Contextualizing Food Systems Planning in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: Prospects for Alternative and Transborder Coordination

The Paso Del Norte transborder region is home to one of the world’s largest manufacturing complexes. Along with industrial and trade policies, agricultural and food policies have shaped economic and demographic shifts in Mexico. The policies that have created conditions favourable for the emergence of this industrial hub have also created negative effects on both sides of the US/Mexico border, markedly in Ciudad Juarez. The focus of this thesis is a historical analysis of agricultural/food systems policy in Mexico to provide in-depth context, followed by an analysis of the performance of various alternative food system planning initiatives in Juárez. Food Regime theory is deployed to describe the state’s historical relationship with food system actors. Narrowing the scope from the national to the regional level, the analysis shifts to assessment of projects by stakeholders seeking to develop alternative food system initiatives. The primary objective is to gain insight as to what types of supports may be beneficial to the continued development and expansion of alternative initiatives in the context of a field of practice that is heavily intermediated by a range of other interests. Potential for collaborations between actors in other jurisdictions in the Paso Del Norte is also considered