Food Availability and Selection
=FOOD AVAILABILITY AND SELECTION=
1) Discuss the traditional diet of the Aboriginal people.
Before the settlement of Australia by the white Europeans, Aboriginal people used a hunter-gatherer system to provide their communities with food, foraging for uncultivated plants and hunting wild animals. This traditional diet was high in carbohydrates, protein and nutrients, and low in fat and sugars. Since Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers, their everyday diet changed, according to the type of plants and animals available in their particular location, and the season in which they hunted them. They had a vast knowledge of plants, animals, the land and the effects of the weather and time of year. Popular energy-rich foods included animal meat and offal, honey, and insects like witchetty grubs. Women usually gathered food for everyday eating such as plants, reptiles and honey, while men hunted for land and marine animals. Most foods were eaten raw, but some were roasted or baked. The indigenous hunter-gatherer way of life also meant plenty of physical activity, so they were predominantly fit, healthy and of few diseases. (1)
Bush fruits and other traditional plant foods that the Aboriginals ate are much healthier and more nutritious compared to the cultivated versions we eat today. The bush plants are high in fibre, and in vitamin and mineral content. The seeds contain essential protein and fat.
Overall, the traditional diet of Aboriginals was a very balanced, nutritious and healthy one. (2)
2) What types of foods did the first settlers eat?
When the European settlers first came to Australia, they were confronted with a land that was vastly different from their own. Also, few of the Australian animals weren’t at all like the ones in their home countries. There were some familiar animals; wild swans, ducks, geese and pigeons that were similar to their European cousins, as well as fish and eels that were not unlike the European varieties, although other
1) Discuss the traditional diet of the Aboriginal people.
Before the settlement of Australia by the white Europeans, Aboriginal people used a hunter-gatherer system to provide their communities with food, foraging for uncultivated plants and hunting wild animals. This traditional diet was high in carbohydrates, protein and nutrients, and low in fat and sugars. Since Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers, their everyday diet changed, according to the type of plants and animals available in their particular location, and the season in which they hunted them. They had a vast knowledge of plants, animals, the land and the effects of the weather and time of year. Popular energy-rich foods included animal meat and offal, honey, and insects like witchetty grubs. Women usually gathered food for everyday eating such as plants, reptiles and honey, while men hunted for land and marine animals. Most foods were eaten raw, but some were roasted or baked. The indigenous hunter-gatherer way of life also meant plenty of physical activity, so they were predominantly fit, healthy and of few diseases. (1)
Bush fruits and other traditional plant foods that the Aboriginals ate are much healthier and more nutritious compared to the cultivated versions we eat today. The bush plants are high in fibre, and in vitamin and mineral content. The seeds contain essential protein and fat.
Overall, the traditional diet of Aboriginals was a very balanced, nutritious and healthy one. (2)
2) What types of foods did the first settlers eat?
When the European settlers first came to Australia, they were confronted with a land that was vastly different from their own. Also, few of the Australian animals weren’t at all like the ones in their home countries. There were some familiar animals; wild swans, ducks, geese and pigeons that were similar to their European cousins, as well as fish and eels that were not unlike the European varieties, although other