- Where do the spices we find in our kitchen cabinets come from?
- What can we learn from tracing spices and their commodities and how does their trade impact the livelihoods of ethnic minority farmers in the Sino- Vietnamese uplands?
Annuska Derks and Jean-Francois Rousseau, co- editors with Sarah Turner of the book ‘Fragrant Frontier Global Spice Entanglements in the Sino Vietnamese Uplands’, joined NIAS Press Publishing Assistant Julia Heinle discussing their recently published edited volume.
The ethnographically rich study demystifies the contemporary spice trade originating from the Sino-Vietnamese uplands. Star anise, black cardamom, and cassia (cinnamon) take center stage as the authors explore the complex commodity chains and entanglements that move these spices to kitchens around the world. The volume explores the livelihoods of the ethnic minority farmers cultivating these spices across this mountainous frontier, follows the commodity chains from farms to global supermarkets, and examines the implications of the commoditization of these fragrant crops for the numerous actors involved.
Make sure to also visit the Spice Trade 3.0 website and discover the visual story maps of star anis, black cardamon and cassia (cinnamon).
