collaboration with the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project of the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. The Kino Heritage Fruit Trees
Project aims to relocate the original fruit trees, such as peach and quince,
introduced to the Sonoran Desert by missionaries from the seventeenth to
the nineteenth century. Through the collaborative project, these historical
trees have been replanted in Mission Garden.52
Mission Garden is not the only place, however, where information on
local agriculture and edible plants can be found. In Tucson, there are twobotanical gardens: Tucson Botanical Gardens and Tohono Chul. TCoG
also recognizes them for taking part in the food movement.53 In Tucson
Botanical Gardens and Tohono Chul, some sections exhibit local edible
plants and methods of arid agriculture kept by the Tohono O’odham
people.54 Still, compared with these two gardens, Mission Garden is unique.
This is because the space is open for local people to conduct agriculturaland cultural activities related to food and agriculture. Additionally, bothbotanical gardens have dining facilities that serve some dishes with local
ingredients.55 In Mission Garden, however, visitors and volunteers are
more deeply engaged in the activities. They water the plants and harvest
crops and try cooking them. On a day that I visited the garden, Friends ofTucson’s Birthplace staff members were roasting an agave root in a pit.
Although it is called a garden, Mission Garden is similar to a small
farm. Moreover, it is also a space for the revitalization of regional culturalactivities related to food. For example, through the efforts of Friends ofTucson’s Birthplace, a local festival of the patron saint of farmers, San
Ysidro, was revived. The festival has been held in Mission Garden since2013.56 During the annual San Ysidro Festival, which is focused on wheat,Tucson residents gather to celebrate their local gastronomic heritage. In thefestival held in the past, some Tohono O’odham members offered blessings,
and students from Tohono O’odham Community College presented theiragricultural heritage.57
Tucson in the Traditional Territory of Indigenous Peoples
Explaining the relationship between the Indigenous people and Asian
immigrants, particularly in Hawaiʻi, Candice Fujikane wrote that any
immigrants are settlers in the homeland of Indigenous peoples.58 The
situations of Hawaiʻi and the US-Mexico borderland are not the same, but

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT97

I see some similarities, probably due to the similarity of their geographic
uniqueness. Hawaiʻi is often described as an archipelago between the
Eastern and Western worlds. Additionally, the presence of the Native
Hawaiians, who are called the Kānaka Maoli people, Kānaka ʻŌiwi people,
and other names in their language, tends to be forgotten. From the Native
Hawaiian perspective, as Fujikane points out, immigrants from the US
mainland and Asia are equally settlers on their land.
In the case of the US-Mexico borderlands, the relationship between the
US and Mexico, or Anglo America and Latin America, is often highlighted.
Issues regarding Indigenous people are often left out, although Indigenous
people lived in the Sonoran Desert before the arrival of Spaniards,
Mexicans, Anglo Americans, and other immigrants. The history and culture
built by Indigenous people and their ancestors are the foundation of theborderlands, and the land initially belonged to the Indigenous people. Evena famous scholar such as Martínez, however, barely mentions the impact ofIndigenous cultures on regions in the current US-Mexico borderlands. He
explains that the lifestyle of the Indigenous people in the urban area of the
Arizona-Sonora borderlands resembles that of Mexican Americans rather
than being uniquely Indigenous. He continues that Indigenous people livingon the reservation are geographically isolated, and their interaction withother residents of the area has been limited.59 Therefore, issues regarding
Indigenous people are not discussed much in the Border People, which isone of the significant scholarly works about the US-Mexico borderlands.
Under such circumstances, Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace and otherorganizations in Tucson continue honoring the existence of Indigenous
people of the area. This is crucial for Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, as
Mission Garden stands on the very spot where an archaeological site wasfound. Archaeological studies conducted at a section right by Mission
Garden from 2000 to 2003 indicated that the land had been farmed for
4,100 years, and the canal was constructed 3,500 years ago. An ancientpeople called the Hohokam cultivated the site between 1,250 and 700 years
ago. Immigrants arrived after such events had occurred. Spaniards built San
Agustín Mission and the Tucson Presidio in the late 1700s, and Chinese
people farmed on the same plot of land beginning in the 1890s.60 Mission
Garden reminds people that without the contribution of the Indigenous
people, the land would not have been cultivated, and the current city of
Tucson might not have been built.
Additionally, without Indigenous people, edible plants of the Sonoran
Desert, which are crucial for the garden and the regional gastronomy in

