Gathered Wild Food Plants among Diverse Religious Groups in Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan.

Muhammad Majeed,Arshad Mahmood Khan,Muhammad Abdul Aziz,Renata Sõukand,Muhammad Shoaib Amjad,Andrea Pieroni,Sunbal Khalil Chaudhari,Rainer W Bussmann,Khizar Hayat Bhatti

doi:10.3390/foods10030594

Abstract

Recent ethnobotanical studies have raised the hypothesis that religious affiliation can, in certain circumstances, influence the evolution of the use of wild food plants, given that it shapes kinship relations and vertical transmission of traditional/local environmental knowledge. The local population living in Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan comprises very diverse religious and linguistic groups. A field study about the uses of wild food plants was conducted in the district. This field survey included 120 semi-structured interviews in 27 villages, focusing on six religious groups (Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis). We documented a total of 77 wild food plants and one mushroom species which were used by the local population mainly as cooked vegetables and raw snacks. The cross-religious comparison among six groups showed a high homogeneity of use among two Muslim groups (Shias and Sunnis), while the other four religious groups showed less extensive, yet diverse uses, staying within the variety of taxa used by Islamic groups. No specific plant cultural markers (i.e., plants gathered only by one community) could be identified, although there were a limited number of group-specific uses of the shared plants. Moreover, the field study showed erosion of the knowledge among the non-Muslim groups, which were more engaged in urban occupations and possibly underwent stronger cultural adaption to a modern lifestyle. The recorded traditional knowledge could be used to guide future development programs aimed at fostering food security and the valorization of the local bio-cultural heritage.

Highlights

Wild food plants have remained an important ingredient of traditional food basket systems especially in remote communities around the globe [1]
In order to further evaluate this trajectory, the current study focused on six religious groups (Sunni and Shia Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis— named Qadiani in official Pakistani documents, despite this term is considered sometime derogatory by the community), speaking eleven different languages (Urdu, Punjabi, Phtohari, Gojri, Pahari, Hindko, Saraiki, Sindhi, Pashto, Kashmiri, and Hindi) in Jhelum District, Punjab, NE Pakistan
We explored the impact of religious and linguistic affiliation on the gathering, utilization and consumption of wild food plants in 27 villages in Jhelum district, Punjab, Pakistan, hypothesizing that there could be some differences between different faiths

Summary

Introduction

Wild food plants have remained an important ingredient of traditional food basket systems especially in remote communities around the globe [1]. Due to dramatic socio-cultural shifts local communities are facing and global climate change, dependence on wild food plants has drastically decreased in many areas. Food industrialization and globalization have severely impacted traditional food systems, especially in rural communities [2]. Traditional/local environmental knowledge (TEK) linked to wild food plants is becoming more and more endangered, and in some places of the world, it has already disappeared [3]. Scientists have recorded several complex TEK systems associated to wild food plants, especially in marginalized areas. Very few ethnobotanical field studies have focused on the cross-cultural and cross-regional comparison of TEK associated to wild food plants, despite the fact that cultural diversity shapes TEK [4–9]

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Results