Food Diary: Tomatoes

Tags

Florida, Food, justice, postaweek2012, tomatoes

Anyone who has known me for any length of time, also knows that I am not a tomato fan, mostly because I did not like the taste. I grew up avoiding spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and even ketchup some times because they were made from tomatoes. Although I developed a fondness for the aforementioned, I still avoided tomatoes in their whole, uncompromised form as I still could not get beyond the texture and the taste.

Until fairly recently that is. Now you will never see me biting into one as one does an apple, but I will eat them in other forms – mostly in soups, pasta and other things like that. A few weeks ago, I cut up a tomato or two, along with some sweet peppers and onions, stir-fried them in a little olive oil and combined them with some black bean soup that I was making. Just this past week, I cut up the same, and made one of the best pastas that I have ever made (I also added sausage, spinach, peas and feta cheese). I find that by cooking with them, I am adding another dimension of not only health, but tastiness to my family’s diet.

With this in mind, I now try to buy tomatoes on a regular basis. So today, while I am at the grocery store, this is what I plan to buy and I usually pick up the roma tomatoes just because they are a little bit smaller. And they happened to be on sale for only $.99 a pound, which was even better. However, I usually look to see where they are coming from as this piece of information is really important to me. So, I asked the grocer who did not know but took the time to find out. Initially, he only found out that they were from the United States, but still this information was not sufficient enough. I said to myself that I should just buy them anyway and stop putting up a fuss. But he went to ask the produce manager and after five or so minutes or so, came back to inform me that the tomatoes were from Florida. This is what I was afraid of.

You see, Florida really does not have an environment conducive to growing tomatoes. As Barry Estabrook shares in his new book, Tomatoland, Florida’s sandy soil is devoid of any nutritional content. Because of these conditions, farmers and the like have to do a few sneaky things, such as pumping the soil with chemical fertilizers, herbicides and other pesticides, some which top the EPA’s most toxic list. Yet these are things that we end up putting up in our bodies, undoubtly with long term health effects. But the story from Estabrook’s perspective gets even worse:

Migrant workers are coated with these chemicals too. The toll that’s taken on them, in the form of birth defects, cancer and other ailments, is hideous to observe and should fill those who eat Florida tomatoes with shame.

I first learned of this issue several months ago while I was listening to Talk of the Nation. I was horrified to learn of the atrocities that these workers were forced to endure, mothers who had deformed babies born to them and others who ended up with cancer, all because of this evil, unregulated work.

I know that my refusal to buy tomatoes from Florida does not make a big dent in business. But hopefully, if enough people can stop buying tomatoes and even do a little protesting, we can get this thing changed.

So next time you go shopping for tomatoes, make sure to check the label!

My Take on ‘The Help’

Tags

AIDS pandemic, compassion, incarnation, postaweek2012, The Help

A few years ago, while I was still very pregnant and a student at Bethel Seminary, I remember reading an article at work that talked about the AIDS pandemic in Africa. This particular article shared the story of various women and other people who were dying from the disease as a result of not being able to access anti-retrovirals, a drug that suppresses the effects of HIV/AIDS. However, the question that I asked as I read this article was what the reporter was doing about this problem. Were they just reporting it to show the perspective and the story of the people suffering from this awful disease, or were they engaged in seeing this thing eradicated?

This is the same question that I asked as I watched ‘the Help’ this past weekend. In all honesty I thought it was a good movie with a great plot, yet I left it having some nagging questions that I am not sure I will find the answer to. The main protagonist in the film, Skeeter Phelan, sets out to tell the perspective of the help, black maids who serve white families through services such as cleaning, cooking and child rearing. And as the movie shows it, these maids are treated awfully. And so I get Skeeter wanting to tell this perspective, but for what purpose? Is it just a good story that needs to be shared with others in order to sell books? Or is it a story that is supposed to propel others to take action on behalf of the stories characters?

I find that in many cases, our storytelling and reporting has no end other than that – storytelling and reporting. Perhaps in doing so, we are raising awareness of certain issues that plague different communities and societies, but we cannot stop there. Awareness in and of itself does not invite people to take action to change systems and situations that suppress the rights and livelihood of the people in those systems. It can only take people so far, perhaps invoking a sense of pity and maybe even a little charity. But pity and charity do not change the status quo; only compassion to the point of identification does and so much so that you are willing to become the person that you are advocating for. Jesus mastered this well!

