ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the prevailing contrast between visitors and residents and their cultural interpretations of the guinea pig as food. Food can be a motivator for some, satisfying a multiplicity of physiological, social, and other needs – something very different for each person. Food also represents more than an economic commodity; it is a multidimensional cultural artifact capable of linking issues regarding the relationships between place and identity. A ethical consequence of the relationship between food and tourism is the growth in mass-scale production of guinea pigs, often to the detriment of artisanal and small-scale production, as S. Boyne, D. Hall, and F. Williams. Food and tourism have a very close relationship, representing more than an economic commodity. The relationship between ethics and tourism has also been manifested in other venues such as travel agencies and in the marketing of tourism as well as the ecological impacts of this activity.