Diet and Tradition in an African Culture

Professor Michael Gelfand has written another book. To anyone concerned with medicine in Africa, such an event is always welcome. Professor Gelfand's long and intimate experience with the Shona peoples of Rhodesia, and his insatiable quest for accurate and detailed understanding of the entire cultural milieu surrounding his patients, qualify him as one of the few genuine authorities on traditional African medicine. In the present study, Dr. Gelfand focuses upon food—"in its broadest sense." He describes the foods which are available in Mashonaland; how they are produced and prepared; and the various traditions and taboos determining how they can be eaten. His "broad" definition includes such topics as the role of cattle in marriage contracts, and as symbols of wealth; the Shona concepts of land and property rights, and of inheritance; and the organization of village and domestic life—all of which bear upon the ultimate dietary patterns of the Shona