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.5-8, NASB)

Thank you Jesus, for not just taking pity on me and telling the story of my sinful estate. Thank you for putting on flesh and doing something about it!

Twenty-Something for the Last Time

Tags

Birthday, Change, faith, postaweek2012, Turning 30

Today is my birthday. Yeah me! However, it is not just an ordinary birthday, but my 29th which means next year this time I will be, you guessed it – 30!

Now, attaining this milestone brings with it a whole lot of stress, anxiety and fear for some people. Some start to think about their youth that has been seemingly lost. Others think about how much they will change in the coming years. And as I reflect on this day, I have to admit that there is some of that because the last ten years, since I turned 20, have been great! I mean, I have done so much, met so many wonderful people, started a beautiful family and been to some pretty amazing places. I would not trade the experiences and accomplishments over the last 10 years for anything in the world.

However, I have also done some pretty stupid stuff and made some asinine mistakes. Oh, how I wish I could forget some of these things! But the hope is that as I grow and mature that I will leave these notions and tendencies of being a youth behind. As the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 13 – ‘When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child, but when I grew up (bolded mine), I did away with childish things.’

You see, all change is not bad. In fact, change and growth are necessary components of life. If I do not want to be the same person I was when I was 21, naive, foolish, with my head stuck in the clouds, then I have to embrace change. This is not to say that change is not hard, oftentimes it is absolutely brutal. But as a result, in the end, I become and you become, the persons that God intended for us to be.

So bring it on 30! I’m ready!

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3.18, NASB).

I Could Really Use Your Help, You Know!

Tags

Christianity, communion, faith, Help, justice, reconciliation, Survey

I am presenting a paper on reconciliation at a conference in a few short weeks where I could use some personal stories and statistics. In the paper, I argue that racism, sexism and other forms of societal injustices have had an adverse impact of people’s faith. Specifically, I contend that a history of oppression, exploitation and injustice have kept people from trusting in God as a result of this deep, dark history being perpetrated by the church, or those who are supposed to be devoted followers of Christ.

Now I have done research for this, but what I would really like is some personal evidence to back this up. If you, or someone that you know, faith in God has been affected by certain injustices please take 1 minute to fill out this one question survey:

My faith in God has been affected as a result of different societal injustices perpetrated by the church and/or those who represent the church such that:
- I am not affected by the decisions of others.
- I am hurt but I continue to follow Christ
- I have certain reservations about Christianity but am hanging in there
- I believe in Christ, but I don’t practice Christianity
- I believe in Christ, but I don’t any form of religion
- I am doubtful that God exists
- I believe that Christianity and all other religions were invented by people

Please visit my facebook page to answer these questions as there is not a way on this blog to collect all of the results!

I would also love to hear from you with more substantial stories. If you are willing to let your story be heard, either comment on this post or email me at ebanna22@gmail.com if you don’t want to put yourself out there like that. I promise to keep your names and other information you share with me such as email, etc, confidential.

Thanks for helping me out!

Thoughts from an Over-the-top Idealist

Tags

2 Kings 4, faith, idealism, MPR, optimism, underemployment

We all know that the unemployment rate in our country is quite high – 8.5% as of December 2011. However, what most of us don’t realize is that it is grossly inadequate as it fails to take into consideration the long-term unemployed and the underemployed as millions of Americans are only able to find part-time work or work in which they are overqualified for. Carl Van Horn, MPR’s mid-morning guest this morning suggests, that this high underemployment rate in our nation is proof that we are in an economic crisis.

Although I enjoyed the broadcast, I have to be honest that I found myself a little down as I listened to it. I mean, on a daily base I hear about all of the trouble that our country is in and sometimes it gets a little overwhelming because it seems like minus the miraculous intervention of God that things wont go very well for us. And this is disheartening because I am fairly young, not even 30 yet, and my family is very young. We still have a lot of years to live to be wasting away our lives in a nation that is failing. It makes me want to get a new passport, a visa for the nearest country that will accommodate me and my family, and get my tail out of here! But where would I go? Trouble abounds all over the world. Besides, running is not the solution.

