An American in Lima

slices of my life in Peru

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Overstressed Americans Binge on Junk Food, Drive up Sales, Cheers Snack Food Industry!

November 27th, 2008 · 3 Comments · Crossing Cultures, Food & Dining, Looking Back at the United States

The slow-motion collapse of the U.S. economy is harming consumers and businesses across the country – well, almost every business that is. One industry is enjoying big sales gains thanks to the stress experienced by ordinary working people. North American sales of “savory snacks” (potato chips, Cheetos, etc.) by Frito-Lay are up 9% for the third qurater, reports [...]

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Climate Change Threatens Peru’s Native Potatoes

November 25th, 2008 · Comments Off · Climate Change & Disappearing Glaciers, Peru's Andes Mountains

Here’s a timely article from Eliza Barclay on a topic close to many Peruvians’ hearts: potatoes. Cover photo from The Potato, Treasure of the Andes  Extreme weather shifts caused by global warming are interrupting millenia-old agricultural cyles in the high Andes, reports Barclay for the Miami Herald. That turmoil is having a devastating effect on crops [...]

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(Not) Trailing Bush at the APEC

November 24th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Food & Dining, Money, Economics, Politics

The Texas cowbow-turned-El Chalan, APEC Leaders’ Summit, Nov. 23, 2008; photo c. Jorge Vera It was 4 p.m. on the final day of the APEC Summit, and most of the leaders and the journalists had left the Minstry of Defense building where the summit had been held. El Fotógrafo and I were huddled in a cubicle [...]

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We Want to Be Your Solution for All Things Potato

October 22nd, 2008 · 3 Comments · Food & Dining, Money, Economics, Politics

Delicious purple Peruvian potatoes Potatoes are a big deal in Peru. The Peruvan Andes were the birthplace of the potato, and today Peruvian farmers cultivate more than 3,000 native varieties of them — potatoes with names like Ica Huila and Purple Viking and Wilja. The United Nations has declared 2008 “the International Year of the Potato,” and this [...]

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