When Bob Marley sang "the pot a cook but the food nuh nuff" in his 1973 classic "Dem Belly Full" the pot he alluded to was, no doubt, bubbling with ital food. As Bob rose to international prominence every aspect of his life was scrutinized from his romantic relationships to his associations with uptown politicians and ghetto gun men and especially his Rastafarian lifestyle which included an adherence to an ital diet.

Ital is derived from the word vital; in Rastafarian parlance, the initial syllable of a word is often times replaced with the letter "I" as a means of expressing the self determination of the African race; thus eternity become iternity, creation iration and vital ital. As Velma Pollard explains in Dread Talk The Language of Rastafari, "The sound 'I' is also related to the meaning of 'eye,' the center of sight, allowing the Rasta man to be far seeing when compared to the non-Rasta whose sight is at best limited." Although the word ital is associated primarily with food, it is also used among Rastafarians to describe anything in its natural state.

But what exactly does it mean to eat ital? Rastafarians believe that pure food from the earth is the most physically and spiritually beneficial therefore their diet is organic and basically vegan although some recipes use honey as an optional sweetener. An ital lifestyle prohibits the use of tobacco (because of the heavy processing), alcohol and all drugs; milk is referred to as "white blood" therefore all dairy products are excluded from a strictly ital menu.

Eating ital was so important to Bob Marley he retained his own chef, Antonio "Gilly" Gilbert, who was renowned for preparing elaborate ital feasts at Bob's Kingston home as well as on his international tours. In his Marley biography, Catch A Fire, Timothy White described the scenario as Bob and his Rasta brethren selected ingredients for their ital meals: "On Sundays they'd ride to (Kingston's) Papine Market and Gilly would select the days produce: calaloo (a dark green leafy vegetable), pop-chow (a Chinese vegetable akin to Swiss chard), okra, yams, mangoes, citrus, bananas, plantains, gungo peas, rice, sweet potatoes, guava, papaya, cassava, breadfruit, ackee (one of two primary ingredients in Jamaica's national dish ackee and salt fish), arrowroot and avocado. Gilly would also purchase some snapper, kingfish, goatfish and doctor fish. For juices, Bob would choose carrots, soursop (a tropical fruit known for its delicious white pulp) and Irish moss, a type of seaweed used for making a sweet gelatinous drink believed to encourage the libido. Everything would be stuffed into the car and taken back to Hope Road where Gilly would prepare for a communal "ninyam" (meal)."

Bob ate meat (Cindy Breakspeare, the mother of Bob's youngest son Damian, has said in several interviews that Bob occasionally ate liver for strength) and many different kinds of fish, but he refrained from eating pork, which is specifically condemned by Rastas, as it is by Jews and Muslims. However, the majority of Rastafarians frown upon the consumption of meat (which they refer to as "deaders"), chicken and shellfish. Fresh water fish is consumed by some Rastas (as permitted in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, chapter 11, where many Rastas obtain their dietary laws) while others view fish as a form of flesh and therefore exclude it from their diets. However the mainstay within these variations on the ital menu is the elimination of salt, which is viewed as unhealthy because it undergoes extensive chemical processing and is stripped of nearly all of its nutrients.

"When Bob Marley talked about ital food, he never talked about tofu and those things, back then, Rastafarians were talking about food without salt," explains Keteis Brissett, one of three owners of Livity (an acronym for Life Is Very Important To You) a popular vegan restaurant in Kingston, renowned for its raw juices, daily pasta and tofu dishes and specialty wraps with a variety of fillings. "We cannot say we are ital at Livity because it would be misleading because we use sea salt (which retains most of the minerals found in naturally occurring salt deposits therefore it tastes slightly different than iodized salt). However, the essence of our food is the spices that we use. When you put all those spices together you wouldn't even realize that you don't have salt in the food. So we put salt in some things, not in everything, but the real ital person won't put salt in anything."

In Jamaica's tourism capital Montego Bay the vegan or italist can eat at Adwa Caf??, which is named after the climactic battle Battle of Adowa or Adwa, fought on March 1, 1896 between Ethiopia and Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia. "We chose the name Adwa," explains Mudada Hamonot, owner of Adwa Caf??, "because we believe that it is just one energy that underlies all of creation and that same energy can be applied in many different areas. In light of the task that the Ethiopians had to overcome at the Battle of Adwa to be victorious against the Italians, if we apply that same spirit towards natural living, we too can be victorious." One of Adwa's most popular dishes is Ethiopian Delight, which is prepared with a natural meat substitute made from sea vegetables, soy, chickpeas and three additional vegetables. The faux meat is seasoned with tumeric, karima, some coconut juice and natural Jamaican spices. Meat substitutes such as tofu, seitan, veggie chunks and textured vegetable protein, staples in any vegan meal, were barely heard of in Jamaica in the 1970s; nowadays these items are regularly served at the island's ital and vegan restaurants and a play a significant part within the Rastafarian diet.

Keteis and Mudada agree that the variety within ital cooking has greatly evolved since Bob Marley's 1970s heyday. "Bob Marley played a part in a cultural and conscious awakening both from a musical and health perspective," says Keteis. "He played football (soccer), he ate right and he sang "the stone that the builder refused will always be the head cornerstone" and that relates to food as well. Back then, when Rastamen talked about ital food, people thought they were foolish. No salt, no meat; they thought they were going to die! Now if you get sick they tell you to cut down the meat and cut out salt. What the society looked down upon as unhealthy is really healthy."

"The attitude toward ital cooking has changed," adds Mudada. "Ital cooking is still without salt but there are more choices now and we incorporate more raw food. It has also become more accepted among the mainstream. Back in the 1970s, just the Rastaman advocated ital cooking and ital living; now a lot of people have adopted this way of life."

If you are visiting Jamaica, be sure to visit Livity, 30 Haining Rd, Kingston, 6 Tel: 876-906-5618 or at Adwa Caf??, City Center Plaza, Montego Bay Tel: 876-940-7618.