Women, markets and the economic life of the urban poor in Cuenca, Ecuador

Sale. It is nine in the morning in the area around Mercado 10 de Agosto, the municipal market in the Historic Centre of Cuenca, and Se˜nora Irma is offering fresh grains to the women who approach her—maize, beans and peas, the basic ingredients in the Andean region diet. The women check the grains for freshness and size and then haggle over the sale. Se˜nora Irma has, like her mother and three sisters, been a trader in the 10 de Agosto Market for over 30 years. Purchase. It is Wednesday, fair day in the very busy and crowded Mercado El Arenal, just outside the city’s Historic Centre. Se˜nora Elvira is a mother and, in her bag, she is carrying all kinds of fruit and vegetables just bought in the market. These are the basic ingredients of her family’s diet. She finds them ”cheaper and fresher”, and this why she prefers to do her shopping in El Arenal, because ”the traders are from the countryside and they sell what they harvest themselves”, which, she believes, guarantees the freshness of the food.