1. Student Learning Outcomes
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Awesome.2Cents! A Healthy Lifestyle Curriculum for Teens…
Lesson 9, Vegetarianism
Tribal Diet B, Kalahari Bushmen
Student Learning Outcomes
Identify and use of traditional and contemporary foods native to the Kalahari
Bushmen.
Develop ways to modify a recipe / meal to include traditional ingredients.
Appreciate and recognize safe preparation techniques and cooking methods.
Gain an understanding of the development of Kalahari Bushmen food
production and processing techniques from a historical, contemporary and
futures perspective.
Perspectives
Commercial - changes in food preparation techniques to meet the demands of
an increasing market. Large scale food production opportunities.
Community - effects of marketing locally produced foods on communities,
nutritional value of Kalahari Bushmen foods.
Cultural - effects of migration and increased cultural awareness and acceptance
on the Kalahari Bushmen cuisine and lifestyle.
Domestic -effects of indigenous Kalahari Bushmen foods in the diet.
Economic - comparative costs of local and imported food products.
Environmental - impact of land degradation, disposal of wastes.
Future - possible and probable future trends.
Gender - investigating the role of women and men in traditional communities.
Global -exploring export markets for Kalahari Bushmen food products.
Historical - developments in food production, processing and preparation
technologies.
Indigenous- recognizing Kalahari Bushmen foods and indigenous food
technologies.
Industrial - changes in industrial food technologies.
Legal and Political - regulations for the food industry.
Copyright 2012 Pennington Biomedical Research Center

2. Student Learning Outcomes
Focus Questions
What is 'Kalahari Bushmen food'?
What do Babiana, Homeria and Moreae have in common?
How have indigenous Kalahari Bushmen passed on their knowledge about the
nutrition, preparation and use of these foods?
What factors led to the loss of many traditional plant names and uses?
How has the transfer of knowledge about Kalahari Bushmen foods changed,
and is it likely to change again in the future?
What influenced the types of food eaten by different groups?
Are there any nutritional benefits of using Kalahari Bushmen foods? Explain.
What aspects of Kalahari Bushmen life would be different if the Kalahari
Bushmen had more water available to them? Give some examples.
Do you think people are aware of what Kalahari Bushmen eat?
What do you think the Kalahari Bushmen diet will consist of in 2103?
What are the nutritional benefits of nuts? Why do you think they are not
consumed more in the US?
Copyright 2012 Pennington Biomedical Research Center

3. Student Learning Outcomes
True / False Questions
1) Kalahari Bushmen cuisine includes a variety of root vegetables.
True
Answer:
Root vegetables can survive in the dessert better than those that grow on the
ground.
2) Mongongo nut is an important food for Kalahari Bushmen.
True
Answer:
The Mongongo nut comes from a fruit of the Mongongo tree. The fruit is eaten
fresh, dried, or cooked into a sauce similar to applesauce. The creamy yellow
nut meat is oily and nutritious; it is very good eaten raw, and even more
delicious when it is roasted. The nutritional content is outstanding. The kernel is
57% by weight fat. Of this, about 43% are polyunsaturated fats (almost entirely
linoleic acid), about 17% saturated fats (palmitic and stearic), and about 18%
monounsaturated (oleic). Add the sugars in the fleshy part, and, by one
estimate, an adult man would meet 71% of his daily energy requirement by
eating 100 fruits (kernels and flesh).
3) Chrysomelidae is a type of bread.
False
Answer:
Kalahari Bushman mostly use the contents of the pupae of certain beetles of the
family Chrysomelidae as a poison on the arrows when hunting animals.
Teachers can select from these student activities.
Activities
1 ) Discuss the nutritional benefits of tsama melon Investigate how they were
used. What vegetable group do they belong to?
Answer:
Tsama melon is an important food and a valuable source of water for the
Bushmen.
2) The Kalahari diet has variety?
Answer:
The Kalahari Bushmen are hunter gatherers, adapting to their semi-arid
environment by gathering roots, berries, fruits, and nuts that they gather from
the desert, and from the meat provided by the hunters. Both women and men
possess a remarkable knowledge of the many edible foods available, and of the
Copyright 2012 Pennington Biomedical Research Center

4. Student Learning Outcomes
medicinal and toxic properties of different species. The diet consists mainly of
edible plants. Although the Kalahari is a dry region it contains a great variety of
highly nutritious food plants. The San tribe eats up to 100 different plant types.
3) The Kalahari Bushmen provide all the meat for the tribe while the women
provide the tubers.
Answer:
Kalahari Bushmen men are responsible for providing the meat, although
women might occasionally kill small mammals. The men are expert hunters of
duiker and steenbok, a wildebeest or even one of the smaller burrowing animals
like a springhare, porcupine or even birds. Kalahari Bushmen women provide
the majority of the food, spending two to three days a week foraging varying
distances from the camp, and are also responsible for child care, gathering wood
for fires, carrying water, and cooking. The San tribes eat plants that grow above
the ground and also underground bulbs and tubers. The San women use special
sticks to unearth the bulbs and tubers.
As women are the main collectors of plant foods, they are in a sense the
breadwinners among the Bushmen.
4) The region in which people lived mainly determined the diet of Kalahari
Bushmen. What types of grains do the Kalahari Bushmen use in their diet? Does
it vary depending where they live?
Consider:
How the food was gathered and prepared.
Who gathered or hunted?
Role of women?
How the knowledge of the environment, food and cooking was passed on.
How the food was named.
Any traditional eating pattern that was specific to that region.
5) Investigate two Internet sites or recipe books to find some Kalahari Bushmen
recipes. Examine the photographs, images, style, language and presentation.
Consider how these websites and books reflect a changing attitude towards
indigenous foods? List the websites.
Copyright 2012 Pennington Biomedical Research Center