“Let thy be the medicine and thy medicine be thy food” a saying by Hippocrates strikes my mind when I looked into the traditional seeds and tuber festival held at Pillur region, Sethumadai village in the Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu on 13th February 2021. Pillur is rich in biodiversity and is home to Irulas.
There have been changes in the access and usage of forests since colonial times as a result of a variety of policies, influencing tribal communities’ access to traditional foods and farming practices. This change has increased their reliance on non-local food sources to meet their nutritional needs. The introduction of non-local foods and eating habits, as well as a shift in traditional eating practices from their culture of origin, are the most evident manifestations of this transition resulting in the emergence of lifestyle diseases. Over the years this transformation has eroded the knowledge about indigenous sources of food among the tribal population, especially the younger generations who are educated outside the village.
The purpose of this festival was to reinforce the richness of their traditional food practices and the importance of incorporating them into their daily diet. Various seeds, vegetables, tubers, and medicinal plants were displayed at the festival. Around 100 Irula tribes from different villages like Kodiyur, Chithugunai, Neeradi, Kadambankombai, Barlikadu, Maanaru, Nelimarathur, Poochamarathur, Gethaikadu, Sithugunai, Kilsengalur, Melpillur, Kilpillur, Thoondai, and Siruganaru participated in the festival along with staff from the Keystone Foundation.
The inaugural event was initiated by inviting each village head to light the dhupa. Police officials, CID officers, Forest officers, Thasildhar, and Panchayat officials were also present at the event and emphasized the importance of traditional food consumption and its benefit. Nannari Tea, a nutritious welcome drink was first served to everyone which was certainly very refreshing and tasty.
Mr. Kannan CID officer addressed the community people by saying that “ Consuming traditional food will boost your immunity which is helping you to protect yourself from various diseases especially in this COVID-19 pandemic.” Mr. Robert Leo Former Deputy Director of Keystone foundation stressed the term “ Local food” instead of traditional food and also added the nutritional benefits of consuming local food, seasonal foods, and wild edibles. Soon after the speech, a series of games were organized for the children to familiarise themselves with traditional vegetables.
The community people gathered and danced to the rhythms of traditional songs and ended the day by having the traditional food served with local varieties of boiled tubers, traditional crops like Ragi, Samai, Thenai, and locally available greens. The food that we ate was sourced from the forest and the agricultural land. The Food items included Samai payasam, Red rice, Ragi balls, boiled tubers of and Chakkaravalli kilangu, and freshwater fish fry and curry.
By Surya Srinivasan & Rajath K