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general, would not be known. Moreover, techniques of arid agriculture
suitable for the climate of the Sonoran Desert were also developed by
Indigenous people. For them, the desert was plentiful with food sources
rather than being a deserted land. Gary Paul Nabhan, an ethnobotanist andcultural geographer, wrote that many people have stopped thinking about
and understanding the desert land. Additionally, some consider the desert
as simply a vacant space,61 and the desert is “the least understood of all
terrains.”62 Nabhan also wrote that the desert has been described as an
unproductive place.63 Contrary to this image, according to Nabhan, there
are 425 wild edible plants in the Sonoran Desert, and about twenty-fivespecies have been grown for centuries.64 Due to the rapid sociocultural,
economic, and environmental changes in the area, some traditional desert
crops were abandoned and endangered,65 and local people and organizations
are eager to protect these species.
One example is a seed bank called Native Seeds/SEARCH, establishedby Nabhan and others in 1983. This organization conserves the seedsof beans, squash, melons, corn, onions, herbs, and other crops that areeither native to the Sonoran Desert or grown by Indigenous people.66
Moreover, this organization has a program to provide seeds of local species
to Indigenous people for free; it also runs a gift shop to sell select foodproducts and Indigenous art.67 Organizations like Friends of Tucson’s
Birthplace and Native Seeds/SEARCH visually present Indigenous people’s
presence and revitalize the agricultural and food traditions in Tucsonthat started before the arrival of any immigrants. However, it should beemphasized that the main actors are the Indigenous people. In fact, under
the CCG initiative in Tucson, Indigenous people do not simply receive thebenefits. Rather, they are some of the major donors to the food movements
in Tucson. In 2019, the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui
Tribe each donated $20,000 to the CCG initiative. The $40,000 donated bythese tribes exceeds 10 percent of the annual TCoG budget.68
Exhibiting the Multiethnic Sonoran Desert
As explained, the Sonoran Desert as a part of the US-Mexico borderlands
is not a space only for Anglo Americans, Mexicans, Hispanics, andLatinos. People of other ethnicities, including Asian Americans and African
Americans, also constitute the population (Table 1). It is noteworthy that
Mission Garden celebrates the agricultural and food traditions of thesepeople as well.

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT99

As for Asian Americans, the contribution of Chinese people to the
local agriculture and food industry is prominent in Tucson. According toa historian in Arizona, C. L. Sonnichsen, Chinese people started arriving
in Tucson mostly as railroad construction workers in the 1860s. After theconstruction was completed, many of them settled in the area as truck
farmers. Chinese farmers would visit each house in the vicinity to sell theircrops. Some of them worked in a field in the foothills of Sentinel Peak,
where Mission Garden stands today.69 Chinese farmers grew long beans,
Chinese broccoli, goji berries, spring onions, eggplant, and other vegetables
that had not been produced much in this area, along with some popularvegetables and fruits such as potatoes and peaches.70
A Chinese restaurant opened in Tucson as early as the 1870s.71
Additionally, some Chinese people operated grocery stores. Niethammer
mentions that there were more than a hundred Chinese-owned grocery
stores in Tucson in the 1970s.72 Anthropologist Edward H. Spicer wrote that
Chinese grocery stores became popular shopping spots for customers withlimited budgets, including the Yaqui people, as these stores sold various
items affordably.73 It is recorded that many Chinese grocery store workers
treated customers such as the Yaqui people nicely. They provided customers
with some extra products in their orders. Meanwhile, although not many
were wealthy, the Yaquis always tried to pay their bills on time.74 In sum,
Chinese people also contributed to the food security of local people with
low income, including local Indigenous people.
In past publications, the participation of African American people in
Tucson’s food culture is rarely mentioned. African American history in
Tucson has been ignored over decades, and movements toward recognizing
their contribution to creating the local food culture have begun. The
University of Arizona is in the central part of Tucson. The university
provides a grant for the preservation of African American history in Tucson.
The project includes the publication of a historical cookbook of the local
African American cuisine. Tani Sanchez, a professor at the university,
published the first edition of this book in 1994, which nearly sold out. In
this book, African American historical experiences in Tucson are explained,
along with traditional African American cuisine handed down amongfamilies in Tucson. In an interview, Sanchez said she hoped the second
edition of this book would be sold more widely at major bookstores.75 In
another interview, Sanchez and some other African Americans explainedthat they felt both isolated and at home in Tucson, and they believed theirpresence was not appreciated.76 Under such circumstances, local stories

