Rastafarians eat Ital food, this means they eat natural food that grows from the earth, they don’t eat unprocessed, and unpackaged food. Here’s a list of food that Rastafarian doesn’t eat this will give you a good idea of the dos and don’ts of an Ital food diet.
Food Rastafarians do eat
- Organic Food- These are the food that grows from trees and the earth, like banana and previsions. They don’t eat any food with chemical or preservatives.
- Un-package food- Foods like oats for porridge and granola for cereal. They stay away from canned food.
- No meat or shellfish- Some Rastafarians who are deep in the culture do not eat any flesh.
- Natural sugars from cooking these include cane sugar, molasses and honey.
- Foods with no added salt are a staple for Rastafarians.
- Cook with natural cooking oils such as olive and coconut oils.
- Eating eggs is a personal-preference.
- No alcohol.
- Rasta’s eat rice and pasta in moderation.
- Refine sugar is eaten in moderation.
- No cow milk.
While you can find these foods in abundance in your local Caribbean market, people living outside the Caribbean will have to shop in healthy stores for these products. Food such as yam and green fig is available in West Indian’s stores.
Food Rastafarians Do Eat
- Egg Plant.
- Okra.
- Beets.
- Broccoli.
- Spinach.
- Butter Squash.
- Pumpkin.
- Onions.
- Bop Choy.
- Yam.
- Rice.
- Wild rice.
- Dark beans.
Rasta’s eat Ital food for spiritual reasons and a closer connection to Jah, it can be hard when transiting from meat and canned since Ital food has so many restrictions. After a while, your body will adapt to your diet. If Rasta’s want substitutes they can eat brown rice instead of white rice, and white yam.