Indigenous techniques of food preservation: a rural sociological study based on Coastal Areas in Ampara District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Food is essential for every living organism. Survival without food is impossible. That is why food and preservation are essential for all life on the earth. Food is a part of the culture. The availability of food varies from region to region and season to season. Preservation refers to the prevention or control of food spoilage by pests, animals, and mechanical factors. The use of indigenous knowledge in food preservation and process is found to be thousands of years old today. These are passed down from generation to generation through parents. Indigenous knowledge becomes the property of the poor. Even in rural communities today, this knowledge is disappearing. The study aims to identify indigenous techniques of food preservation among coastal dwellers in the Ampara District of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. This study was carried out among the households from selected coastal villages in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka. This is primarily a qualitative study with limited application of quantitative methods. Both Primary and secondary data were collected to achieve the objective of the study. Finally, the result of the study found that drying in sunlight, putting smoke under fire, mixing ash, using sacks, burial in moist soil, roastering in the woodstove, harvesting by hand and other preservation methods are the main indigenous techniques used by the people to preserve the food in the study areas. However, the study also found that most of these preservative techniques are becoming obsolete today, and that modern methods are being used more in food preservation instead of indigenous methods in the study areas. Thus, this study suggested that all stakeholders operating in the study areas must be involved to take steps in the future to protect the indigenous techniques of food preservation.