100

YUKA MIZUTANIof African American people in Tucson were explained to visitors by tour
guides in Mission Garden. Additionally, a section of the garden specificallyexhibiting the African American agricultural tradition will be built in thenear future.77
According to a publication in 2020, around 5,500 people visit Mission
Garden annually.78 Moreover, the garden serves as a living outdoor exhibit
open to the public four days a week year-round, with public guided tours
offered two days a week.79 It constantly educates both Tucson residents
and tourists on the environment, society, history, and culture of Tucson
while presenting the city’s rich gastronomical and agricultural heritage.
Furthermore, its activities are connected to other local activities throughthe CCG initiative, promoting a positive and realistic image of the Sonoran
Desert as a part of the US-Mexico borderlands.
CONCLUSION
The number of organizations participating in food movements in Tucson
mentioned in this article is quite limited. Other organizations in Tucson
also highlight a unique and realistic image of the Sonoran Desert and thecity of Tucson, rather than emphasizing stereotypical descriptions of the
US-Mexico borderlands. Regarding the environmental and cultural aspects,
many restaurants and artisans certified by TCoG serve Sonoran dishes using
regionally available ingredients and contribute to local communities; thesedishes are distinguished from Mexican dishes or commercialized Tex-Mex
food.80 Moreover, vegetables and fruits unique to the Sonoran Desert are
sold at farmers’ markets that are held nearly daily in multiple locations.81
In my fieldwork in 2017 and other years, I found that, among various
local species, i’itoi onion (green onion) was sold widely.82 Additionally,
baking products using mesquite flour and sweets made with prickly pear
cactus or agave syrup are often sold by local vendors. Even for some
Tucson residents, these are not everyday food items. Therefore, I saw
many customers ask the vendors questions about how to cook them. Such
conversations can enhance interactions between individuals who would notmeet otherwise.
As for the multiethnic aspect of the Sonoran Desert, the activities of thenonprofit organization Iskashitaa Refugee Network are also remarkable.
This organization runs a program for United Nations refugees and asylum
seekers resettling in Tucson. These refugees and asylum seekers are fromcountries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. They harvest fruits from

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101

trees in the city, which are otherwise left on the trees and wasted, and makefood products out of them while learning English and receiving job training
in the process.83
A significant outdoor event held annually in October called Tucson MeetYourself should not be missed either. This folklife festival was founded in1974 by an anthropologist from the University of Arizona, James Griffith.
Ethnic foods, art, and music are presented to introduce “the multi-national
Arizona-Sonora region.”84 A local media outlet reported that the organizerof this event estimated that over 120,000 people would participate in thisthree-day festival in 2019.85 Just like activities held by Friends of Tucson’s
Birthplace at Mission Garden, Tucson Meet Yourself entertains people andcelebrates the regional culture and society while educating local people andvisitors. In the activities, the Sonoran Desert, as a unique section of the USMexico borderlands, is presented as a historically multilayered, culturally
rich, and ethnically diverse place to be enjoyed and celebrated.
While the national debate over border policy continues, and many
refugees pass through the area to continue their journeys, the US-Mexico
borderlands and lives of the people there remain unknown. This isparticularly true in the Sonoran Desert, which is a major border-crossing
route for refugees and undocumented migrants. The California–Baja
California borderlands on the West Coast and the southern Texas–
northeastern Mexico borderlands along the Rio Grande used to besignificant migration routes. However, border security in these areas wastightened by Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego and Operation Hold theLine in El Paso in the mid-1990s.86 As a result, a vast number of refugees
and undocumented migrants started crossing the international border bywalking through the Sonoran Desert, and many of them died in the desert.
A local newspaper in Tucson reported that more than three thousand
remains of migrants were found in southern Arizona from 2001 to 2018.
Many remains were searched for and found by local volunteers working
for humanitarian organizations in the area rather than by the US Border
Patrol.87 These shocking news reports attract the attention of people bothnationally and internationally.
Some local people show concern about this situation. For example, inan article introducing a photo exhibit held at the Tucson Museum of Art
by photographers who are members of Tohono O’odham and Hia-Ced
O’odham, the concern was expressed as: “The desert has increasingly
become the focus of political debates and issues related to immigration,
disrupting the livelihood of its inhabitants and those who transit through102

