The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society has a simple mantra – savour what is naturally good
WHAT DO you get with 250gms of millet flour mixed together with another 100gms of all purpose flour, a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of baking powder, two eggs, enough milk to get a thick batter and finally, a sliced banana dipped in honey. A tasty banana-stuffed millet pancake! To bring out taste from cooking foods is an art and science, practiced by humans for our own wellbeing with the added benefits of pleasure and health.
After all, it is the nutritional component of food that energizes and sustains life. Millet, for example, has qualities of high nutritious value and has long been considered a health food by many. For generations, indigenous peoples have known that millet is good for the blood and this has today been confirmed by scientific data that proofs its high iron content.
Historically, Meghalaya has been home to pockets of millet producing and consuming areas. However, today both urban and rural populations – specifically amongst an older generation – have noted the change in their staple diet and the substitution of millet with rice. Over time, not only has the crop production slowed down, but much of its related knowledge has gone with it. The problem with millet is not only central to Meghalaya, other parts of the world face similar situations. In fact, it has been noted that from the 30,000 known edible species of plants only three comprise the world’s major crops – rice, wheat and corn. This has initiated much discussion world over as many argue that this loss of agricultural diversity (or agrobiodiversity) which includes all plant species, agro-inputs from the pollinator bee to soil nutrients are rapidly decreasing and disappearing.
Celebrating diversity and local cuisines
DESPITE THESE alarming facts, there are growing numbers of people who are re-looking at the world and re-questioning the use of some of these neglected and underutilized foods. From the Americas across to Europe and Africa to Asia and Oceania, these people have come together and recognised the importance of food and agriculture. The very act of producing and consuming is considered a big contributor to a greener environment today.
Perhaps best put into practice by the slow food principles of good, clean and fair. Good, being seasonal and tasty food that is appropriate to our culture; Clean, being produced with no chemicals or harmful effects to the ecosystem and; Fair to the consumer, the producer and the environment. Initiated in 1986, today it is supported by more than 100,000 members in more than 160 countries that are connected through food communities and like-minded individuals.
In Brazil, for example, the Guarani tribe celebrates local foods by working with chefs to make ice cream from wild fruits. In Peru, indigenous peoples are showing off with a jaw dropping number of 25000 different potatoes, supported by the best restaurants in the country. In Africa as many as 1000 school and community gardens are providing nutritious tasty food for school children and enable local economies for farmers. America too is bringing forward a large youth food movement (YFM) that turns their school canteens into learning centers on organic food and tasty local snacks. Connected to thousands of like-minded people, these projects are growing day by day, creating awareness on a local level and linking their voice to a global movement.
North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society
IN MEGHALAYA, these slow food principles have been put into practice since 2012 through The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), a Shillong-based organisation that attempts to bridge the gap between the pleasure of eating and the responsibility we all share from farmer to consumer. Both, pleasure and responsibility are two indivisible entities that go hand in hand, without one the other is lost. NESFAS is a platform that facilitates exchanges between knowledge (both modern and traditional) amongst communities and those that share an interest in its good, clean and fair food. The society is an outcome of the collaboration between the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty (spearheaded by Phrang Roy) and Slow Food International.
Realizing the importance of our farmers and particularly women as the guardians of our local food traditions, NESFAS aims at glamorizing those foods that are today neglected and some even at risk of extinction. Working directly at the grassroots level, NESFAS aims to form food communities that realize the importance of self-determined and diverse food production that nourishes our cultural identity and that is good for our health. Through public events such as the Mei Ram-Ew Festival held annually in Mawphlang and through collaborations with chefs, the network glamorizes indigenous food items and even turns them into innovative delicacies. Millet, for example has been identified as a forgotten crop during the first Mei Ram-Ew festival in 2010. When communities saw the diverse preparation methods and learned of the many health benefits and importance of millet for food security, people of Khatarshnong decided to take action.
Today, nearly 30% of the villages in the area are proactively engaged in reviving millet and some women and youth are advocating its health and taste benefits around their neighbouring villages. However, tradition doesn’t always provide the sole answer as it is in the case with taste. Many have complained that the old fashioned way of simply boiling the millet grain with water does not only taste bland but causes stomach trouble, too. With the help of chefs and modern foodies, however, farmers are starting to get inspired to acquire the taste of millet again and feel proud to share their opinions on a wide platform. Another example is Tyrna village in East Khasi hills that has decided to revive the consumption of wild edibles in their own community. Their common answer to the problem of attracting the youth to forgotten foods is to collectively set up cooking workshops and an indigenous cafè that will serve traditional foods that depend on locally sourced ingredients. They hope to set a new trend by creating awareness for outsiders that can learn about the natural treasures of the area and experience forgotten tastes. The potential of such activities is to empower communities to choose what food they wish to grow according to their knowledge but also to create sustainable livelihood opportunities where consumers and producers support each other directly through healthy food and fair prices.
In a world where global markets and industrialized foods are replacing small scale and traditional producers along with their products, also consumers have the potential to set new trends. This can start by asking and educating ourselves to where does the food come from that we eat and how is it produced? In this way we can learn more about quality and increase our understanding of what a healthier, tastier and more responsible diet means in our region. And as Michael Pollan, a bestselling food author puts it “eating is an agricultural act”, every time we choose one product over another, we vote for the land and the people that produce it.
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