But I believe there are solutions, and even solutions that God has given each and every one of us the power to take. Yes, there is a lot that Congress could do – but they need to get their act together and stop sabotaging our government and our nation’s economy just so that they can win the next election (Talk about selfish). In the meantime, we have to take stock at the tools that God has placed in our own hands, and do something.

I am often encouraged by a particular story found in 2 Kings 4:1-7 (the Message Bible)

One day the wife of a man from the guild of prophets called out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead. You well know what a good man he was, devoted to God. And now the man to whom he was in debt is on his way to collect by taking my two children as slaves.”

Elisha said, “I wonder how I can be of help. Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Well, I do have a little oil.”

“Here’s what you do,” said Elisha. “Go up and down the street and borrow jugs and bowls from all your neighbors. And not just a few—all you can get. Then come home and lock the door behind you, you and your sons. Pour oil into each container; when each is full, set it aside.”

She did what he said. She locked the door behind her and her sons; as they brought the containers to her, she filled them. When all the jugs and bowls were full, she said to one of her sons, “Another jug, please.”
He said, “That’s it. There are no more jugs.”

Then the oil stopped.

She went and told the story to the man of God. He said, “Go sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons, on what’s left.”

For me, this story illustrates that even in times of extreme economic desperation, that God has placed something within all of us, to pull us through that situation. But we have to be willing change our thinking so that it begins to work for us. Initially, this widow in 2 Kings did not believe that she had anything to work with. But as she spoke with Elisha she realized that she did have something – oil.

So what about you? What do you have? A four year business degree and a part-time job as a barista? Make it work for you. See to it that you don’t stay a barista but diligently work your way up into a shift supervisor, manager, or even an owner and put those business skills to use. Yes it may take some time, but don’t let that discourage you.

Or maybe even start to develop your own business on the side. Who ever said that you had to use your degree to work for somebody else? Discover what type of business you would most like to have, do the research, develop a product, and whatever else is necessary to reach your goal.

Or maybe you are a graphic designer. A writer. An artist. A photographer. A musician. A CNA. A janitor. A truck driver. An engineer. An IT specialist. A librarian. A pastor. Or whatever else. Do some soul searching and spend a few days, even weeks in prayer with God, to discover how your skills and your passions can work together to create something that you never thought it could. And if you don’t come up with anything, maybe it is time to learn some new skills and unearth some passions that you did not know were there. Take a risk that in normal circumstances you would not take so that God can pull out of you something that you did not know was there! Who knows? You could end up creating the next Apple.

And in the meantime, while you wait, while you rediscover your gifts and passions, or wait for another job opportunity be encouraged by this:

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phillipians 4.19, NASB).

Food Diary: Kale and Quinoa

Tags

faith, Food Justice, Healthy, Hunger Report, recipe

So last week as I was grocery shopping, I bought two new things that I had never tried before yet had heard a lot about – Kale and Quinoa. I have to be honest, I was a little bit hesitant in trying both of these new products, well at least new to me, but I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

I cooked the Quinoa earlier in the week and stir fried carrots, celery, and almonds to create a kind a sort of rice pilaf. I served this side dish with some chicken spinach wraps and my appetite and that of my family, was quite satisfied.

I prepared the kale later on in the week from a recipe that I found online. The recipe called for steaming it and I was worried that it would come out like spinach as a result, quite slimy when its cooked to long. But after steaming it for less than 10 minutes, it still had its crunch. (A word to the wise though, if you follow this recipe please be careful on the salt because it calls for soy sauce and salt and the two together can be a little bit too much.) I loved this dish so much that I ended up cooking it a few days later, well that and I had to use it before it went bad.

The amazing thing about both of these products is that they were very cost effective. I bought the kale for less than $3 and I was able to glean about 8 servings from it. I bought the quinoa for maybe $5 and this also rendered me 8 servings. So not only were they healthy, pleasantly delicious but also pocket-book friendly!

I think that all of these things are essential in having a good diet. The food that we buy and end up putting into our bodies has to be healthy, it has to provide us with the proper nourishment that we need so that we can enjoy long life to the fullest extent possible. But it also has to be affordable. Sadly, as Bread for the World 2012′s Hunger Report shares, current farm policies in the United States are not doing enough to contribute to a sustainable, healthy food system so that the foods that are affordable and accessible are cheap junk foods that contain empty calories. And you guessed it, the foods that are the healthiest and organic are often so expensive that many choose to do without.

