Page Ten
Jonathan Weisgal)
January 21, 1982
advisor pertained specifically to the production of copra meat
from coconuts.
In her discussion of the role of coconuts in the Marshallese
diet, Pollock is correct in stating that “The coconut cannot be
classified as a staple food but as a most important additive to
the diet (page 181)." She goes on to mention that an average of
One coconut per person is consumed daily in the form of a beverage,
and is here referring to the green coconut (page 181). Pollock then
describes the Marshallese method of using shredded (or grated)
coconut meat as an additive for other dishes--usually mixed in with
rice to make a porridge or merely to sweeten the rice. She states
that an average of between "3 and 15 nuts per meal are grated" for
each household (page 182). According to my consus figures for Utirik,
a household contains an average of ten persons. Also, it should be
noted that this rice dish with grated coconut is consumed with at
least two meals per day per person. If we take the average number
of coconuts used for each meal--between 3 and 15 coconuts--we arrive
at nine coconuts. Nine coconuts are therefore consumed by ten persons
at least twice a day, which yields 1.8 coconuts per person per day
(9 coconuts x 10 persons equals 0.9 coconuts, which when multiplied
by 2 meals per person per day equals 1.8 coconuts).
Another food from the coconut is the “iu," or the embryo of a
mature nut which has sprouted small leaves and has a tap root. These
coconut seedlings will become new coconut trees if left alone, and
are keenly sought out by Marshallese--especially children--as an
ideal and tasty food. It was my experience that while in the coconut
groves preparing copra, people would send their children out to round
up many of these “fu" coconuts to eat while cutting copra.
sweet porridge is made from the “tu."
Also, a
The sap, or "jokaro," from the coconut tree is a highly prized
beverage in the Marshallese diet. This is the fresh sap of the
coconut collected by placing a bottle under the freshly cut end of
the coconut spathe (Pollock, page 324). Several bottles (usually
emptied 16-ounce soy sauce bottles) are collected at both dawn and
dusk per household, and the “jokaro" is considered a nutritious
beverage and is consumed by all members of the household.
"Jekamai" {s a household syrup made from boiled “jokaro."
This
sweet syrup is used as a sweetener for beverages such as tea and
coffee, and is loved by the Marshallese.
—
A Marshallese candy, called “amotoum," is prepared by grating
many coconuts into the boiled sap ("jokamai") and then boiling this
mixture over a fire for a period of time. The result is a molasseslike concoction which is then rolled into small balls and eaten as
candy.
These are some of the ways in which coconuts enter the Marshallese
foodchain, and it is an error to think that Marshallese merely consume
coconuts--as we do when we purchase them from the store--by eating
them directly from the husk. In the following paragraph, | will
itemize my estimates of coconut consumption in the Marshallese diet,
and it should be readily understood that such variables as the ratio
of imported versus local foods, relative quantities consumed per
individual, frequency of field ship service with food shipments, etc.,
should be kept in mind.
The following estimates of coconut intake
(
cont'd.
)
il, a.
/