June 07, 2007
"Roots" on a ration card
Anita Snow's month long experiment of eating like the natives has stirred up memories of her humble Southern childhood. It's "Roots on a ration card." She must indeed have come a long way from home, and apparently has either been eating out or has a personal chef.
No worry that Cubans have to scrape by to get one meal a day, because Anita has found that eating is about more than filling a hungry belly.
You be the judge:
As I sit at my kitchen table, writing this in a journal while eating my dinner of black beans, rice and steamed spinach, I realize I'm studying not only Cubans' food, but my own family's food as well. Much of the simple fare my mom grew up with and loved — okra, sweet potatoes, ham, bean soups — is similar to what has nourished Cuban bodies and souls for centuries.I'm still in my first week of a monthlong project to eat as the Cubans do — consuming only the types and amounts of food that average Cubans get with their government food ration, plus what they can buy at farmers markets on an average salary.
Compelled under this self-imposed program to buy and prepare my own food — picking through the dried beans and rice and rinsing them thoroughly before putting them to the flame — I am reminded that this most basic of all human needs is about more than calories, protein and carbohydrates.
Food, especially when cooked and shared with others, ties us to our families, to our cultures and to humankind in general.
The whole thing is here.
Posted by Ziva at June 7, 2007 08:48 AM
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Comments
"Compelled under this self-imposed program..."
Yes! "Self-imposed" implies freedom of choice ... something unknown to Cubans under castro's regime ...! Maybe she can add a much needed supplement of anti-bull s--t. to her daily diet.
Thanks Ziva! I wish you well :) Melek
"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." ~ S. Johnson
Posted by: Melek ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 7, 2007 09:24 AM
What a crock.
Posted by: Gigi at June 7, 2007 09:44 AM
It doesn't count hon' unless you invite Granma to the end of your picnic like Cubans and take only aspirin for all medical conditions.
Posted by: Tomas Estrada-Palma at June 7, 2007 10:45 AM
She sounds like she's become delirious from lack of "calories, protein and carbohydrates." Maybe she's honestly sticking to the rationed diet?
Posted by: TomSawyer at June 7, 2007 01:48 PM
I can tell how this is going to end in a month: Although Cubans eat less, they enjoy natural foods, without chemicals or preservatives that abound in U.S. victuals. Therefore, they are healthier. As a result of the Cuban diet, there are less obese people, which means less health problems. The ration system provides equal food distribution, no one starves, etc. This kind of bunk has been written about the Cuban ration system by leftist scholars and other acolytes during the last four decades.
Posted by: delacova at June 7, 2007 03:22 PM
There were no fat people to be found when the death camps were liberated in Europe either.
I'd like her to duplicate the diet of the prisoners next and also that of a premature baby.
I hear that blacks get treated as second-class citizens... not that to be a first-class is an enviable position. Unless you are in the royal family, you must plan in aquiring you basic needs to live. Living like a human being is another story altogether.
Down with the Dictator. Let Cubans Vote! Free Cuba!
Posted by: Rocinante at October 13, 2007 04:03 PM
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