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it.”88 The Sonoran Desert, as well as the culture and society built by the
Indigenous peoples and immigrants, existed before the international border
was drawn. However, they have been neglected, overgeneralized, andlabeled negatively. Revitalization of the gastronomical traditions might not
be the only solution, but it certainly helps to shed light on some aspects of
the Sonoran Desert across the international border.
I am writing this article in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and itis hard to foresee the postpandemic world. The CCG initiative is not aimed
at simply enhancing tourism. Instead, it is meant to encourage sustainable
development of the city’s economic, social, cultural, and environmental
aspects.89 Still, the food industry and tourism play critical roles in activities
related to the CCG, and these fields have been hit quite hard during the
pandemic. Additionally, many nonprofit organizations are struggling
to secure sufficient funds comparable to what they secured during the
prepandemic time.
Moreover, the values and viewpoints of people will shift due to thepandemic. The situation could either increase or decrease people’s interestin food and agriculture in Tucson. Furthermore, the Biden administration’sreform of border control and immigration policy could impact tourism
and local activities in Tucson and the US-Mexico borderlands. As a result,
TCoG might need to modify its policy and strategy for the CCG initiative tobetter suit the postpandemic time.
The process of replanning the CCG initiative would serve as anopportunity to improve this wonderful initiative. In its mission statement,
UNESCO states that the UCCN is meant to “strengthen international
cooperation between cities that have recognized creativity as a strategic
factor of their sustainable development.”90 As mentioned, two cities,
San Antonio in Texas and Ensenada in Mexico, were also designated as
CCGs. These CCG initiatives in the US-Mexico borderlands could startcollaborating. Together, they can present a positive and diverse image of the
US-Mexico borderlands to the world.
In fact, some activities happening in these cities seem similar. In San
Antonio, the San Antonio Food Bank and the National Park Service
collaboratively farm a section of Mission San Juan Capistrano, which
is a UNESCO world heritage site. The farm is called Mission San Juan
Community Farm, and it aims to show the regional food culture startingfrom the Spanish colonial time.91 The presence of Indigenous people andtheir culture on this farm does not seem visible compared with Mission
Garden in Tucson. However, although it is held separately from the farm

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103

activity, the local Indigenous people conduct guided tours of the mission,
which includes information on their food and agricultural traditions.92
Knowing both cases of Mission Garden in Tucson and Mission San Juan
Community Farm in San Antonio would help people realize the presence ofIndigenous people and the food and agricultural traditions created by peopleof multiple ethnicities. Moreover, people would realize the differences
between the regional issues in Tucson and San Antonio. If similar activities
took place in Ensenada, it would enhance the profound understanding of the
US-Mexico borderlands among the general public.
In addition, cities in the US-Mexico borderlands, which were designatedas part of other types of initiatives under the UCCN, may be able tocollaborate with Tucson, San Antonio, and Ensenada. Austin, Texas,
which is located roughly 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the US-Mexico
international border, is a Creative City of Media Arts of the UCCN.93 The
distance between the US-Mexico border and Santa Fe, New Mexico, isapproximately 430 kilometers (260 miles). It might not be so close to theborder, but the city is undoubtedly essential in the state of New Mexico andthe US Southwest, and it is designated as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk
Arts of the UCCN.94 Through arts, organizations and individuals in thesecities can present other diverse and positive aspects of the borderlands.
On the US-Mexico borderlands, Indigenous people have lived andthrived since time immemorial; immigrants settled there instead of passing
through, and multiple regional cultures have flourished. It is about time tocelebrate the rich regional heritages in the borderlands rather than clinging
to monolithic and negative images.
NOTES
This research was supported by Research Grants in the Humanities of the
Mitsubishi Foundation in 2016 and the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research (KAKENHI) Grant Number
19K12531 in the ﬁscal year 2019–22. Part of my research related to thisarticle was presented orally at the annual conference of the Agriculture,
Food, and Human Values Society and the Association for the Study ofFood and Society on June 16, 2017 held at Occidental College in Pasadena,
California, and printed in the Report of Granted Research and Activities ofthe Mitsubishi Foundation.95
1“Sonoran Desert Network Ecosystems,” National Park Service, last updated July 5,

