Indigenous Foods – key to fighting modern illnesses

Photograph: AFP/Getty

“Traditional foods consumed by rural communities contain nutrients that are lacking in high- and middle-income countries” this was according to a report published in the Guardian website.

Traditional foods such as roots and tubers, coldwater fish, caribou and seals, millet, wild pigs, birds, bamboo shoots, banana flowers and yams can still be found in South and South East Asia, North America, Canada, and Europe. These foods contain high amounts of essential nutrients and are grown and harvested in a sustainable manner said, Survival International, a UK-based indigenous advocacy organisation.

The report states that the increase in global population, economic growth, and rapid urbanisation have also affected the way Indigenous Peoples eat in recent years. The Yawa, Htin and Khmu – Indigenous Peoples of Laos – traditionally eat wild pigs, birds, bamboo shoots, banana flowers, and yams, but with the Laos government displacing thousands of Indigenous Peoples from the highlands to urban areas, their nutritional status have declined.

The original article can be found here: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/03/indigenous-diets-fight-modern-illnesses