Famine foods are used when staple crops fail, often wild plants or animals. They can be nutritious but are often considered undesirable due to their association with hard times. Traditional knowledge of famine foods is passed down orally, and in some societies, they are taboo in prosperous times. In Ethiopia, famine foods are used as an indicator of famine severity, and efforts to domesticate them have been hampered by social taboos and side effects.
The term famine food commonly refers to a food source that is used primarily when staple food crops have failed, such as in times of drought or other types of crop failure, or in times of war, when there is grave risk. of starvation and malnutrition. . Often a famine food is a wild food resource, that is, a plant or animal that is hunted or gathered rather than farmed or cultivated. Studies have shown that many hunger foods are nutritious, but despite this, they are often considered undesirable, likely due to their strong connection to hard times. Also, some starvation foods don’t taste very good and can cause indigestion or illness when eaten in large quantities. Examples of famine foods include bread made from ground bark in Scandinavia in times of scarcity, wild herbs eaten in Russia in times of war, and seaweed eaten in parts of Ireland in times of famine.
A famine food is often a wild plant that is hardy and able to survive bad weather conditions that destroy agricultural crops. The knowledge of which wild plants can be used in times of famine is usually passed down orally from generation to generation. This traditional knowledge often remains strong in more traditional communities, especially those in the developing world, where the need for alternative sources of food remains great. In more industrialized societies, much of this traditional knowledge has been lost.
In many societies, famine foods are considered a taboo food resource in prosperous times. This social stigma is due in part to the fact that famine foods are considered poverty foods, since they are mostly eaten by poor people or in times of poverty. However, what is considered a hunger or poverty food can change over time. For example, lobster was considered a poverty food in parts of Atlantic Canada and the eastern United States until the late 19th century. After that, it gained popularity and eventually became a high-status food.
In Ethiopia, the local population’s use of anti-famine food is used as an indicator of the severity of an ongoing famine. Food sources of the Ethiopian famine include cactus fruits, various wild leafy vegetables, wild fruit trees, and wild shrubs. Some efforts have been made to domesticate certain plants used as famine food in Ethiopia, because these native plants are more drought tolerant and need fewer pesticides than imported crops. However, strong social taboos and the side effects of consuming certain starvation foods have hampered these efforts.
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