My travel group and our hosts glide down a narrow canal in a brightly painted wood trajinera boat, while feathery willow trees filter both the breeze and the shade emanating from the lush emerald banks. As we approach our lunch destination, aromas of woodsmoke and roasted delicacies mingle with the abundant scents inherent to this seemingly wild, overgrown place. In quiet, Spanish-accented English, our guide points out that some of the plots of land between these canals have sprouted tidy rows of vibrant green crops.

We’re touring the chinampas – or man-made floating farms – that once covered as much as 5,000 acres of this, the Xochimilco district in southern Mexico City, which itself used to be covered by a giant lake. Aztecs popularized this large-scale cultivation style here more than 1,000 years ago. An underwater system of reeds encircles swamp, wetland and shallow lakebed into fertile farmland that, at one time, fed hundreds of thousands. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, only a fraction of it is still used for cultivating food. “If we fully revived the chinampas, we could feed all of Mexico City today,” our guide declares.

The din of the 22-million-person city is almost imperceptible here. We hear the occasional tinkle of mariachi music from other trajineras (some of which are nothing more than glorified floating bars) as local vendors paddle from boat to boat selling snacks: a much more typical and touristy Xochimilco outing.

Arca Tierra, a sustainable-farming collective, offers more mindful experiences. Over the last 13 years, it has united dozens of traditional farms across Mexico to produce pesticide-free, fair-trade produce full of quality and flavour. While Mexico City locals can savour it by ordering seasonal farm boxes, we visitors are at Arca Tierra’s Chinampa del Sol to taste it in a spectacular outdoor-cooked meal.

This farm-to-table experience “provides locals and visitors with an authentic experience of real Mexican cuisine by showcasing the rich diversity of flavours, textures and culinary traditions,” says Lucio Usobiaga, founder and director of Arca Tierra. “Food is a powerful medium for storytelling, allowing locals and visitors to connect with the region’s cultural heritage and agricultural practices.”

Seeds begin their life cycle in trays gridded into chapíns: small cubes of nutrient-rich chinampa mud that quickly sprout robust seedlings. Plantings like beets, radishes, celery and herbs are interspersed in a mixed-crop model common to regenerative agriculture. Between their rows, cover crops and pollinator plants thrive. Our group passes by hand-built stone bridges and a charming wooden “bee hotel” created to enhance nature’s hospitality. This idyllic vision of food-growing is far removed from the typical large-scale industrial farming of the North American food chain.

This story has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read the original version in the Fall/Winter 2024 edition of driver magazine.

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