Chinampas are fields built in the shallow lakes of the Valley of Mexico. La Jornada describes them as “construcciones artificiales de varas, lodo y raíces del árbol llamado ahuejote” (artificial structures of sticks, mud and the roots of the tree called ahuejote).
According to Yanet Cruz of the Museo Chinampaxóchitl, quoted by Chilango, the people of Xochimilco already used the system when the Mexica arrived. The Mexica learned it and used it to build up their island city of Tenochtitlan. In June 2018, the FAO recognized the chinampa system of Mexico City as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.