Going Local
Dr Lois Englberger
Adelino Lorens
Using television, radio, the web and printed publications, a project in the Pacific island of Pohnpei restores interest in traditional crops and promotes healthy local food.
The island of Pohnpei, and its associated island groups, make up one of the four Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), located in the western Pacific Ocean. The island is mountainous with heavy year-round rainfall, lush tropical vegetation and an amazing diversity of plants and food crops. There are more than 50 types of banana, 170 yam, 40 giant swamp taro and 130 breadfruit varieties. These starchy fruit and root crops are the traditional staple foods of Pohnpei, and have been eaten with other fruits and seafood for many centuries.
The crops are grown in the traditional agroforestry system, where a variety of different crops grow along with breadfruit and other trees. Intermingling a variety of plants in this way helps produce a more balanced, enriched soil, and protects crops from pests and diseases. Fishing and this type of subsistence farming drive the economy in Pohnpei, and indeed throughout the FSM.
Since the 1970s, however, there has been a great shift in Pohnpei towards a reliance on imported foods – rice in particular – and other processed products. This change in diet, along with lifestyle changes such as decreasing physical activity, has led to serious health problems among the islanders, including diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Approximately 20% of the adult population has diabetes and more than half of the children under five have a vitamin A deficiency, a condition which can lead to increased vulnerability to infection, night blindness, total blindness and even death.
Healthy colour
To improve the health of islanders, concerned health professionals in the region initiated a programme to identify local foods that contain provitamin A carotenoids. These protect against vitamin A deficiency, cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Locally grown crops had protected the population from disease in the past and could potentially help today.
Carotenoid-rich foods are generally characterized by their orange and yellow colours. Foods native to the island include some very unusual orange- and yellow-fleshed bananas, considered indigenous. One example is Karat, the traditional infant food of Pohnpei. Most local fruits and vegetables had never before been analyzed for nutrient content, but in the late 1990s samples of Karat and other foods were sent to laboratories overseas for analysis.
The results were astounding. Researchers discovered that Karat and other banana varieties are rich in beta-carotene, the most important of the provitamin A carotenoids, along with other carotenoids and nutrients. Breadfruit, giant swamp taro varieties and other local foods were also found to be rich in carotenoids, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
In 2004 we set up the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP) to promote these valuable island foods and their many health benefits. As a non-governmental organization, its sole purpose is to encourage the use of indigenous crops, not only to improve health but for food security, to promote local economic growth and protect the environment and the local island culture.
Wide spread
IFCP took a wide ranging, multimedia approach. With the help of several other local and international agencies, further research and community involvement, IFCP used radio and television to spread the message of eating healthy local produce. We used the slogan, ‘Going Yellow’ to encourage islanders to eat more carotenoid-rich food, and ‘Let’s Go Local’ to stress the importance of growing and eating more local foods. Programme staff also developed a website and distributed colourful posters to try to get the information out to as many people as possible.
We wanted to reach all members of the community, but especially the youth, who are still forming their food habits. Through involving the young people in drama clubs and community service activities, we were able to explain the many values of yellow-fleshed bananas and other local foods. We held workshops on small-scale processing of local produce to improve availability of local foods and as a means of income generation.
Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment
Pohnpei was involved in a global health study and promoted the traditional food system of Pohnpei, as part of a programme led by the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, based at McGill University, Canada. This two-year case study in a target village attracted great interest locally, and internationally, and resulted in a greater use of local food.
Over the years, the project has produced brochures, books, recipe collections, car bumper stickers, postcards and promotional pens. We even wrote songs and collaborated with the FSM Philatelic Bureau to print a series of postage stamps, showing Karat and eight other rare carotenoid-rich banana varieties, which proved to be a very cost-effective awareness-raising tool.
IFCP also focuses on conserving rare local crop varieties by developing a gene bank and nursery to provide planting material.
Also, we continue to research and assess more local foods for nutrient content. Project staff have gone on to document the traditional food and agriculture system and record many aspects of diet and health of the people of Pohnpei.
The result of all this work is that Karat and other carotenoid-rich banana varieties are now sold in many local markets, which was not previously the case. Sales are increasing slowly but steadily. Our efforts have certainly met with some gradual success and we hope that, as we continue, we can encourage even more people to ‘Go Local’.
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Dr Lois Englberger is the acting executive director and researcher at the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP) and Adelino Lorens is chairman of IFCP.