Lucio Usobiaga trained in philosophy, then left academia for the fields. In 2009 he began selling organic produce from the chinampas of Xochimilco, Mexico City’s ancient floating gardens, to the city’s restaurants. Two years later he co-founded Yolcan, which in 2020 became Arca Tierra: a network that links farming families, cooks, education and visits to the chinampas. This week, Lucio was named the winner of the 2026 Basque Culinary World Prize, awarded by the Basque Culinary Center and the Basque Government to people who use gastronomy as a force for social change.
The Work
Arca Tierra works with around 50 farming families in Xochimilco, Puebla, Hidalgo and the State of Mexico. Their harvests reach about 60 restaurants and 300 households, and nearly 16,000 people visited the chinampas in 2025. Facing climate pressures, Arca Tierra is researching how the chinampas can adapt, with the World Monuments Fund, through agroforestry, soil cover, biofilters and growing many crops together. The work extends to Baldío, the zero-waste restaurant the brothers opened with Douglas McMaster, and now beyond Mexico: with his brother and a group of cooks, farmers and Indigenous community leaders, Lucio is developing Sabor de la Tierra, a collaboration reaching toward Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Why It Matters
Lucio is clear about the order of things: farming comes first. The cooking and the visits are built on top of it, as ways to give value, income and pride back to the families whose knowledge has kept the chinampas alive. It’s a model that starts in the soil and works outward to the table, not the other way around. His message to chefs is simple:
“As a cook, your best friend is your guest, but also the farmer.”
A personal note
Last year, when Field Office was barely more than an idea, Lucio’s brother Pablo gave me his time and his story, generously and without hesitation, for our conversation on the chinampas. Watching this recognition reach the family’s work feels like seeing a seed we wrote about break ground. Felicidades, Lucio, and thank you, Pablo. El futuro es ancestral.
Support This Work
Arca Tierra offers farm visits, workshops and partnerships that support regenerative agriculture and cultural preservation in Xochimilco.
→ Visit Arca Tierra
Baldío, in Mexico City's Condesa neighborhood, turns every ingredient into flavor and returns what's left to the chinampas.
→ Follow their work
Read our conversation with Pablo Usobiaga
→ Reviving the Chinampas: How Pablo Usobiaga Found the Future in the Ancestral
