The traditional food system of Kuloor watershed of Kumaon Himalaya, India

Abstract

The surrounding environment and biological diversity is an important aspect in the development of human civilization. The system of traditional knowledge has been developed in the society, and moved for further improvement in the society. The Central Himalayan region is rich in biological wealth and it may become an important resource for improvement of socio-economic status of the Himalayan people. The present study was designed to document the food recipes for sustainable livelihood in the Himalayan regions especially in the Kuloor watershed of Kumaon Himalaya. The Kuloor watershed is situated at Pithoragarh and Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand, India. It differs from plains in topography, elevation, geographic features, diversity of habitats for flora and fauna, ethnic diversity, land use system and socio-economic conditions. The low productivity of cereals, oilseeds and pulses is a major hindrance to the food security in the region. To meet the requirements of food for subsistence, local communities have identified a large number of plant species from the natural Forest stand. Local people are very skillful in identifying these wild plants, their palatability and preparation of recipes from them. Diversification of food recipes is a major specialty of this region. There are many recipes used as substitute of items which are meagerly produced in this Kuloor watershed area. The kuloor watershed area represents habitat and food habit with prevalent traditional local food system. The overall watershed is divided into three elevational zones viz. upper (2000 to 2361 m asl), middle (1000 to 2000 m asl) and lower (700 to 1000 m asl) zone. Each elevational zone comprises 5 villages for study. Sample households were randomly selected from 15 villages of the watershed. Information was collected from a house head (patron) about his diet on the basis of breakfast, lunch and dinner. After that, their food value was compared to national and international diet chart. Key words: Kuloor, Traditional food, watershed, diet.