Language of Administration as a Border: Wild Food Plants Used by Setos and Russians in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, NW Russia.

Olga Belichenko,Raivo Kalle,Denis Melnikov,Renata Sõukand,Valeria Kolosova

doi:10.3390/foods10020367

Abstract

Socio-economic changes impact local ethnobotanical knowledge as much as the ecological ones. During an ethnobotanical field study in 2018–2019, we interviewed 25 Setos and 38 Russians in the Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast to document changes in wild plant use within the last 70 years according to the current and remembered practices. Of the 71 botanical taxa reported, the most popular were Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Vaccinium oxycoccos, Vaccinium myrtillus, Betula spp., and Rumex acetosa. The obtained data was compared with that of 37 Setos and 35 Estonians interviewed at the same time on the other side of the border. Our data revealed a substantial level of homogeneity within the plants used by three or more people with 30 of 56 plants overlapping across all four groups. However, Seto groups are ethnobotanically closer to the dominant ethnic groups immediately surrounding them than they are to Setos across the border. Further study of minor ethnic groups in a post-Soviet context is needed, paying attention to knowledge transmission patterns.

Highlights

While the influence of environmental factors, such as ecosystem changes, on the patterns of wild food plant use are widely acknowledged, the economic and sociocultural factors are less studied yet important for the valorization, maintenance, or abandonment of wild foods [1]
The aims of this article are to (1) document current and past practices related to the use of wild food plants in the region, (2) conduct a cross-cultural comparison between Setos and Russians and a cross-border comparison with Setos living on the Estonian side, and
We interviewed two people who considered themselves Estonian, whom we included in the Seto group, as this ethnonym is still sometimes used by older generations in accordance with the obligatory

Summary

Introduction

While the influence of environmental factors, such as ecosystem changes, on the patterns of wild food plant use are widely acknowledged, the economic and sociocultural factors are less studied yet important for the valorization, maintenance, or abandonment of wild foods [1]. As stated in a recent review [2], modernization, education, and the market are the main drivers triggering changes in LEK. A shift to a market economy is perceived differently by poor and more economically stable societies. For the former, wild food plants become an important economic resource [3,4], while for the latter, a trigger for recreational practices and delicacies [5,6]. A study by Quave and Pieroni [9] shows, that wild food repertoires in neighboring cultures may converge in the context of food shortages caused by war

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Conclusion