Food for the body, food for the mindPsychocultural dimension of food

in indigenous food systems

edmond dounias

Being and well being

Traditional diets from the Mediterranean and beyond

Rome, 27 November 2019

Preambule

The way IP embellish their living conditions is an ignored driving force of indigenous landscape

management

Indigenous Peoples’ belongingness to nature

• Truism: most IPs are well connected to their natural systems for various socio-cultural and economic values that benefit their well-being

• IPs’ values and capabilities that link to well-being are poorly explored

• Need to develop an appropriate indigenous well-being approach that incorporates indigenous values in relation to their natural systems

Well-being

• No single definition of human well-being: includes several facets with complex interactions

• Living happily or leading a satisfying life

• A state of health or sufficiency in all aspects of life

• Includes the satisfaction of material needs, the experience of freedom, health, personal security, good social relations and healthy natural environment

The web of well-beingGreenwood and de Leeuw 2012c

Health and well-being

• Narrow understanding of health: absence of disease

• Not merely a matter of the provision of doctors, hospital, medicine or the absence of disease andincapacity

• More broadly a state of physical, social, and mental well-being

• Health and well-being include a supportive environment, personal security, freedom of choice, social relationships, adequate employment and income, access to educational resources, and cultural identity

• Not just the physical well-being of the individual ;But the social, emotional, and cultural well-being of the whole community

Psychocultural dimension of diet:

A look at the dark side

• Hunger of body

Physiological and nutritional disorder caused by food deprivation and that is experienced as a physical ‘bodily’ sensation causing discomfort and physical pain

Physiological form of hunger

Keywords: Lack, deficiency, deprivation and shortage

• Hunger of mind

Sociocultural feeling caused by a compelling desire or craving for a certain type of food. It induces a lack of satiety despite sufficient calorie intake

Psychological form of hunger

Keywords: Envy, impulse, desire and greediness

Food craving: from food to mood

• Craving is an hedonistic response to food. A need that combines an intense desire for a particular type of food, drink or taste

• Complex phenomenon resulting from underlying cognitive, conditioning, and emotional processes

• However, craving is not synonymous with increased eating: It may as well be provoked by the seasonal deprivation in a particular type of food

Craving for bushmeat in Congo Basin: a hunger of mind

• Bushmeat hunger is a seasonal thus temporary phenomenon, unpredictable and fluctuating in intensity

• Specific names in indigenous languages for bushmeathunger

• Seasonal hunger induced by temporary scarcity of bushmeat, a food of paramount importance

• Although diet meets all the nutritional needs, bushmeatcravers loose weight and experience mental illness

• Mental illness causes physiological and sociocultural disorders

• Poorly documented and overlooked consequences on local health and well-being

Bushmeat hunger

• Bushmeat cravers feelings: weakness - dizziness -moroseness - anxiety - insomnia

• Other disruptive disorders affect relations to the others: irascibility - verbal and physical aggressiveness - conjugal violence

• Heavier rely on usual addictions [ alcohol – tobacco– cannabis… ] as a means of escapism

• More frequent domestic and work accidents caused by apathy – discouragement for work – lack of concentration

• Reduced lactation and less careful child caregiving

Bushmeat hunger

• Excessive cries from children is interpreted as ‘bad noise’ that impairs the luck in finding natural foods

• The psychological effects of unsatisfied bushmeat craving deteriorate the immune system that conditions the morbidity of childhood diseases (parasitic load, yaws, malaria, anemia, measles)

• Reinforced virulence of pathogens andlesser rigor in child caretaking are blended factors of explosive childmortality

Mental illness

• Stress is the prominent symptom of concern in studies that explore the link between mental illness and food insecurity

• The United Nations General Assembly recognizes the need to target mental health in development, reinforcing previous international commitments toward mainstreaming disability issues in the development of low- and middle-income countries

• A lot is yet to be done regarding mental health among Indigenous Peoples

‘Hunger of mind’ is a driver of food insecurity

• Considering social preference and acceptability vis-a`-vis food is essential to include the various cultural values that are attributed to food

• Most studies on food insecurity focus on proxy indicators of food insufficiency and physiological hunger

• Neglect situations that occur when access to culturally appropriate foods is not secured

Hunger of mind: overlooked in food insecurity

Overfeeding cures among the Masa and Muzey of Northern Cameroon

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• During seasonal food shortage, young adults volunteer to eat 12,000 Kcal/per day

• They gain 20kg in two months while other members of the society are starving

• They individually endorse the stress of the community during their painful cure

• Cathartic effect on collectively overcoming famine, hence reducing mortality

Cultural choices and ecological success: a complex link

Take home messages

• Dietary inclinations may be overruled by psychocultural factors and local perceptions

• Hedonistic relations to food can prevail over ecological success and nutritional fitness

• Scarcity of culturally valued foods may cause greater grief than a nutritionally imbalanced diet

• Super cultural foods are not just source of nutrients: embedded with more profound and less tangible values that are rarely counted for in food security policies

The way forward: a global hub on IFS

Greater attention towards Indigenous Food Systems and their holistic approach to food generation and resource management

• Learn more from Indigenous Food Systems

• Preserve Indigenous Food Systems

• Promote Indigenous Food Systems

• A global hub on Indigenous Food Systems

• Soon release of a book on Indigenous Food Systems

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION!