You Are an Anthropologist Returning to Your University After Completing

Essay

You are an anthropologist returning to your university after completing an 18-month long field project in Kotonu, Benin, West Africa. Your focus of study was the "foodways" of the local population. You observed changes that occur when families stop growing their own fruits and vegetables in their traditional, multi-generational garden plot and begin to buy canned and processed foods from the market. For example, in the past, the entire household would share the garden work together. You noticed that the nutritional quality of the native diet has declined since grandmother was a girl. What are some of the possible consequences of your findings on the developmental niche? How might your findings be useful to a policy-making agency such as the World Health Organization or an aid agency such as CARE?