ABSTRACT
There are multiple food cultures in Northeast India, yet creepy-crawlies and ‘smelly’ food amongst others are wrongly depicted as defining cuisines of the region. There is a great divergence in methods of food production, distribution and consumption in the region amongst populations based on ethnicity and spatial lines. For majority of the people, rice is the staple food and there are several culture-specific beliefs and practices connected to it. Some distinctive features of food and eating of the region include a strong emphasis on wild and forest produce, ritualised food, concepts of purity–pollution and how it plays itself out along caste-tribe continuums, and the elaborate feasts of merit. Instances of food insecurity due to famines have had a strong impact on social change, as well as government policies on agriculture and subsidised food. Societal changes have also impacted methods of food production and consumption across the region.
