Traditional Food Culture Based on Agricultural Lifestyle in Monaragala District

Abstract

Among the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the Uva province can be considered as one of the largest provinces which is rich in a variety of thick forests and exceptional climate. The Uva province is divided into two districts as Badulla and Monaragala. Among the two districts, the Badulla district bears refreshing weather whereas Monaragala district is warmer compared to Badulla. Monaragala district has had warm weather for a considerable period of a year. People who are living here have their style of traditional farming systems and their food facilities have also been greatly influenced by the culture. They have a wonderful system of farming which is based on sharing each other’s work from the very beginning till the end and that also includes preparing food and consuming it. The food system of these people is made up of all the necessities that can bear warm weather as well as the agricultural system. Hence, the main objective of this research is to investigate such rare food preparation systems which are disappearing at present and the tactics that they use to keep food without spoiling for longer periods. This research has been built based on self-observation with the participant research system, having done several significant discussions with those people. Apart from that, articles and journals written by various researchers. I was fortunate to experience all of them practically, having practically involved in their day today activities. According to the observation, the harvest that they get from one season should be enough till the next season and that is the biggest gain that they get from a sustainable farming system. Whatever harvest they get from farming is not an easy task due to the danger of various kinds of animal and natural disasters. For such cases, they have a traditional system of keeping them in a store which has long been their practice. These people know the way to keep things longer and protect way by using different types of agricultural materials mixed with ashes, neem leaves etc. The remaining such as tomatoes, lady fingers, brinjal and chillie and so forth kept well protected store in a systematic way. One of the responsibilities of a village housewife is to use those things in a way that will be able to use for the householder and family, nothing should be wasted away. However, as a result of this research, it is understood that such traditional authentic systems have been challenged by the modern fast-growing cuisine styles. It was a visible narration even in the far away villages that their healthy diet system had been replaced by quick yet unhealthy nutrients. The specific characteristic of Monaragala district people is that they have a culturally based and traditional food system that some of the other areas in Sri Lanka could not be found. Therefore, the main idea of this research is to do a proper investigation together with its necessary primary and secondary sources.