Food Behavior in Emergency Time: Wild Plant Use for Human Nutrition during the Conflict in Syria

Renata Sõukand,Zbynek Polesny,Naji Sulaiman,Andrea Pieroni

doi:10.3390/foods11020177

Renata Sõukand, Zbynek Polesny + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020177

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Abstract

Wild food plants (WFPs) have been an important source of human nutrition since ancient times, and it particularly revives when conventional food is not available due to emergency situations, such as natural disasters and conflicts. The war in Syria has entered 10 years since it started in 2011, and it has caused the largest war-related crises since World War II. Nearly 60% of the Syrian population (12.4 million people) are food-insecure. WFPs are already culturally important in the region, and may be supplementing local diets during this conflict. Our study aimed to uncover the conflict’s effect on the use of WFPs and to know what species are consumed by local people during the current crisis. The fieldwork was carried out between March 2020 and March 2021 in the Tartus governorate located in the coastal region of Syria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 participants (26 women and 24 men) distributed in 26 villages along the study area. We recorded the vernacular names, uses, plant parts used, modes of preparation and consumption, change in WFP use before and during the conflict, and informants’ perceptions towards WFPs. We documented 75 wild food plant species used for food and drink. Almost two-thirds (64%) of informants reported an increase in their reliance on wild plants as a food source during the conflict. The species of Origanum syriacum, Rhus coriaria, Eryngium creticum, and Cichorium intybus were among the most quoted species by informants. Sleeq (steamed leafy vegetables), Zaatar (breakfast/dinner food), and Louf (soup) were the most popular wild plant-based dishes.

Highlights

IntroductionFood is located at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, where any threat to these basic needs could impact human behavior and bring emergency reactions [1]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralFood is located at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, where any threat to these basic needs could impact human behavior and bring emergency reactions [1].Despite the importance of food, hunger remains a main part of human history, as well as the present
The conflict affected accessibility and Wild food plants (WFPs) species selection; informants reported that during the conflict, they started to consume wild plant species that grew in anthropic sites and their surrounding orchards, such as Eryngium creticum and Malva sylvestris

Summary

Introduction

Food is located at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, where any threat to these basic needs could impact human behavior and bring emergency reactions [1]. Despite the importance of food, hunger remains a main part of human history, as well as the present. According to FAO [2] estimations, the number of hungry people will exceed 840 million by 2030. Two billion people (25.9% of the global population) experienced hunger or did not have regular access to nutritious and sufficient food in 2019. Much of the recent increase in food insecurity can be attributed to the greater number of conflicts and climate change impacts [2]. Sufficient and diverse food sources are scarce, while hunger and nutritional deficiency-related diseases are widespread [3]

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