Journal Seven by Alisha

While reading more about food culture in Sierra Leone I found out that there are many people that believe you cannot have a meal without rice. With their main meal they have a selection of meat usually goat, chicken, or beef and sometimes use pork as a added ingredient or flavoring. Some major foods in Sierra Leone are rice, fufu, and cassava. Cassava is a root of a plant that it long and starchy. Fufu is cassava that has been pounded into a green stew. A lot of food in Sierra Leone is very spicy and use local ingredients that can be found around almost any corner. The food customs in Sierra Leone is deeply engraved into their society. An interesting and popular drink I found from Sierra Leone is ginger beer. It is made out of pure ginger, sugar, cloves, and lime juice. Despite the name this drink is non alcoholic even though there is no drinking age. When the rebels came they destroyed most of Sierra Leone and put a huge dent in the economy. There was so much of the food production that came to a large shortage, especially the major foods. After the war there was a group of volunteers that came in and helped dramatically. They helped open up the schools as well as helping with the food source. Today nearly half of the population in Sierra Leone is food insecure and half of the children die from malnutrition. Most of the country's population are surviving on less than $1.90 a day.

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/sierra-leone/food-and-drink Here is a website that tells you about some of the popular dishes in Sierra Leone and what is in each dish.The picture below is more popular plates and you can see how much rice is served with each meal.