A dimension within Tribal Food & Forest Rights
This theme explores the health and nutritional aspects of traditional forest foods and wild edibles like mahua.
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AI-synthesised pieces woven from many community voices on this theme. They may contain errors or interpretation — they're a reflection of the stories, not a record of fact.
We used to eat Mahua before, all kinds of Mahua, Rama Mahua. Because we ate all that, our body used to stay well. If you eat that, you too will stay well again.
— Laxmi Bagh · Sundargarh, Odisha
We used to boil mahua and eat its cooked flowers, and our health remained good. Even now, if we could prepare and eat it, we would be healthy.
— Gitanjali Bhoi
We have found Mahua. In ancient times, people used to boil and eat Lukra Mahua, and they used to get vitamins. In this era, if Mahua is eaten, the body remains healthy.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
In the past, people used to boil and eat mahua from the village, which contained vitamins. Even now, if mahua is boiled and eaten, it will still be beneficial.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha
In ancient times, people used to boil and eat Mahua, but it is not seen much nowadays. If people still boil and eat it, their bodies will remain healthy.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
Before, we used to eat saag roti, kurthi dal, urad dal, and mahua saag. Sometimes we would find amla and bael from the forest, and that's how we used to sustain our lives.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Mahua was available in our area. We used to say that eating boiled mahua keeps the body healthy. Even now, if consumed after boiling, the body remains good.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
We are the people of earlier times who used to eat mahua from the forest, eat chakad shak, eat millet bread, eat corn bread. Now people eat good food, and because they eat good food, they catch so many diseases.
— Sunita Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Earlier, we used to eat gethi kanda, nekuwa kanda, sarai mahua lata, and all the mahua lata.
— Sunita Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We used to gather forest products like mahua, cook them, make cakes, and eat them in the forest. Even now, we will learn from our ancestors.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha
Earlier, we used to eat mahua from the sarai in the jungle and sustain our lives. No fertilizer was used at all. Our bodies also remained healthy. Everyone used to be strong and robust, and lived for a long time.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
When we used to prepare and eat food with Mahula, we stayed healthy. We should still eat it now.
— Laxmi Bagh · Sundargarh, Odisha
Yes, I remember we have been frying and eating mahua, the forest food.
— Priti majhi
In the past, we used to eat mahua, and also made four laddus by frying mahua. We would also cook rice with gulgi and eat it. Now, if Anganwadi...
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
In ancient times, people used to boil and eat Mahua. Mahua has many vitamins and is nutritious food. It would be good if it was given in schools.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha
We were eating Mahul, greens, and temple-prepared food, and our health was good. Now, eating this will be good.
— Laxmi Bagh · Sundargarh, Odisha
I remember we have been frying and eating Mahula, the food of the forest.
— Priti majhi
We get our nutritious diet from the forest, such as Mahua fruit Doli oil in the form of fat, Kodo, Bhaddi, Kulthia, Mahua flowers, Jamun, Mahua kheer, Bhaji, etc.
— Surajsingh Parmar · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
Our fathers and grandfathers were healthy and strong by eating plenty of nutritious food from the forest, such as Mahua, Tol, Bhadbhadiya Saag, Mamer Saag, Leper Saag, and Karadi.
— Paradeshi Mirdha · Sambalpur, Odisha
People will now bring and eat mahua char kendu found in the forests that they had lost in the past, preparing it as food.
— Priti Majhi
Mahua has vitamins. People used to eat it boiled before, and it would be good to eat it boiled now.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
Mahua is a forest product. In the olden days, people used to boil and eat it. Even now, if boiled and eaten, it would be good, or if made into laddus and sold, it would sell.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
In ancient times, in previous eras, people collected nutritious foods like ragi, millet, etc., from the forest, ate them to stay healthy and strong, and lived for a long time. If farmers or tribal community people cultivate those essential crops of those ancient times again, it will guide them towards the development of their life's values in the future.
— Dillip pujari · Phiringia, Kandhamal, Odisha
Mahua is available in Amara. Previously, mahua cakes were cooked and eaten. It would be good to cook and eat them now too. Your body will remain healthy.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
Our fathers and grandfathers were healthy and strong by consuming plenty of nutritious food from the forest, such as Mahua, Tola, Bhadabhadia greens, Mamer greens, Leper greens, and bamboo shoots.
— Paradeshi Mirdha · Sambalpur, Odisha
Mahul is a forest product that people used to boil and eat in ancient times. It would still be good to boil and eat it, or it could also be sold by making it into packets or laddus.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
People will now bring mahul char kendu found in the forests that they had lost in the past, prepare it as food, and eat it.
— Priti Majhi
We indigenous people used to eat roots and tubers from the forests and sustained ourselves with them. These also served as medicine, keeping our bodies healthy. Even today, we should use roots and tubers.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
Our people still want to eat the old food and forest products that were cooked, whether by forest dwellers or Mughals.
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Sundargarh, Odisha
In our region, 'Gati Kandha' is available/common. People of the past used to eat all such things, and because of that, their bodies remained healthy. Nowadays, people are consuming foods that contain fertilizers (or are chemically treated), which is causing many types of diseases to arise.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
In ancient times, people used to eat mahua, and it was very good. Now, if mahua is boiled and eaten again, it would be good again. How many boxes were there?
— Gitanjali Bhoi · Karamdihi, Sundargarh, Odisha
We all fill our stomachs by eating Mahua saag roti, which is our favorite food. Mahua is obtained from trees in the forests, and we also eat roti with bathua saag, which is our favorite food item and is very nutritious.
— Ram Kumari
Eating Mahua flowers kept health good.
— Anjana Khadia · Subdega, Sundargarh, Odisha
Mahua flowers and other foods obtained from the forest are very nutritious. Therefore, it is appropriate to include these foods in PDS or mid-day meals.
— Anjana Khadia · Sundargarh, Odisha
Eating Mahua fruit is our medicine.
— Devisingh Solanki · Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
Mahua has many vitamins. We eat mahua by boiling it or by making cakes from it.
— Gitanjali Bhoi
In our area, in very old times, there were Sama, Kodo, Meijri (types of millets) for eating. Diseases were not caused by this. Today, whatever is being eaten as hybrid, all this is on the verge of causing diseases.
— ANIL KUMAR · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
We used to eat sitha saga since ancient times. Even now we wish to eat sitha saga, and we will. The forest is being destroyed now.
— swornalata nayak · Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Odisha
In our ST community, everything has changed for the people of this district. Before, we used to bring tamarind, mahua, and all kinds of forest products to eat and drink.
— Puspanjali Nag
Chickpea and mustard chutney and corn bread are our favorite foods, which are prepared without fertilizer. Mahua bread is also eaten in our homes; mahua is the flower of a tree found in the forest. We eat it with great love, and it is also nutritious. This keeps our body healthy.
— Ram Kumari · Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh
