Kalistan

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Minister of Agriculture releases 5689 Food Report
"There is abundance in simplicity" said Report
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
May 20, 5689


Staples of the average Kalistani Citizen's diet

Her Imperial Majesty's Ministry of Agriculture released their annual Food Report this week which catalogs how well the nation feeds its people, and what sorts of foods the Nation will consume.

"Our report talks primarily about central tendencies," said Her Imperial Majesty's Minister for Food and Agriculture Alberto Villariva. "But we do get into outliers, especially on the low end of the distribution.. On average then, Kalistanis receive about 2500 calories a day, but that number is a little higher for men than for women. Most of the distribution (almost a full standard deviation) is centered on the mean, though it is skewed very slightly left of dead center, so just about two thirds of the population eats just about the same amount as everyone else. The data covers all classes and geographical regions, and caloric intake by class as you would imagine tends to skew further left, while caloric intake by Duchy shows that Suldanorans and Anantans tend to skew just right of center, while Odufaray is right on the mean and Vrassan and Nevaran populations are left of center."

Most Kalistanis obtain staples from public sources under the ancient Kalistani Food Bank program. "Centuries ago, the State became the single largest purchaser of agricultural foodstuffs from Kalistani farms," said Minister Villariva. "The program was a farm support program that was designed to encourage small farmers across the nation by ensuring price floors. This development led to the formation of Growers' Syndicates that negotiate prices for their members with the State. It also became the supply point for the National Food banks, where Kalistanis can obtain food at no cost. Those Banks have all manner of commodities from fresh fruits and vegetables, to dried foods, meats, dairy and poultry and grains and cereals. Over time, the staples that were available in the food bank modified the Kalistani diet away from processed and mass produced heavily preserved food. When there is fresh food freely available, adding a bunch of chemicals and preservatives does not make sense."

The typical Kalistani diet consists of mostly dark green leafy vegetables, legumes and potatoes, berries, citrus fruit, apples, cherries and pears, and garden fruits and veggies like tomatoes, squash, pumpkin, melon, green beans and corn which are often grown in back yard plots to supplement the Food Bank provisions. For protein, Kalistanis generally have abandoned beef, as it is not easily or inexpensively produced in Kalistan, and have moved to chicken and fish. Some pork is also consumed, but not in great quantities, as it suffers the same supply problems that beef has. "While Kalistanis often do not eat beef--a beef steak for example is a rarity, but out of preference now rather than cost-- they will eat mutton and lamb on a fairly regular basis, as sheep herding has taken off in the hills of Nevaras and in Green County Ananto for wool production. This means that lamb and mutton has begun appearing in the Food Bank as well as on the plates of Kalistani meat eaters." Other proteins include Tofu, which is preferred by a large number of Kalistanis where meat is required, eggs, avocados, and nuts. "Walnuts are a favorite snack," said the Minister.

Kalistanis do love grains of all kinds, and the largest processing plants in Kalistan are those that make pasta. "Over a year, Kalistanis will consume more than 650 million pounds of Pasta, of different grains, each year," said Minister Villariva. "Pasta is a part of almost every supper, and Kalistanis are particularly inventive about their ragus, their pestos and their alfredos to garnish the omnipresent noodle." Wild and long grain rices are also widely consumed and pilaf is a particularly popular side for the main protein dish. Kalistanis will also consume oatmeal, porridge of various kinds, primarily at breakfast, and quinoa and other types of more exotic grains that are often imported, regularly grace the tables of Kalistani families. Bread is a part of every meal, and the breads are often whole or multigrain, with whole wheat and dark rye being the two most preferred styles, but occasionally oat and even potato bread will make an appearance.

"Kalistanis do buy some processed foods from commercial grocery stores, but mostly these tend to be imported foods shipped to Kalistan, and are often higher in sugar, salt and fat than Kalistanis tend to prefer," said the Minister. "These are most often consumed by the upper classes who wish to show off, and the things they acquire are considered delicacies in Kalistan." Among the most popular and widely purchased items from stores are things like potato chips which Kalistanis consider a go-to snack, sugar cereals, cakes and candies. "Its mostly junk food, but Kalistanis do spend a lot of money on them annually."

The general diet of Kalistani families tends to help Kalistanis live longer with fewer negative health outcomes than some of its peers. "We tend to see a life expectancy of about 2.5 years greater on average than comparable nations in Kalistan," said the Minister. "We also see lower rates of obesity, diabetes, liver and kidney issues, and reproductive issues. We also note that some of these lower rates may be due to universal health care in tandem with a wholesome and some would say, meager diet. But whatever it is, we also don't have a lot of malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, or anemia in Kalistan either, which can be traced almost exclusively to the Kalistani diet. All of these mean that Kalistanis tend to live slightly longer, significantly healthier lives on average." The Minister did point out that there are also areas to work on, such as food distribution into some of the more rural frontier regions of Kalistan, where its more of a problem of infrastructure to get people to Food banks than it is supply to the food bank. "We could address this in a number of ways, but a lot of Kalistanis in rural areas raise most of their own food. In Rural Green County Ananto, for example, residents are encouraged to cultivate their lands and hold farmers markets which substitute in many ways for the lack of a lot of food bank access in that almost entirely rural area. Initiative for local farming cooperation can also help address these deficiencies."

Overall, the Ministry said Kalistanis tend to eat well and their food is life. "We have abundance in simplicity," said Ag Minister Villariva. "This is a blessing of living in a nation like Kalistan which spans different climate and growing zones, and has straightforward, compassionate and deliberate national policy aimed at getting Kalistanis healthy food as a matter of principle. We've been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years, and our ways could be seen as a model for others."

@TheRepublic