There are an estimated 80,000 edible plant species on earth, says the ‘Gaia Atlas of Planet Management’ (Ed. Norman Myers, Pan Books, 1985), not counting the many edible varieties of each species. Most of these are uncultivated foods – free, nourishing gifts of Nature, growing wild, requiring no human labour, except in harvesting or gathering. Less than 150 plant species have been historically cultivated on a large scale as food crops. But with the spread of extensive industrial monocultures – grown with toxic chemicals for distant urban markets – barely 20 plant species now provide 90% of the entire human diet; and just 8 crops (of a very few varieties) provide three quarters of all human food! That is a miniscule 0.01% (or one in ten thousand) of the edible species gifted by Nature. So hidden behind all the glitter and packaging of ‘multi-brand’ mega-consumerism, is that progress or poverty ? Bissam Cuttack is surrounded by the great Niyamgiri Hill. Small canals like Markama Nala, Mundabandha Nala, Gate Nala and Rata Tikiri Nala surrounds the village in 4 directions of this Village.As of 2001 India census, Bishama Katek had a population of 7407. An adivasi food festival where both cultivated as well as uncultivated and / or forest foods that the adivasis depend on were displayed on 25th February, 2014 at Bisamcuttack, Rayagada. This was an unique event where people from a dozen tribes who live in the villages of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra gathered with their local produce to share how and why they prefer their traditional food. Over 600 adivasis, about 80% women, from the Kondh, Koya, Didai, Santhal, Juanga, Baiga, Bhil, Pahari Korva, Paudi Bhuiyan and Birhor from more than 300 villages spread across the tribal heartland of India shared more than 1500 food varieties – cultivated and uncultivated, raw and cooked – over 900 were uncultivated forest foods! Included too were 400 ready-to-eat recipes for sampling. Debjeet Sarangi of Living Farms – that helped organize the Tribal Food Festival in Odisha – states: “Uncultivated foods provide a critical supplement to the diets of the local native communities. Often, in bio-diverse natural forests, there is year-long supply of several hundred varieties of foods, ensuring diversity and nutritional balance in the local diets. While the gathering and consumption of uncultivated foods varies across regions, communities, seasons, a recent study by Living Farms revealed that there was not a single household in its sample study (of the adivasis of Niyamgiri hills and forests) which reported that it does not collect or consume uncultivated foods like wild tubers, greens, mushrooms, fruits, etc. A wealth of living knowledge yet exists in our indigenous communities regarding their forest bio-resources.” Devinder Sharma, a food and agricultural policy analyst states, “Modern living has snapped the symbiotic relationship that existed with nature. Not many know that India is a mega-diversity region with over 51,000 plant species existing, but with hardly a handful being cultivated.”
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:31:52 +0000
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