Publications
Writing
Peer-reviewed journal articles
1 itemAre the Major Imperatives of Food Security Missing in Ecosystem Services Research?
2016Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S., Erwan Sachet, Martha Vanegas, and Kyle Piispanen. 2016. “Are the Major Imperatives of Food Security Missing in Ecosystem Services Research?” Ecosystem Services 19 (June): 19–31.
Manuscripts in preparation
1 itemFoodscapes, Agro-biodiversity and Cultural Identity on the Island of Chiloé
2015UnpublishedKyle Piispanen. 2015. “Foodscapes, Agro-biodiversity and Cultural Identity on the Island of Chiloé.”
Doctoral dissertation
1 itemReassembling the Milpa: Multispecies Entanglements of Foraged Foods in Highland Mexico
2025Piispanen, Kyle. 2025. “Reassembling the Milpa: Multispecies Entanglements of Foraged Foods in Highland Mexico.” Central European University.
Theses
3 itemsAndean Roots Coca and Grassroots Development in the Bolivian Yungas
2011Piispanen, Kyle. 2011. “Andean Roots: Coca and Grassroots Development in the Bolivian Yungas.” Oregon State University.
Social and Ecological Implications of the Industrialization of Mexican Agriculture: Speculations of Endogenous Agricultural Development for a Post-Neo-liberal Society
2006Piispanen, Kyle. 2006. “Social and Ecological Implications of the Industrialization of Mexican Agriculture: Speculations of Endogenous Agricultural Development for a Post-Neo-liberal Society.” Prescott College.
Food Systems of Mexico: An Exploration in Traditional Knowledge and the Resilience of Traditional Agriculture in South Central Mexico and Possibilities for Sustainable Development
2006Piispanen, Kyle. 2006. “Food Systems of Mexico: An Exploration in Traditional Knowledge and the Resilience of Traditional Agriculture in South Central Mexico and Possibilities for Sustainable Development.” Prescott College.
Reports and public scholarship
5 itemsMasificaciones Agroecológicas en Latino América: estudios de caso en México, Colombia y Brasil.
2021Bravo, Yolotzin, Graziela Dourado, Tabaré García, Bruce G. Ferguson, Mateo Mier y Terán-Giménez Cacho, Janine Neves, Kyle Piispanen, Juan David Ricárdez Pérez, and Juan Carlos Rocha Pardo. 2021. “Masificaciones Agroecológicas en Latino América: estudios de caso en México, Colombia y Brasil.” Nicté Ha: Agroecología desde el Sur – Flor de la Agroecología, 5.
Grupo Vicente Guerrero. Entrevista con Emiliano
2021Piispanen, Kyle. 2021. “Grupo Vicente Guerrero. Entrevista con Emiliano.” YouTube, 27:27.
Las hormigas que producen miel y sus características
2020Piispanen, Kyle. 2020. “Las hormigas que producen miel y sus características.” Gourmet de México, Comida y Cultura.
Communicating the importance of ecosystem services, food security and human wellbeing through interactive multimedia
2014Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S., Martha Vanegas, and Kyle Piispanen. 2014. “Communicating the importance of ecosystem services, food security and human wellbeing through interactive multimedia.” Ecosystem Services Research Theme. Decision and Policy Analysis Research Area, International Center for Tropical Agriculture. pp. 4.
Hunger and Heat in Paisley, Oregon, USA
2008Piispanen, Kyle. 2008. “Hunger and Heat in Paisley, Oregon, USA.” Occasional Papers in Anthropology 17. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University.
Selected presentations
11 itemsMás allá del campesino a campesino: Co-produciendo el paisaje y territorio. El caso del Grupo Vicente Guerrero
2021Piispanen, Kyle. 2021. “Más allá del campesino a campesino: Co-produciendo el paisaje y territorio. El caso del Grupo Vicente Guerrero.” Seminario de Agroecología y Sociedad, Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, México.
Casos de Masificación de la Agroecología
2021Bravo, Yolotzin, Graziela Dourado, Tabaré García, Bruce G. Ferguson, Mateo Mier y Terán-Giménez Cacho, Janine Neves, Kyle Piispanen, Juan David Ricárdez Pérez, and Juan Carlos Rocha Pardo. 2021. “Casos de masificación de la agroecología.” Seminario de Masificación de la Agroecología, Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, México.
El Caso del Grupo Vicente Guerrero
2021Piispanen, Kyle. 2021. “El caso del Grupo Vicente Guerrero.” Seminario de Masificación de la Agroecología, Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, México.
¿Por qué pensar con chapulines? Chapulines en paisajes degradados
2021Piispanen, Kyle. 2021. “¿Por qué pensar con chapulines? Chapulines en paisajes degradados.” Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, México.
