Famine food
Encyclopedia
A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily-available foodstuff used to nourish people in times of extreme poverty
or starvation
, as during a war
or famine
. Quite often, the food is thereafter strongly associated with the hardship under which it was eaten, and is therefore socially downplayed or rejected as a food source in times of relative plenty.
The characterization of a foodstuff as "famine" or "poverty" food is social, and some foods, such as lobster
and other crustacea, are considered poverty food in some societies and luxury food in others.
Foods associated with famine need not be nutritionally deficient. A number of famine foods are quite nutritious—thus their use to nourish and ward off hunger. However, such foodstuffs usually offer limited variability, may tend toward the less savoury end of the spectrum, yet are still consumed in large amounts by and for long periods of time because of the nutritional duress. As such, people often remain averse to them long after the immediate need to consume them has subsided. That remains the case even if such foodstuffs might otherwise constitute a healthy part of a more comprehensive diet.
Extreme poverty
Extreme poverty, as defined in 1996 by Joseph Wresinski, the founder of ATD Fourth World, is:"The lack of basic security connotes the absence of one or more factors enabling individuals and families to assume basic responsibilities and to enjoy fundamental rights. The situation may become...
or starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
, as during a war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
or famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
. Quite often, the food is thereafter strongly associated with the hardship under which it was eaten, and is therefore socially downplayed or rejected as a food source in times of relative plenty.
The characterization of a foodstuff as "famine" or "poverty" food is social, and some foods, such as lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
and other crustacea, are considered poverty food in some societies and luxury food in others.
Foods associated with famine need not be nutritionally deficient. A number of famine foods are quite nutritious—thus their use to nourish and ward off hunger. However, such foodstuffs usually offer limited variability, may tend toward the less savoury end of the spectrum, yet are still consumed in large amounts by and for long periods of time because of the nutritional duress. As such, people often remain averse to them long after the immediate need to consume them has subsided. That remains the case even if such foodstuffs might otherwise constitute a healthy part of a more comprehensive diet.
Examples of famine foods
A number of foodstuffs have been strongly associated with famine, war, or times of hardship throughout history:- The breadnutBrosimum alicastrumBrosimum alicastrum, the breadnut or Maya nut, is a Brosimum tree species under the Moraceae family of flowering plants, whose other genera include fig and mulberries The plant is known by a range of names in indigenous Mesoamerican and other languages, including but not limited to: ramon,ojoche,...
or Maya nut was cultivated by the ancient MayaMaya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
ns, but is largely rejected as a poverty food in modern Central America. - RutabagaRutabagaThe rutabaga, swede , turnip or yellow turnip is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip; see Triangle of U...
s were widely used as a food of last resort in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and remain particularly unpopular in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. - In PolynesiaPolynesiaPolynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
, the XanthosomaXanthosomaXanthosoma is a genus of about 50 species of tropical and sub-tropical arums in the flowering plant family, Araceae, all native to tropical America...
plant (known locally as 'ape) was considered a famine food and was used only in the event that the taroTaroTaro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
crop failed. - The fruit of the NoniNoniMorinda citrifolia, commonly known as great morinda, Indian mulberry, nunaakai , dog dumpling , mengkudu , Kumudu , pace , beach mulberry, cheese fruit or noni is a tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae...
, sometimes also called "starvation fruit," has a strong smell and bitter taste which often relegates it to the level of a famine food. - The nara melonAcanthosicyos horridusAcanthosicyos horridus is an unusual melon that occurs only in Namibia; it is locally called !nara.The edible seeds are known locally as butterpips....
of southern AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
is sometimes eaten as a food of last resort. - Several species of edible kelpKelpKelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
, including dulseDulsePalmaria palmata Kuntze, also called dulse, dillisk, dilsk, red dulse, sea lettuce flakes or creathnach, is a red alga previously referred to as Rhodymenia palmata Greville. It grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a well-known snack food...
and Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), were eaten by coastal peasants during the Irish Potato Famine of 1846-1848. - Sego lilyCalochortus nuttalliiThe Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah.-Description:...
bulbs were eaten by the Mormon pioneers when their food crops failed. - TulipTulipThe tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
bulbs and Sugar beetSugar beetSugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
s were eaten in the German occupied parts of the Netherlands during the "hunger winterDutch famine of 1944The Dutch famine of 1944, known as the Hongerwinter in Dutch, was a famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces above the great rivers, during the winter of 1944-1945, near the end of World War II. A German blockade...
" of 1944-45. - Pettuleipä (literally pinewood bread) is a bread made from a combination of rye flour and pettu, which is a combination of dried and milled vascular cambiumVascular cambiumThe vascular cambium is a part of the morphology of plants. It consists of cells that are partly specialized, for the tissues that transport water solutions, but have not reached any of the final forms that occur in their branch of the specialization graph...
and phloemPhloemIn vascular plants, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients , in particular, glucose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed. In trees, the phloem is the innermost layer of the bark, hence the name, derived from the Greek word "bark"...
of the Scots PineScots PinePinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
. The result is dark bread which is nutritious but rock-hard and anything but tasty. Also chaffChaffChaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...
(silkko) and sawdustSawdustSawdust is a by-product of cutting lumber with a saw, composed of fine particles of wood. It can present a hazard in manufacturing industries, especially in terms of its flammability....
is known to have been used on making ersatzErsatzErsatz means 'substituting for, and typically inferior in quality to', e.g. 'chicory is ersatz coffee'. It is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement...
bread in Finland. Pettuleipä constitutes a paragon Finnish example of a famine food. - In MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and on the Atlantic coast of Canada, fish and shellfish were once considered poverty food, and people would bury lobster shells in their yards rather than disposing of them in their rubbish so that neighbors would not learn that they were reduced to eating lobster. - In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared DiamondJared DiamondJared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
posits that disdain for seafood, including fish, ringed sealRinged SealThe ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...
, and whaleWhaleWhale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
, as poverty food contributed to the collapse of the Greenland Norse. - During a number of famines in Russia and the Soviet Union, nettleNettleNettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...
, atriplexAtriplexAtriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
and other types of wild plants were used to make breads or soups. - SpamSpam (food)Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
was widely eaten in the UK during wartime, due to the lack of fresh meat available. Due to the much greater availability of meat, Spam is now used as a sandwich filling and for Spam frittersSpam fritterA spam fritter is a slice of Spam fried in batter. Commonly eaten with chips and mushy peas, spam fritters are served in fish and chip shops in England. They were first introduced during World War II due to fish being unavailable...
, rather than as a replacement for other meat in its own right. - CatCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s were eaten in the northwestern Italian regions of PiedmontPiedmontPiedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, ParmaParmaParma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, and LiguriaLiguriaLiguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
in times of famine, such as during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.