No Meal without Ugali? Social Significance of Food and Consumption in a Tanzanian Village

Abstract

Employing diet and cuisine as analytical concepts, this article focuses on cultural categories and social meanings of food in Malinzanga village in southern Tanzania. Through analyses of access to foodstuffs, sequence of meals, and methods of preparation, the article shows how key elements in a basic meal structure are used locally to characterize and classify people-both in terms of ethnic group membership and in terms of respectable social status versus "disgraceful" poverty as perceived locally. The population in Malinzanga includes four ethnic groups: two pastoralist groups, Mang'ati and Masai, and two agriculturalist groups, Hehe and Bena. It is argued that patterns of food consumption among the people in Malinzanga cannot be attributed to access to resources and purchasing power alone. Food consumption can also be seen as a means of expression of what Malinzanga villagers think about own identities, status, and social distinctions.

Sub-Saharan African Maize-Based Foods - Processing Practices, Challenges and Opportunities

“…[11,12] Light dishes are habitually served as a breakfast, while thick dishes are served as lunch or as dinner and others are reserved for special ceremonies, rituals or caring for ill or aged people, pregnant women or infants. [8,11] Consumer preference for maize in Africa is changing as many recipes use it in a combination with other grains such as wheat, sorghum, millet, barley and legumes/nuts. However, despite the recent trends, maize remains a major contributor to the daily diet of Africans.…”

“…[7] Sometimes differences in maize food processing and consumption patterns within the same socio-cultural group exist to communicate individual cultural identity and social class. [8] Compositional features of maize and local processing techniques affect the nutritional content and bioavailability of nutrients. For instance, the pericarp and germ of maize are usually sieved out as chaff in the preparation of most traditional foods, leading to loss of a large portion of proteins, lipids, minerals and vitamins that are present in those kernel structures.…”

Food Consumption in Global Perspective

“…3. The thick maize porridge called ugali plays a rather similar role as the one 'real food' in Tanzania (Ohna, Kaarhus andKinabo 2012). 4.…”

Empowering farmers? Collaborative research at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

“…In the local settings where this project was implemented, traditional cultural conceptions do not establish any clear causal link between the nutritional contents of food and individuals' health. Local food culture is more concerned with the social relationships communicated through food and eating than with food as nutrition (Ohna, Kaarhus, and Kinabo 2012). The main objective of this project was to provide people in two selected communities with science-based knowledge on how nutrition affects health through experience-based learning; and in addition provide practical skills in how to prepare locally available food into more nutritious meals, and thus improve well-being through better use of existing resources.…”