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YUKA MIZUTANI

2019, https://www.nps.gov/im/sodn/ecosystems.htm.
2“QuickFacts, Tucson City, Arizona,” US Census Bureau, accessed July 22, 2021, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/tucsoncityarizona/PST04.
3
Paul Ganster and Kimberly Collins, The US-Mexican Border Today: Conﬂict andCooperation in Historical Perspective, 4th ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littleﬁeld,2021), 11–12.
4
Oscar J. Martínez, Border People: Life and Society in the US-Mexico Borderlands(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994), 40–41.
5
Ibid., 54–55.
6
Ibid., 55.
7Thomas E. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854–1941(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1986), 1–2.
8
Ibid., 33.
9Ibid., 2.
10Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures ofNorthern America (New York: Penguin, 2011), 10.
11
Ibid., 10–11.
12
Ibid., 310.
13
Ibid.
14
James M. Rubenstein, “Reviewed Work: American Nations: A History of the Eleven
Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard,” Indiana Magazine of History
108, no. 4 (December 2012): 425–26, https://doi.org/10.5378/indimagahist.108.4.0424.
15
Woodard, American Nations, 10–11.
16
Ibid., 10.
17
Hispanic (Spanish-speaking people) and Latino (people with Latin American heritage)
are not exactly the same linguistic or ethnic category. In his book, Woodard used only theterm “Hispanic.” The US Census presents the data as “Hispanic or Latino,” and it is hard to
distinguish them. Therefore, in this article, these two words are used interchangeably.
18“QuickFacts,” US Census Bureau, last accessed July 25, 2021, https://www.census.gov/
quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219, 318.
19
Some examples are: Colin Woodard, “How Colin Woodard’s ‘American Nations’
Explains the 2016 Presidential Election,” Portland Press Herald, January 6, 2017, https://www.pressherald.com/2017/01/06/the-american-nations-in-the-2016-presidential-election/#;“The Maps That Show That City vs. Country Is Not Our Political Fault Line,” New YorkTimes, July 30, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/urban-rural-unitedstates-regions-midterms.html; “How Centuries-Old Regional Diﬀerences Explain the 2020
Presidential Election,” Portland Press Herald, November 15, 2020, https://www.pressherald.
com/2020/11/15/how-centuries-old-regional-differences-explain-the-2020-presidentialelection/#.
20
Ganster and Collins, US-Mexican Border Today, 10.
21
Kathleen Staudt, “The Border, Performed in Films: Produced in Both Mexico and the
US to ‘Bring Out the Worst in a Country,’” Journal of Borderlands Studies 29, no. 4 (2014):
465, https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2014.982471.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid., 474.
24
Ibid., 466.
25
Margaret Regan, “A Tucson Local’s Guide to Arizona’s Hippest City,” Boston Globe,
updated March 13, 2020, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/14/magazine/tucson-localsguide-arizonas-hippest-city/#.
26
Stephanie Wu, “Get a New Taste of the Old Southwest in Tucson,” in “Where to Travel

