Available From UC Press

"Sarah Bowen’s book is meticulously researched and delivers an important message about the limits of market mechanisms to reform the food system and deliver economic justice. Accessible to the casual reader as well as the seasoned food scholar, this work sets the bar for high-quality food scholarship." —Josée Johnston, author of Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape

"Sarah Bowen’s investigation of tequila and mezcal production in contemporary Mexico is masterful. She evocatively lays out the perils and possibilities of 'glocalization' as a strategy for protecting people, food, and drinks with a clear-eyed examination of the consequences of instituting denominations of origin and quality standards for tequila and mezcal. Although growing agave and making tequila and mezcal remain important for Mexicans, Bowen neither romanticizes nor dismisses the contradictions that emerge when agrarian and cultural ideals confront the complex power dynamics of a global political economic system. Divided Spirits reveals the continued need to protect agrarian livelihoods, artisan food and drink, and cultural and biological diversity. Retaining control over whom and what determines quality is Bowen’s important and innovative call to arms, and we all should listen. Everyone must be involved in this fight—from small agave farmers in Oaxaca to bureaucrats in Mexico City to urban hipsters drinking smoky mezcal in a bar." —Amy Trubek, University of Vermont