But I believe that things do not have to be this way. I believe that it comes down to choices and political will – the will to do what is right and reform agricultural policies so that it is not just a money making venture but an opportunity to provide healthy, sustainable food options to all people regardless of income or social status. With all of the hoopla going on in Washington, I hope that policymakers will pay attention to this, because too many American people have diseases and other conditions that I believe are completely preventable, diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and so many more.

Another side of this same coin is that too many Americans, in what is supposed to be a 21st century economically competitive developed nation (said with tongue in cheek) are hungry, seriously seriously hungry. This simply ought not be. For one reason or another they either cannot afford or do not have access to food, let alone healthy food, and this is just wrong. I do not care what side of the aisle people stand politically, but this is morally and spiritually wrong. God does not support this type of injustice, and as people who claim to know him so well, neither should we!

If you’re gonna run, you’re going to need strength

Tags

faith, Food, food access, justice, life, running

So on more than one occasion I have heard this quote in one version or another: Life is not a sprint, but a marathon race. And I agree. 80 years is a long time (although when compared against the wingspan of eternity, its nothing). There is no way we can sprint through this thing, we have to pace ourselves, build up our endurance, and be prepared for the long road ahead.

The apostle Paul echoes this endurance theme in 1 Corinthians 9.24-27. In this passage he uses the natural metaphor of racing to describe what is needed in the spiritual – discipline. Yet for me, this natural metaphor also has implications for believers, in that in order to be able to do anything for God, you need to be strong and be able to endure.

The last verse in this passage really paints this picture well: but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. In line with what Paul is saying here, what good is it for us to preach and teach if in the end, we ourselves lose out for one reason or another. Some lose out as a result of moral failure, yes this is true. Yet, there are many of us who lose out on a daily basis as a result of physical failure and ongoing neglect of our physical bodies.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul shares that there is a natural decaying process of our physical bodies. And this we know. Yet there is no reason why our bodies need to decay any faster than God ordained. Yes, he is the one who gives life, breath, and health, but sometimes we make some really bad decisions which affect all of those things. This in turn affects our ability to endure, our ability to be used as God’s vessel to the fullest extent because we are too tired, too overweight and too sick to be able to do anything.

We have to be mindful about what we put into these earthen vessels that God has given us. Which is why I am taking a deliberate action step to make sure that my family and I eat healthier this year. I want to get away from all of the starches, breads, and fattening foods, and put into my body the things that nourish my physical being so that I can have the energy to nourish the spiritual. But I want to share my journey with you. So over the next few months, and hopefully longer than that, I will be introducing a feature that is new to this blog a Food Diary. In this diary, I will share different recipes, shopping lists, and other food tips, in hopes of not only inspiring others, but keeping myself accountable to my goal.

Now as I say all of this, I am mindful of several things:

- For some people, the problem is not that they do not know what nutritional foods are, but that they lack the access to them. As a result of this recession, many have plunged into deep, deep poverty, and lack the financial means to be able to afford the foods that they need to feed their family. And let me also point out that there are many families who already experienced this type of poverty well before the recession began. And just to be clear, I am talking about people in the United States in case someone naively believes that poverty does not exist here. Sometimes, it comes down to what is available over and above what is healthy. Understanding this and a strong advocate of food justice, I will also be sharing advocacy and informational tools from organizations that I come across like Bread for the World, Oxfam, and Church World Service.

- Sometimes it is not about what food we are putting into our mouths, but about what things are being put into our food. Unbeknownst to many of us, there are chemicals, poisons and other harmful things in food that we think is safe because it is labeled natural or organic. Recently, I read an article that said that there was arsenic and lead found in popular juice brands…for kids! And some of these brands were what I considered better brands from stores like Trader Joes that I thought were supposed to be safe. This is just one example of how corrupt our food system is, and somehow we wonder why there are so many diseases floating around in our society. We need a massive movement to see these injustices overturned (but that is another story for another day).

I mention these things because the injustices that I have just described keep people from living healthy, full lives. It keeps them from being able to provide for themselves and their families, and it is just wrong. This is not to say that people as such cannot still run, they often do, they have no other choice. However, they often need the support of advocates, surrounding them and holding them up when they just can’t go on.

Join me, will you, over the next few months or so, as I not only share my food journey but also the journey of these.