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT105

Next: 2021 Hot List,” Condé Nast Traveler, May 7, 2021, https://www.cntraveler.com/story/
where-to-travel-next.
27
UNESCO, UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Sustainable Development (Paris:
UNESCO, 2020), 9, 126, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375210/PDF/375210
eng.pdf.multi.
28“Tucson City of Gastronomy,” TCoG, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://tucson.
cityofgastronomy.org/about.
29
Eric Holt-Giménez and Yi Wang, “Reform or Transformation?: The Pivotal Role ofFood Justice in the US Food Movement,” Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts
5, no. 1 (Autumn 2011): 83–102, 85, https://doi.org/10.2979/racethmulglocon.5.1.83.
30
Ibid., 95.
31“Tucson City of Gastronomy,” TCoG.
32
Gustavo Arellano, “Why Doesn’t Tucson’s Mexican Food Scene Get More
National Attention?,” NPR, March 6, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/03/06/589626421/why-doesnt-tucson-s-mexican-food-scene-get-more-national-attention.
33“San Antonio,” UCCN, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/
san-antonio.
34“Ensenada,” UCCN, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/
ensenada.
35
Ibid.
36
For example, chef ambassadors of the CCG initiative were selected by members of
the San Antonio UNESCO CCG Advisory Group and staﬀ members of the city of San
Antonio, according to the city’s press release (City of San Antonio, “Represent San Antonio
as UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy through 2023,” July 1, 2021, https://www.
sanantonio.gov/comm/News/ArtMID/24373/ArticleID/20972/Chef-Ambassadors-Selectedto-Represent-San-Antonio-as-UNESCO-Creative-City-of-Gastronomy-through-2023.)
37
Dennis Ray Wheaton and Glenn R. Carroll, “Where Did ‘Tex-Mex’ Come from?: The
Divisive Emergence of a Social Category,” Research in Organizational Behavior 37 (2017):
154–55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2017.09.003.
38
Kim Pierce, “New Documentary ‘Truly Texas Mexican’ Traces the Indigenous Food
Heritage of the Borderlands,” Dallas Morning News, September 4, 2020, https://www.
dallasnews.com/food/cooking/2020/09/04/new-documentary-truly-texas-mexican-traces-theIndigenous-food-heritage-of-the-borderlands/.
39“TCoG Certiﬁed Restaurants and Artisans,” TCoG, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://
tucson.cityofgastronomy.org/tcog-certiﬁed-restaurants; “Wineries,” TCoG, last accessed July22, 2021, https://tucson.cityofgastronomy.org/wineries-wine-tasting-rooms-1.
40“Resources,” TCoG, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://tucson.cityofgastronomy.org/
resources; “Our Story,” Native Seeds SEARCH, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://www.
nativeseeds.org/pages/history-mission; “About,” San Xavier Co-Op Farm, last accessed July22, 2021, https://www.sanxaviercoop.org/about/; “Mission Garden,” Mission Garden, lastaccessed July 22, 2021, https://www.missiongarden.org/mission-garden.
41
Kate Hunger, “Discovering History along the River,” UTSA Discovery 5 (2012), lastaccessed January 30, 2022, https://www.utsa.edu/discovery/2012/story/feature-river.html.
42
Norma Martinez, “‘We’re Still Here’—10,000 Years of Native American History
Re-Emerges,” Texas Public Radio, March 14, 2019, https://www.tpr.org/san-antonio/201903-14/were-still-here-10-000-years-of-native-american-history-re-emerges.
43“Wild Harvest Program,” San Xavier Co-Op Farm, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://www.sanxaviercoop.org/wild-harvest-program/.
44“Resources,” TCoG.
45
Ibid.

