Mexican Women and Food in Rural and Urban Contexts

Carla Pederzini, Universidad Iberoamericana

Activities involved in the preparation of food are particularly important for women since they absorb much of the time they spend in domestic work. Gender norms establish the activities performed by men and women and more so in rural societies. Using data from the Mexican National Survey on the Use of Time carried out in 2002, I seek to find the determinants of the time rural and urban women spend in activities related to food preparation. I estimate a model where the type of assets available in the household, household structure and women’s characteristics are included in order to explain the time spent in food preparation. I intend to demonstrate that cultural norms prevalent in rural households and the lack of household appliances impose a huge burden on rural Mexican women. Preliminary results suggest rural women in Mexico spend large amounts of time in food preparation.