Food practice for physical and spiritual well-being of the Zeme, the tribe in Northeast India
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Journal of Ethnic Foods
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Open Access
Food practice for physical and spiritual well-being of the Zeme, the tribe in Northeast India N. Atungbou
Abstract Food is a necessity for physical and spiritual well-being. It is sacred, identity, medicines, arts, religion, politics, social and legal. The different social system is recognised by the type of food that people consumed demarcating self and others. For some, certain foods are delicacies but taboo for others. Nevertheless, taste and smell determine the delicacy of the food. Against this background, the paper examines the traditional concept of food, food practices, and different types of food that the Zeme consumes in brief. The paper explores the delicacies of dry season food such as nkampi chutney, fermentation of bamboo shoots, namely kechui-hia and kechui-nnang, and mustard leaf paste-taste making, njetim, and the local beverages called zou. The paper locates the different local beverages in the context of legal, social, religion and gender implications. The study observed that the Zeme’s food practices have gone through radical changes with the appropriation of the other food practices engrossed into the realm of market enterprises. It is of the view that proper value addition to the food practices can enhance their livelihood opportunities. The paper concluded that it serves as a foundation for the scientific investigation on the Zeme’s food practice in general and fermented food making in particular, and contributions to the food literature. Keywords: Zeme food practice, Physical, Spiritual well-being, Northeast, njetim, nkampitam, kechuihia, kechui-nnang, zou
Introduction Food is a necessity for the survival of every living creature. Humans survived by consuming plants, and animals that supply energy, protein and vitamin. It is a complex whole of sacred, ethics, politics, social, artistic and identity. Symbolically, food demarcates between ‘self’ and ‘other’ solidifying group membership in the social system [1]. Community is recognised and identified by the types of food that they consumed on a daily basis or on special occasions. Every social system determines what constitutes food and what is not, permissible and not permissible, and symbolic bounded by normative standards of the particular social system. Since ancient times, healthy food practices and appropriate diet Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sikkim Manipal University, Gangtok 737102, India
systems by avoiding excess in consumption have been in place [2]. Philosophers of the different era have discussed various aspects of food but the philosophical debate has been neglected, as it is considered too physical and momentary to deserve serious consideration [3]. Conventionally, food has been equated to women’s work and unworthy topic [4], and too basic to be analysed philosophically [5]. However, contemporary philosophers considered the issues of technology, rights, and responsibilities of consumers and producers linking the metap
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