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46“Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace,” Mission Garden, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://www.missiongarden.org/friends-of-tucsons-birthplace.
47“Timeline,” Mission Garden, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://www.missiongarden.
org/tucsons-birthplace/history/.
48“Preserving Our Region’s Diverse Agricultural Heritage,” Mission Garden, last accessed
July 22, 2021, https://www.missiongarden.org/.
49“Site History,” Mission Garden, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://www.mission
garden.org/timeline.
50
Carolyn Niethammer, A Desert Feast (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2020),
90–91.
51
Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, “Mission Garden Guided Tour, Friday, January 8, 2021,”
11, last accessed March 14, 2021, https://www.missiongarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/
03/Mission-Garden-Guided-Tour-transcribed-by-Nancy-Elkins-ﬁnal.pdf.
52“The Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project,” Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, last accessed
July 22, 2021, https://www.desertmuseum.org/center/kinofruittrees.php.
53“Visit,” TCoG, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://tucson.cityofgastronomy.org/visit.
54“Visit: Garden Map,” Tucson Botanical Gardens, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://
tucsonbotanical.org/visit/#section7; Tohono Chul, “The Oﬃcial Visitors Guide,” 12, lastaccessed July 22, 2021, https://tohonochul.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/TC-GUIDE-FY15_screen_03.pdf.
55“Edna’s Eatery,” Tucson Botanical Gardens, last accessed July 22, 2021, https://
tucsonbotanical.org/cafe/; “Garden Bistro,” Tohono Chul, last accessed July 22, 2021,
https://tohonochul.org/dining/.
56“San Ysidro Festival. Reviving a Celebration of Our Fields and Farmers,” Facebook
event page of Mission Garden: Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, last accessed July 22, 2021,
https://www.facebook.com/events/mission-garden/san-ysidro-festival-reviving-a-celebrationof-our-ﬁelds-and-farmers/786400174823718/.
57
Facebook pages of Mission Garden: Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, last accessed July23, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/events/mission-garden-friends-of-tucsons-birthplace/san-ysidro-wheat-harvest-festival/812905862415070/; https://www.facebook.com/mission
gardentucson/photos/a.10153813299139331/10153813316339331.
58
Candice Fujikane, “Introduction: Asian Settler Colonialism in the US Colony of
Hawaiʻi,” in Asian Settler Colonialism: From Local Governance to the Habits of Everyday
Life in Hawaiʻi, ed. Candice Fujikane and Jonathan Y. Okamura (Honolulu: University of
Hawaiʻi Press, 2008), 9.
59
Martínez, Border People, 45–49.
60
Homer J. Thiel and Jonathan B. Mabry, “An Overview of the Rio Nuevo Archaeology
Project, 2000–2003,” in Rio Nuevo Archaeology, 2000–2003: Investigations at the San
Agustín Mission and Mission Gardens, Tucson Presidio, Tucson Pressed Brick Company,
and Clearwater Site, Technical Report no. 2004–11, ed. J. Homer Thiel and Jonathan B.
Mabry (Tucson: Desert Archaeology, 2006), 1, https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/
rio_nuevo_full_small.pdf.
61
Gary Paul Nabhan, Nature of Desert Nature (Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 2020), 2–3.
62
Ibid., 7.
63
Ibid., 9.
64
Gary Paul Nabhan, Gathering the Desert (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985),
6.
65
Gary Paul Nabhan, Enduring Seeds: Native American Agriculture and Wild Plant
Conservation (San Francisco, CA: North Point Press, 1989), 48–49.

PROMOTION OF GASTRONOMIC TRADITIONS IN THE SONORAN DESERT107

66
Native Seeds/SEARCH, “Seed Listing 2021,” 43–55, https://cdn.shopify.com/s/ﬁles/1/
0157/0808/ﬁles/SL_2021_webﬁnal.pdf?.
67“Our Story,” Native Seeds/SEARCH, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://www.
nativeseeds.org/pages/history-mission.
68
TCoG, “Tucson, UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy: Monitoring Report (Reporting
Period 2015–2019),” 2019, 15, https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sites/default/ﬁles/tucson_
2019_monitoring_report_0.pdf.
69
C. L. Sonnichsen, Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City (Norman: Universityof Oklahoma Press, 1987), 111–12.
70
Niethammer, Desert Feast, 59–60.
71
Ibid., 58.
72
Ibid., 63.
73
Edward H. Spicer, People of Pascua, ed. Kathleen M. Sands and Rosamond B. Spicer(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988), 39.
74
Ibid., 95.
75
Emily Litvack, “Tucson Communities of Color Preserve a Piece of Black History with
Support from UArizona,” University of Arizona, January 29, 2020, https://research.arizona.
edu/stories/tucson-communities-color-preserve-piece-black-history-support-uarizona.
Dunbar School in Tucson was established in 1912. After its closure due to the end of thesegregation policy, it was transformed into a cultural center. Alexa Block, “Arizona Black
History: A Look Back at African American Contributions to the State,” 12 News, February
19, 2021, https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/arizona-black-history-a-lookback-at-african-american-contributions-to-the-state/75-7fc8738f-20df-4753-96bd-20ba
577c6a2d.
76
Brenna Bailey, “Tucson’s 3.6 Percent: Reﬂections on Being Black in a MajorityWhite City,” Arizona Public Media, March 9, 2018, https://news.azpm.org/p/news-splash/2018/3/9/125471-tucsons-36-percent-reﬂections-on-being-black-in-a-white-city/.
77
Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace, “Mission Garden Guided Tour, Friday, January 8, 2021,”
11.
78
Madison Beveridge, “Around the Corner: A look at Tucson’s Agriculture throughthe Lens of Mission Garden,” Daily Wildcat, November 10, 2020 (updated on February
22, 2021), https://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2020/11/a-mission-garden-atc#.
79“Public Garden Tours,” Mission Garden, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://www.
missiongarden.org/visit.
80“TCoG Certiﬁed Restaurants and Artisans,” TCoG.
81“Farmers Markets,” TCoG, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://tucson.cityofgastronomy.
org/farmers-markets.
82
The i’itoi onion is not signiﬁcantly diﬀerent from other varieties of green onion.
Two stories past down among Tohono O’odham people explain the origin of i’itoi onion.
According to one story, the onion was brought to their land by Spanish missionaries.
Another story tells that the onion was given to Tohono O’odham people by I’itoi, thecreator of the world. (Lee Allen, “Preserving Traditional Crops: The Tohono O’odham I’itoi
Onion,” Indian Country Today, August 16, 2017 (updated on September 13, 2018, https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/preserving-traditional-crops-tohono-oodham-iitoi-onion.).
Considering its impact on local culture and biodiversity, it is quite important to keep growing
and consuming this onion.
83“About Us,” Iskashitaa Refugee Network, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://www.
iskashitaa.org/about-us.
84“Mission and History,” Tucson Meet Yourself, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://
tucsonmeetyourself.org/mission-and-history/.

