ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
PUBLISHED
SINCE 1997
 
TRAMES cover
TRAMES. A Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences
ISSN 1736-7514 (Electronic)
ISSN 1406-0922 (Print)
Impact Factor (2022): 0.2
WE ARE STRONG BECAUSE OF OUR MILLET BREAD: STAPLE FOODS AND THE GROWTH OF ETHNIC IDENTITIES IN UGANDA; pp. 159–172
PDF | doi: 10.3176/tr.2014.2.04

Author
Charles Amone
Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of ethnicity in Uganda with a view to underscoring the role of staple foods in ethnic identity formation and maintenance. By way of qualitative discourse, predicated on both primary and secondary sources, the paper observes that Uganda’s ethnic identities emerged and are maintained by, among others, the staple foods and delicacies of the respective people in question. Although food choices are largely determined by culture, the availability of various foodstuffs is a function of diverse edaphic, topographic, vegetative and humidity conditions across the country. Millet, cook­ing bananas, cassava and sweet potatoes are the major traditional foodstuffs, and members of different Uganda’s ethnic identities are known by the traditional foods and delicacies they consume and how they consume them.

References

Atkinson, R. Ronald (1989) “The evolution of ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: the pre-colonial phase”. Ethnohistory 36, 1, 19–43.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/482739

Bisogni, A. Carole, Margaret Connors, Carol M. Devine, and Jeffery Sobal (2002) Who we are and how we eat: a qualitative study of identities in food choice. Ithaca, New York: Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University.

Brook, E. Harmon, Christine E. Blake, Cheryl A. Armstead, and James R. Hébert (2013) “Inter­section of identities: food, role, and the African-American pastor”. Appetite 67, 44–52.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.03.007

Caplan, Pat (1997) Food, health and identity. London and New York: Routledge.

Back to Issue