Do the Na'vi cook food ?

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Both are good points. The cooking process for meat does make it easier to digest and raw foods provides more vitamins. I think the Na'vi would have a pretty well balanced diet as they are clearly hunters who also have access to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Hunter and gather societies actually have an advantage over societies that have developed agricultures. While farmers have the benefit of having a steady food supply they often fall into the habit of "staple" foods which limit their nutritional intake. Gatherer societies on the other hand are forced to have a wide variety of food and thus have a large spectrum of nutrition.

I agree, and I have yet to see an over weight Na'vi... and I pray to Eywa that I never do... just think what the Avatar conventions will be like (you know how star trek has those conventions were people dress up like klingons well soon there will be Avatar conventions were people paint them selves like dreamwalkers hope fully everyone there will have a Na'vi mind set and be healthy (seeing this movie and studying the Na'vi has made me reevaluate my life including how healthy I am I get out and injoy nature a lot more now) )

Yeah, hopefully we won't get any 300 pound Na'vi, like we get for Princess Leia *shudders* :/

And I agree that hunter-gatherers do have a larger range of food selections. Although with our international trade, you can get pretty much any food from anywhere.

Agreed *shivers* It's certainly a thought I don't want to think about. Especially when considered Na'vi's general lack of clothing >.>

Anywho, yes, now days we can get pretty much any food we desire. I was more referring to farming a few hundred years ago, before it was an easy thing to drop into a store and get something grown half way across the world. Europeans of the Middle Ages had a serious lack of nutrients.

The Na'vi means of getting food is very similar to the Natives of the Northwest Pacific. They are one of the few societies that have a chiefdoms and permanent housing, but are also hunters and gathers.

[A. A. Aaron]

"The Na'vi diet"
You saw it here first.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

It would require you to find and hunt your own food, which I think will kill off most Americans before long >.> Oh dear...

[A. A. Aaron]

It would require you to find and hunt your own food, which I think will kill off most Americans before long >.> Oh dear...

Only the strong, independant and self-sufficient survive. Nothing wrong with that. A little hardship is good for you.

[Txur’Itan]

-- SNIP

I agree, and I have yet to see an over weight Na'vi... and I pray to Eywa that I never do... just think what the Avatar conventions will be like (you know how star trek has those conventions were people dress up like klingons well soon there will be Avatar conventions were people paint them selves like dreamwalkers hope fully everyone there will have a Na'vi mind set and be healthy (seeing this movie and studying the Na'vi has made me reevaluate my life including how healthy I am I get out and injoy nature a lot more now) )

Yeah, hopefully we won't get any 300 pound Na'vi, like we get for Princess Leia *shudders* :/

And I agree that hunter-gatherers do have a larger range of food selections. Although with our international trade, you can get pretty much any food from anywhere.

Agreed *shivers* It's certainly a thought I don't want to think about. Especially when considered Na'vi's general lack of clothing >.>

Spoiler: I figured I would illustrate the human conditions in all its unfortunate reality, what the future could bring to the Na'vi...

Behold a 400 lb Na'vi.  The result of an unfortunate experiment involving concentrations of a high-fructose like compound from Pandora fruit over a prolonged period of time.  Notice the carcinoma like pigmentation change of the speckles which would have been known for their bioluminescence at the time of the photo.

The rings around the eyes show a lack of psychological health, and possibly depression.  

There is a formation of blackened unobtanium cataracts, the creature is blind and unable to hunt.

You can spot his Ikran's left wing in the back, but there is no way for him to ride it any more.

I gave him my shirt, and a toy from my niece.  

It would require you to find and hunt your own food, which I think will kill off most Americans before long >.> Oh dear...

Only the strong, independent and self-sufficient survive. Nothing wrong with that. A little hardship is good for you.

On topic - I think that the tradition of the hunt was a good way to even people out.  We lost much by giving that part of our selves up to the grocery store.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Hmm, we know that the Na'vi have a form of alcohol. I wonder what other guilty pleasures they have that could prove dangerous if they got out of hand?

