Convincing My "Farmophobes"
My Epiphany
My Epiphany
Pretty much everyone in my family is a farmophobe. A farmophobe is a word i made up and it refers to any adult who wants nothing to do with gardening. I say an adult because children need direction and good habits can always be cultivated in them. I knew something was wrong with my lifestyle when i moved to this country and gained 38lbs. I knew i wasn't eating more but wandered what had caused this weight gain that nothing i did could shift. I started taking a closer look at the quality of food i was eating and realised that processed foods and "low quality" vegetables were doing me no favors whatsoever.
I was born and raised in West Africa then moved to Europe as a teenager. These were the factors that made the effect on my "change in diet" very obvious to my body. I never felt myself: energy level down, sluggishness, moody and challenged memory. Now these were not factors that would warrant the average person to go see a doctor, but they were certainly obvious enough to me. It meant that my weight gain was not my only battle. I started getting educated....
In my culture, cooking & eating has always been a group effort...
I was born and raised in West Africa then moved to Europe as a teenager. These were the factors that made the effect on my "change in diet" very obvious to my body. I never felt myself: energy level down, sluggishness, moody and challenged memory. Now these were not factors that would warrant the average person to go see a doctor, but they were certainly obvious enough to me. It meant that my weight gain was not my only battle. I started getting educated....
In my culture, cooking & eating has always been a group effort...
The Misedducation Of Florence
Growing up in Africa, then Europe meant that my move to America was literally "manna from heaven". I had arrived in the promised land where all dreams come true. This may sound over board to the average American but this is how every immigrant views their accomplishment after making the move here. Food was a huge part of what we envy about America. It seems abundant and abundance is a show of wealth, wealth is a show of success, hence the seduction. Food is everywhere here so this little African girl who thought of food as someting you ate when your stomach rumbled and as a chore (The African cooking process can be deliberate & elaborate) now started seeing billboards, T.V ads and celebrations where food was abundant but with little preparation effort. Back home the only luxury to food eaten with little prep effort was that one was a guest at the host's home. Food was everywhere i went when i moved here. When i say food, i don't mean raw vegetables, i mean prepared food was every where. It seemed so instant and easily available. I never saw ads with a basket of potatoes, kale and raw fish or meat, i saw it prepared and ready to eat in pictures and T.V. Happy people in media also always seemed to be eating.... Wow my epiphany occurred, i was always thinking about food something had to change. I had to "uneducate" myself. It seemed like this great land had gotten one thing wrong. I was dissapointed. I came here to learn new things.... modernize, drop old "primitive ways". This is the land with the best academics in the world. I want them to teach me. Surely the way they do things has to be better than ours. This is why i came here. Did this mean I had to turn back and re-adopt an old way of life? I realised with wisdom that not everyone is perfect. Life is give and take. I should not villify my culture because my country was unable to stabilize itself well enough to give me opportunities to remain. Perhaps it had gotten somethings right. Now that i am here i must find ways to incorporate these ways into my new lifestyle.
In my next Blog I will tackle Shopping for things you'll need for a garden & choosing what you need.
In my next Blog I will tackle Shopping for things you'll need for a garden & choosing what you need.
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