Khoi edi for Tuvans. Identity, convenience, responsibility
The article analyzes the modern system of attitudes toward mutton ( hoi edi ) among Tuvans living in villages and cities and the practices of its consumption. This topic inevitably entails a discussion of identity, specific features of food practices, and responsible consumption. The article’s methodology draws on W. Belasco’s triad of human nutrition variables. The sources for the study include the results of long-term observations of the everyday life of Tuvans living in Tuva and outside the republic, interviews with Tuvans of different generations (collected in 2021), media materials, and ethnographic literature. The consumption of mutton is one of the markers of ethnic identity for Tuvans. Tuvans grow up believing that mutton is the main food of Tuvans, a medicine and holiday food. They associate the consumption of meat with native land. But during the last two decades, the traditional adherence to meat has come into conflict with the ideas of rational, careful treatment of livestock. At the root of this contradiction was the break of Tuvans with traditional farming and the widespread practice of consumerism, in which meat began to be understood as a traditional food that was quite simple, easy, convenient, and quick to obtain. Meat is available in stores and markets; slaughtering and delivery services are available, and there is excess and waste in consumption, including the use of mutton in rituals, which contradicts traditional notions of the value of livestock.