Food as culture, memory and identity – and the erased nature behind it all: the case of perceptions of Brazilian food and its native plants

This study explores the entanglements between food, culture, memory, identity, and nature through the case of Brazilian cuisine perception. While traditional food is globally associated with cultural identity and other symbolic meanings, its ecological foundations remain largely obscured. Drawing on an exploratory survey analyzed through qualitative coding and native species taxonomic identification, this study examines how Brazilians perceive their cuisine through food items and attributes, exploring both its meaning and material dimensions. The findings reveal cultural richness but also nature’s erasure and the persistence of colonial legacies. Rice and beans dominate as markers of national identity, overshadowing Indigenous legacies such as fish and native plants, and local biodiversity appears faintly represented, following a broader global pattern. Yet if food is understood as an experience of nature, its strong symbolism and material presence offer fertile ground to revalue edible biodiversity, reconnect with local ecosystems, and envision more balanced human–nature relations.