Socioeconomics
Milpa Alta is officially classed as one of the poorest in the Federal District by income, with 48.6% considered to be below the poverty line. However it is also considered to have a low level of socioeconomic marginalization. The discrepancy is likely due to the fact that the economy is based on cash and not all economic activity is reported. Most of the land is held in common, either in ejidos or other arrangements. There is a problem with the lack of formal titles to land, which has allowed irregular settlements. There is a telegraph office, a post office and various city agencies. Medical attention is mostly provided by two large clinics, one administered by UNAM and the other by ISSSTE and various small ones in various towns. It has little in the way of commerce and services, with no large chain stores, few banks, no movie theaters or little else in the way of entertainment.
The main economic activities of the borough are agriculture and food processing. Most agriculture is still done with traditional methods with only those of greater resources using machinery such as tractors. The most important crop is the nopal cactus, with fields found just about everywhere including spaces between houses in the towns. Founded in 1986, the Feria del Nopal is held in Villa Milpa Alta in June with the aim of promoting the consumption of the paddle cactus. The main event is the culinary exhibition of dishes made with the vegetable along with cultural, social, sporting and artistic events. Other important crops include corn, beans, animal feed, fava beans, peas and honey. Pulque is produced for local consumption.
One important processed food in Milpa Alta is the making of barbacoa, sheep meat cooked in a pit oven lined with maguey leaves. This is made principally for weekend sales for traditional markets and street stands in most of Mexico City. The most important barbacoa producing area is Barrio San Mateo in Villa Milpa Alta. About three thousand sheep are slaughtered and prepared as barbacoa each week in Milpa Alta, but barbacoa is increasingly being made with sheep meat imported from Australia, New Zealand and the United States as it is cheaper than that produced in Mexico. The barbacoa business in the area began in the 1940s and since then has been successful enough to allow many families to send their children to school and become professionals. Despite the younger generation’s higher education, many still participate in the family business. Its success has also allowed barbacoa families to gain a certain amount of prestige in the community.
Even more important is the creation of pastes and powders to make mole sauce. These are created from the grinding and blending of twenty or more ingredients, which always include a variety of chili peppers. The mole sauces made are of various types such as rojo, verde, almendrado and about twenty others with trademarks. The main producer of mole in the borough is San Pedro Atocpan, with almost all its residents involved in its production in some way. Most of this production is done in families or small cooperatives. The restaurants in San Pedro Atocpan also specialize in mole and receive about 8,000 customers each week.The Feria Nacional del Mole occurs each year in San Pedro Atocpan in October and receives thousands of visitors to the festival site as well as the forty restaurants in the town that serve meats in mole sauce.
The only other industry in Milpa Alta is small handcraft workshops making articles such as leather goods, furniture and textiles.
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