The Food of the Plantation Slaves of Jamaica

About the Book

This is a rare and unusual book in that its main focus is centred upon the examination of a large range of eye witness accounts into the lives of Jamaican slaves. What gives this book its distinctive feature is its emphasis on the foods and eating habits of the Jamaican slaves. Drawing upon numerous primary documents, and not withstanding an academic approach throughout, Dr Talburt provides a simple and concise description of an important aspect of Jamaican history. The book focuses upon the varieties of sources from which slaves could obtain their food. These include purchases in the slave markets, crab catching as well as foods from their own provision grounds. The other two main chapters of the book focus upon some of the popular foods eaten by the slaves and also how and when these foods were prepared. The entire study takes place within the context of the sugar plantation system of Jamaica. This book will be particularly useful for students of Caribbean and Jamaican history and the general public who seek to understand more about some aspects of the Jamaican people and their traditional foods.

About the Author

Dr Tony Talburt has lectured at Fircroft and Bournville Colleges in Birmingham, Walsall College as well as Birmingham University, in African and Caribbean Studies. He has particular research interests in Caribbean politics and history. Talburt was born in England of Jamaican parents and lived in Jamaica for nearly 15 years between 1974-1988. He completed his Cert Ed at Excelsior Community College in Kingston Jamaica and later gained his B.A. degree in history and social sciences from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica in 1987. He gained his M.A in International studies from the University of Warwick (1991) and a PhD from South Bank University in 2001 based on an examination of Caribbean development within the context of the Lomé Conventions