Land, Food, and Work in Three Javanese Villages

Abstract

This is a study in nutritional geography. Three Javanese villages, a rice village, a corn village, and a cassava village were examined and are described in some detail with emphasis on elements of nutritional ecology. Within the village 54 farmers and their families were studied to determine first what was the degree of interrelationship between land, food, and work; and second what was the economic developmental significance of caloric undernutrition. The nutrient intakes and work outputs of economically productive male family members were carefully determined for 324 man days over the period of a year. It was found that there were no correlations of any significance among the land holdings, caloric intake, and work output data sets. As a result of this lack of interrelationship it was determined that a program of caloric supplementation should have a low priority as a stimulant for national development.