What is meat in Ghana

Abstract

The definition of meat has evolved over time. In the King James Version of the Bible, meat was used to refer to food in general (John 4:8, Romans 14:7, and Mathew 3:4). Items required for the fulfillment of the law of the ceremonial meat offering were flour, oil, and frankincense (Leviticus 6:14–23). Currently, meat is defined as the flesh of animals used for food (Lawrie and Ledward, 2006). In practice, the definition is restricted to several dozens of the 3,000 mammalian species often widened to include the musculature organs such as the liver, kidney, brain, and other edible tissues (Lawrie and Ledward, 2006). Additionally, the American Meat Science Association has defined meat as skeletal muscle and its associated tissue (including nerves, connective tissue, blood vessels, skin, fat and bones) and edible offal derived from mammals, avian, and aquatic species deemed as safe and suitable for human consumption. Inevitably, the latter clarifies the definition by widening the range of tissues useful as meat. Ghana is located on the West Coast of Africa 10° north of the equator with a population of 25 million people as of the last census in 2012 and more than 40 languages and 75 different dialects. Ethnic groups in Ghana comprise the Akan (47.5%), Mole-Dagbon (16.6%), Ewe (13.9%), Ga-Dangme (7.4%), Gurma (5.7%), Guan (3.7%), Grusi (2.5%), MandeBusanga (1.1%), and other (1.6%) and are sharply distinguished by distinctly different languages (Ghana Statistical Services, 2012). The Akan languages (Twi, Asante, and Fante) are the most commonly spoken. The of-