More-than-Human Politics: The Case of Chapulines in México
2019Piispanen, Kyle. 2019. “More-than-Human Politics: The Case of Chapulines in México.” Central European University.
Gourmet Chapulines: How This Insect Jumped from the Fields to Chefs’ Kitchens and the Politics of Foraging Commercial Insects
2019Piispanen, Kyle. 2019. “Gourmet Chapulines: How This Insect Jumped from the Fields to Chefs’ Kitchens and the Politics of Foraging Commercial Insects.” Central European University.
Cocinas y Cultura Alimentaria: usos sociales, significados y contextos rituales
2018D’Alva Patiño, Marcela, and Kyle Piispanen. 2018. “Cocinas y cultura alimentaria: Usos sociales, significados y contextos rituales.” Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
Foodscapes and Agrobiodiversity on the Island of Chiloé: Participatory Methods in Agrotourism and Agrobiodiversity Conservation
2016Piispanen, Kyle. 2016. “Foodscapes and Agrobiodiversity on the Island of Chiloé: Participatory Methods in Agrotourism and Agrobiodiversity Conservation.” Vancouver, BC.
Investigación acción participativa: Contribuciones a la agroecología
2014Piispanen, Kyle. 2014. “Investigación acción participativa: Contribuciones a la agroecología.” Palmira, Colombia.
Food Sovereignty in the Andes: Engaging Activists and Social Scientists, Parts I-II
2011Piispanen, Kyle. 2011. “Food Sovereignty in the Andes: Engaging Activists and Social Scientists, Parts I–II.” Seattle, Washington.
Risk and Resilience in Frontier America
2009Piispanen, Kyle. 2009. “Risk and Resilience in Frontier America.” Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Digital scholarship
2 itemsReassembling the Milpa: A Multispecies Atlas
n.d.In preparationPiispanen, Kyle. n.d. “Reassembling the Milpa: A Multispecies Atlas.”
Dictionary of Milpa Agroecosystems
n.d.In preparationPiispanen, Kyle. n.d. “Dictionary of Milpa Agroecosystems.”
Listen & watch
From Ohio to Mexico: Eating the Milpa
Growing up in Ohio, then Idaho, Kyle Piispanen's food culture was decidedly American. An interest in anthropology took him to Veracruz, Mexico, at the age of 18, and there, with a ranching family, he first experienced real Mexican food. Now in the final leg of a PhD, Kyle chats with Margret about milpa farming, corn tortillas, quelites and more…
Reassembling the Milpa: Multispecies Entanglements of Foraged Foods in Highland Mexico
Abstract
This dissertation explores the milpa as a dynamic agroecological assemblage, focusing on the roles of foraged foods—chapulines (grasshoppers), quelites (edible greens), and cuitlacoche (corn smut)—in the Puebla–Tlaxcala Valley. Through multispecies ethnography and political ecology, it examines how campesino knowledge, seasonal rhythms, and interspecies relations sustain biocultural diversity amidst pressures from industrial agriculture. Drawing on fieldwork with farmers, foragers, and market vendors, it argues for the importance of recampesinización (re-peasantization) and agroecological reterritorialization as strategies for community resilience. The dissertation highlights how these non-cultivated foods from milpa agroecosystems challenge purity paradigms in agriculture and contributes to sustaining milpa landscapes.
Committee
Supervisor: Dr. Guntra Aistara, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, CEU
Internal member: Dr. Vlad Naumescu, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, CEU
External member: Dr. Bruce Ferguson, Senior researcher at the San Cristóbal de las Casas Campus of El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Mexico
Opponent: Dr. Birgit Müller, EHESS — École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Institut interdisciplinaire d'anthropologie du contemporain (IIAC), France
Grupo Vicente Guerrero. Entrevista con Emiliano
El Proyecto de Desarrollo Rural Integral Vicente Guerrero A.C., conocido como Grupo Vicente Guerrero (GVG), es una importante referencia en el marco de la agroecología y de la soberanía alimentaria en México y el mundo (Merçon 2013).
Red Aluminium
On October 4, 2010, 700,000 cubic meters of toxic sludge escaped from pond number 10, a reservoir of an alumina factory owned by the Magyar Alumínium Termelő és Kereskedelmi Zrt. (MAL Ltd.), in Western Hungary. The stream flooded three villages. Ten people died from burns or drowning, and hundreds were treated in hospitals. More than two hundred houses that survived still had to be demolished. All life in the nearest river, the Marcal, a tributary of the Danube, was extinguished. According to government officials, this was Hungary's worst-ever ecological disaster.