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The boost in Ecuador’s coconut trade, and regard to dietary recommendations, Ecuadorian Medical
its corresponding toll on affordability and ac- doctors get their updates from the American
cessibility in Esmeraldas, explains why Esmer- Heart Association and often point to saturated authorities
aldans today may substitute pasteurized com- fat to explain the rising rates of obesity and particularly
mercial milk for the milk from expensive fresh hypertension affecting people in Ecuador. target
grated coconuts when making their encocados. Sadly, a public health-driven food labeling
This is also why the traditional manjar de coco campaign based on the anti-saturated-fat dogma traditional
or pan de coco (coconut bread) is now made with is underway in Ecuador. The “stop-light” food fats like
plain cow’s milk instead of coconut. Increased labels required on all packaged products are in- butter, lard
trade also helps explain why entrepreneurs mak- tended to warn consumers against eating foods and coconut,
ing artisanal coconut oil, like Don Julio Prado, high in fat, salt and sugar. Medical authorities
were forced out of business after the rise in co- particularly target traditional fats like butter, and vilify
conut prices and the introduction of commercial lard and coconut, and vilify Ecuadorian tradi- Ecuadorian
brands of fake, coconut-scented mineral oil. tional dishes that contain these fats. As a result, traditional
In short, the boom in local and global coconut a culture of guilt has taken hold when eating
demand accounts for why Esmeraldans of today traditional foods in Ecuador. In Esmeraldas, it is dishes that
eat coconut foods only a few times a week, and common to hear doctors blame health problems contain
in some extreme cases, only once a year. on people’s preferences for traditional coconut these fats.
dishes. Since coconut is a key ingredient in the
THE RISE OF BAD MEDICAL ADVICE local cuisine, these narratives also easily ac-
The coconut trade and the higher cost of quire racist undertones—that is, “black people
coconuts are important factors, but they are not prefer coconut-based foods; therefore, they are
the whole story. Coconuts still grow in people’s to blame for their own health problems.” It is
backyards in Esmeraldas, and they are freely hard to find the logic in this reasoning, however,
available to those who own and work in coconut given that coconut consumption is at an all-
palm plantations throughout the region. Could time low in Esmeraldas due in large part to the
it be that Esmeraldans are purposefully not eat- increase in prices and the medical campaigns
ing them? It turns out that medical doctors in launched against it.
Esmeraldas and Ecuador advise their patients
against consuming coconuts, invoking long- RECLAIMING HEALTH AND CULTURE
discredited beliefs about the supposed adverse People in Esmeraldas, more than anywhere
effects of saturated fat on heart health. With else in Ecuador, have the right to know the truth
2

It’s been twenty years since Don Julio Prado, a former entrepreneur
of coconut oil in the town of Atacames in Esmeraldas, made coco-
nut oil. He demonstrated the process upon my special request for
the shooting of the film Raspando coco. (Photos by the author.)

WINTER 2020 Wise Traditions 33