[Txur’Itan]

Hmm, we know that the Na'vi have a form of alcohol. I wonder what other guilty pleasures they have that could prove dangerous if they got out of hand?

Many... 

As savory as a Yerik or Sturmbeest steak...

[kintìomum]

The Na'vi diet wouldn't only depoplutate the US.
Looking at the state of self sufficiency here in Europe... well, let's say some folks from almost forgotten islands or remote regions will suddenly find they got much space...
The whole thing called great western civilization (and I think some of those in the east, too) is build on easy acces to food for the masses.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Let's stay away from dissing the West too much. We're here about to talk about the Na'vi diet.

[AuLekye'ung]

Agreed.

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Please resit posts that just say "agree." Only post if you have something to contribute to the conversation. Even a simple sentence explaining why you agree would be nice.

[Txur’Itan]

Please resit posts that just say "agree." Only post if you have something to contribute to the conversation. Even a simple sentence explain why you agree would be nice.

I agree.

Justification - Data, Facts, Information as you understand it, which educates your point of view.

While Justifications could be debated, it is a valuable learning experience for everyone to have your justifications posted.  Miscommunication and misunderstanding is a common facet of Perception, and it can be resolved by providing a detailed justification.

[Fkeu Omaticaya Tzmukan]

I hope thatd there be a Na'vi cuisine

[Technowraith]

Please resit posts that just say "agree." Only post if you have something to contribute to the conversation. Even a simple sentence explaining why you agree would be nice.

I agree...

... That my Toruk likes to eat Na'vi that taste good because they make good foods. 

The Activist Guide does mention that Na'vi use the cooking fire, but of all the things in the book, we have limited information on cooked food. Other then hunted animals that are cooked for feasts and meals. There's virtually no data on baked goods.

[kintìomum]

I don't know if there'd be so much to baked to start with.
Most baked products need some kind of flour in them and flour is mainly made of grain/wheat/whatever analogon the Na'vi have for these.
But these are gras plants and I think they won't grow in the jungle that well...

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Perhaps the people of the Plains having methods of baking then.

[Zefanaya]

It is most likely the plains tribes could have something like Peta bread or any thing unleavened, also and I think this is gross but have have seen breads made out bugs that a dried and ground to s rough flower consistency although I do not know if it can be done without a food processor which we know they do not have that

Eywa ngahu

[AuLekye'ung]

Kaltxi,

It is true that there are forms of baking that do not require any sort of wheat-based flour, perhaps accomplished through dried bugs.  Not my first choice, but, hey...

But, baking doesn't seem like it would be particularly popular among the Na'vi.  Seems awfully complicated when you have all you need in the form of wildlife and whatever plants happen to be edible.

In a society like the Na'vi which has no agriculture to speak of, and no real need for an oven since all they need for meat or any cooking of plants is a fire pit, the concept of baking isn't really plausible, crushed bugs or not.  It simply doesn't fit with their lifestyle, insomuch as we see in the movie.

Kìyevame

[Tìng Eywatikìte'e]

Yeah, I agree that baking seems like an overly complex process that the Na'vi wouldn't need. If it was done, the Plains are the only place I could see it happening. Ovens aren't very practical in the middle of the woods.

[Tsa'räni]

As for flour, the ASG mentions the Tsyorina'wll which they translate as "flour seed plant".  It says the seeds can be used as food by the Na'vi and ground up to make flour.  I didn't see it mentioned in the thread and thought it was worth mentioning.

The construction of a neolithic type oven really isn't a big deal.  Considering the large communal firepit and the relative sophistication of Na'vi craftings, it should be well within their abilities.  I do agree that it is probably not necessary in the type of woods the Omatikaya live in, but the specific mention of a "flour plant" makes me think it may still be a part of their culture (though perhaps a small one) even in the forest.