ABSTRACT
Situated in south-eastern Uganda, Padhola is filled with a variety of foodstuffs - grains, rootcrops, plantains, diverse legumes and green vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, fruits, termites, fish, wild and domestic birds and animals. But variety does not always mean abundance. Old people remember the devastating famines of the past, the young are often malnourished, harvests and stores of grain are a constant concern, and government officials struggle to ensure the planting of cassava and sweet potatoes as famine reserves. For the local people, the Adhola, food is finally what keeps a person alive. All other edibles, however delightful, are a tasty embellishment. This distinction is reflected in their language. The word chiemo> translated into English as 'food', is used only for staples, for that which is both filling at a meal and sustaining afterwards. Food is for everyone, when there is enough. When there is not, men take precedence. Relishes of all sorts are called fufa and some of them are prohibited to certain categories of people and thus form a source of distinction and discrimination at all times.
