Rajika Dewasurendra and Nadira D. Karunaweera
ABSTRACT
A food system is referred to as a complex web of activities involving production, processing, transport, selling, and consumption of food. This is often associated with governance and economics of food production, wastage of food, effects on the environment during this process, and impact on individual and population health. Sri Lanka is considered as an agricultural country with women playing an active role in food systems, particularly in the past. In ancient Sri Lanka, agriculture was not essentially a revenue generation process but was everybody’s service and public responsibility, where they cultivated land (either in paddy fields, chena, or home garden that surrounded the house to provide food for the family, and rear cattle/hens for eggs and milk. The excess would be shared or stored for future consumption. The women were actively involved in all related chores, from the initial steps of cultivation to harvesting, which further extended to food preparation and preservation. However, the role of women in areas associated with food systems changed with time— the colonial era, the post-colonial era, and then the modern era, when the processes involved in modern food culture has replaced the traditional food systems in Sri Lanka. This narrative review discusses the changing role of women in food systems in Sri Lanka, from the ancient era to modern times.