From 1975 to 2002 he worked in Mexico, Central America and South Africa in sustainable agricultural development.
He gives yearly courses of food systems transformation and social movements in Italy in the Masters program of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo (slow food) and in the doctoral program at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia.
His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Herald Tribune,[ambiguous] Le Monde Diplomatique, La Jornada and The Des Moines Register.
In 2004–2006, he was the Latin America program co-ordinator for the Bank Information Center in Washington, D.C. His seminal work, Land-Gold-Reform: The Territorial Restructuring of the Guatemalan Highlands (published in English, Spanish and Portuguese), links the struggle against extractive industries with the struggle for land in Latin America and is a product of this experience.
"[1] Walden Bello is a particular advocate of the importance of Gimenez's work, referring to him as one of the world's most "prominent critics of the global food system".