pakhisana

I got this solved,...

I remember reading a book, a long time ago, about a bunch of anthropologists and such who visited one of those pacific islanders.... (I'm not sure which one. Indigenous. No electricity. Majority seafaring and gets most of the food from the sea). Anyway, several of these anthrpologists (or researchers?) decided to help them out. Gave them some technology. Because they fished everyday (because the hot and humid climate was not good for preserving food), they got them solar powered fridges. A few months later, they realized that the fridges were not being used. Upon being questioned, the locals stated that fish that they could not eat themselves were instead given to those who needed it, the elderly and the sick; after all, they couldn't be preserved and stored as a source of food or wealth. And since the fridges meant that instead of giving them to the infirm they could store the food, having the refrigeration would mean that the elderly and infirm would go hungry. Thus, the fridges were abandoned. Is this anecdote true? Because it stuck with me but I'm unsure of its veracity.