Library guides
Subject: Health SciencesEating local and seasonal food
Eating is an essential part of our daily lives but not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to a healthy diet without restrictions. Local and seasonal are two basic elements that must be taken into account for sustainable food consumption. This information has been compiled as part of Right to Food Week, held from 26 November to 2 December.
Traditional kitchens of the world
These food systems should allow everyone access to food, meet everyone’s needs and promote a healthy, diverse and safe diet. It focuses on three main areas: increasing access to healthy diets, empowering consumers to choose healthy diets, and measures to strengthen responsibility, resilience and equality in the food system.
Kitchen by geographic area
A series of resources looking at culinary traditions from various regions around the world. Traditional cuisines are the basis of healthy and sustainable nutrition.
It looks at aspects ranging from epidemiology to the properties of its components. It is aimed at researchers and specialists in nutrition, dietetics, endocrinology and public health. It is divided into general concepts, components of the Mediterranean diet, health and nutritional aspects, and plants used in Mediterranean cooking.
From five continents and diverse origins, it offers an overview of the different types of food organized geographically.
The meals are explained by the guests as they cook the dishes. At the same time, they explain how these meals form an important part of different customs or traditions.
Asia
Their food culture has made an essential contribution to the health of their population. Changes to the population over the years have changed the customs, and also the food habits, which has weakened its population and seen an increase in health problems.
The food system is supported by the women of this region, who provide food and medicine for humans, fodder for livestock and create space for non-cultivable plants. The Dalit diet includes a great variety of vegetable products, whose availability varies seasonally.
Africa
The section highlights cuisines from five continents and diverse origins, giving an overview of the different types of food according to geographical area.
Essential foods are presented alongside ideal preparation methods, as well as the names of the most traditional dishes. They are classified by roots and tubers, cereals and pulses, fruit and vegetable, herbs and spices.
North America
The section includes a video showing how prepare the recipes, highlighting the great variety of dishes from all over of the world and reflecting the diversity of nationalities that make up the USA. There are also other sections, such as one offering conversations with farmers and another on the history of beer brewing.
It is a chapter from the book entitled "Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples", that explains the use of plants, how they are grown, regional differences and conservation. It includes tables classifying different species and pictures to illustrate the plants.
South America
The document focuses on three specific cases: the food system of the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon and their knowledge of nature: the food system of the Guaraní, Weenhayek and Pilagá peoples in the tri-border area of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, and the food system of the Willi Lafken coastal area, comprising over 25,000 islands.
It highlights the situation of this community in this geographical area, the difficulties they face in ensuring proper nutrition and the changes that will occur with the roll-out of the new school food programme.
Europe
Other interesting sections include recipes, ingredients, meals on special days and an in-depth look at the origins of the food culture, tourism related to cuisine and agriculture, and the relationship of Turkish cuisine with others, such as Jewish and Iranian. The Turkish cuisine dictionary is especially useful, with the names in English and Turkish and the category of ingredient selected.
It gives a description of the most important dishes from each country, including their origin, the day it is eaten (if it is a commemorative dish), and the ingredients that go into it. Each dish is named in the original language with an English translation. It also places the country in the relevant European region.
Oceania
The project began in light of the decrease in the quality of life and health of Pacific Islanders, and upon seeing that illnesses due to poor nutrition were on the rise, present in various generations of the same family. Fruit, fresh vegetables, fish and tubers have been replaced with processed foods, drinks with a high sugar content and ready meals, which have sidelined the traditional cuisine.
The report journeys through all the Asian countries, grouped by region, and describes the food situation and different degrees of food security over a specific time period. The second part of the report highlights traditional cuisine as a way to improve the population’s nutrition and, consequently, their health. The third point explains the situation of smallholders who grow their produce naturally and their relationship with markets, the reduction of food waste and food policies in relation to prices.
Librarians responsible for this library guide
Àgueda Mercadal
Operative subgroup: Librarian for Psychology and Education, vocational training Operative group: Library for Learning