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85
Joey Greaber, “Tucson Meet Yourself 2019: Everything You Need to Know,” KGUN,
September 23, 2019, https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/tucson-meet-yourself-2019everything-you-need-to-know.
86
Ganster and Collins, US-Mexican Border Today, 248.
87
Daniel Gonzales, “The Remains of 127 Dead Migrants Were Recovered in Southern
Arizona in 2018,” Republic (azcentral.com), January 16, 2019, https://www.azcentral.com/
story/news/politics/border-issues/2019/01/16/remains-127-dead-migrants-recoveredsouthern-arizona-2018/2575080002/.
88“Tucson Museum of Art Explores the Original Territories of the Tohono O’odham in thePlace Where Clouds Are Formed,” Visit Tucson, February 5, 2020, https://www.visittucson.
org/press/news-releases/2020/tucson-museum-art-explores-original-territories-tohonooodham-place-where.
89
UNESCO, Creative Cities Network, “Mission Statement,” last accessed July 23, 2021,
https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sites/default/ﬁles/uccn_mission_statement_rev_nov_
2017.pdf.
90
Ibid.
91
“Our Farms,” San Antonio Food Bank, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://safoodbank.
org/about-us/our-farms/. “Mission San Juan Farm,” National Park Service, San Antonio
Missions National Historical Park, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/places/
mission-san-juan-farm.htm?
92“Yanaguana Mission Heritage Tours,” American Indians in Texas at the Spanish
Colonial Missions, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://aitscm.org/missiontours/. The videoof the virtual tour posted on this webpage is on their oﬃcial YouTube channel. “Virtual
Yanaguana Mission Heritage Tour 2020,” AIT-SCM, uploaded December 4, 2020, https://
youtu.be/vzS4WRtogw8.
93“Austin,” UNESCO, Creative Cities Network, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://en.
unesco.org/creative-cities/austin.
94“Santa Fe,” UNESCO, Creative Cities Network, last accessed July 23, 2021, https://en.
unesco.org/creative-cities/santa-fe.
95
Yuka Mizutani, “The Indigenous Food Culture, the Arrival of Immigrants, and the
Selection of Tucson as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy,” AFHVS/ASFS Annual Meeting
and Conference, June 16, 2017. Yuka Mizutani, “Analysis of the Movements of Indigenous
Peoples in the US to Recover Food Sovereignty: A Multiple-Approach Case in Southern
Arizona (Beikoku senjumin ni yoru shokuryou shuken no kaifuku undou no saikou: Arizona
shu nanbu no jirei ni kansuru takakuteki kenkyu),” in Report of Granted Research andActivities (Dai 48 kai mitsubishi zaidan kenkyu, jigyou houkokusho), Mitsubishi Foundation,
2017, 82–83. A full nine-page report in Japanese is in a CD-ROM attached to the printed
booklet.