There are many that have not made it to this day, yet I'm here and progressing, and exploring with care the different layers of my many experiences on this path. The youth I've been working with are mad clutch, and inspire and teach me so much...its crazy we only have one more week left...
In the realm of Urban Ag and youth work this week, it has been a very productive.....ok before getting into that, I must say urban life is a trip because you can experience so many extreme sides of a spectrum in such a short period of time sometimes in the span of a day or hours, but its really kinda hard to process and share sometimes without rambling on for hours about all of the details. So it must have been a good thing that I took this break from writing. With that said, there are some important things I'd like to touch on in this blog as a public record of my thoughts, experiences, and views as a woman of color actively engaging myself, youth, and community in cultivating the earth through health consciousness and social and systematic understanding of the many aspects of the foodscapes we find ourselves in.
Something I find very compelling to touch on is the way that in the society we find ourselves in we "pick our poison". Things like cigarettes, alcohol, hard drugs etc are extremely frowned upon, but realistically there are so many toxic equivalents, items that folks carelessly pick up from the corner store (I grew up on it too) without an inkling of comparing the product to anything like crack cocaine. I mean just sugar period, this societal addiction is directly connected to historic oppression and certainly associated with trauma in our genetic memory. I had quite the alarming experience with a youth this past week, whom (like many of the other kids) likes to indulge in these drinks called Tropical fantasy, which are basically bootleg juices that imitate fruit flavors but is really just a bottle of sugar. He added about 4 cups of sugar to his empty bottle which he added lemonade to - and I had to like really go out of my way to make him throw it out. I mean I was genuinely terrified to sit back and watch him take back that much white sugar in one sitting. Though he may quite possibly consumed this much sugar in one sitting before, I felt like I was stopping someone from taking a hit of crack. I mena I was genuinely concerned. ( OK, I know its not illegal to stuff your face with sugar, but my reasoning was that if we're in a work environment to learn about sustainable eating and improving our nutrition, then there really should be some mindfulness attached; on another note I also believe that there should be regulated legal limits to how much sugar we are exposed to in consumer products).
It can get complicated...... Supply Vs Demand in an addicted society. But it doesn't always have to be. I like many other folks , made a conscious transition (about 10 years now) to a more wholistic vegetarian lifestyle after reading "Afrikan Holistic Health" by Dr Laila Afrika - and it has (and continues to be) one very long and one with deep levels and stages of a cleansing process. This book speaks about nutrition and the effects of consumer food experimentation in products from an African centered perspective (i.e. that in some cases Afrikan nutritional needs are not always the same for other ethnicities - and even with that said, also amongst our own melted potted selves) and linking it with systematic oppression. It is a great book to check out, but I encourage you to definitely be good to yourself, because food is such a cultural and intimate process, and its not something to snatch out of someones life in a hurry (find your rhythm).
In the beginning of the book, he speaks about "The Overlooked Revolution" which is basically approaching liberation systems and self determination as intrinsically connected to what we put into our bodies. Think about it: one of the Black Panther Party's most successful programs that took root was the school lunch program (i.e. feeding people) which still exists to this DAY. That's something to take a deeper look at...
PRESERVATIVE EDUCATION
I did a lesson this afternoon on preservatives and some of the side effects of very commonly used substances like red 40, sodium benzoate, high fructose corn syrup, and more. The onslaught of these substances which occurred in the last few decades, has totally changed the "food" game. Each student researched 2 of the preservatives that they listed from an investigation we did at Save-A-Lot the previous Friday and their side effects. These substances (preservatives) are categorized by the FDA as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) - meaning they don't actually know what the long term side effects are. There have been case studies though that have shown, (with the use of placebos to ensure accuracy) that common side effects are hyperactivity, inability to focus, irritability, depression, aggression, ADHD, and in some cases directly linked to cancer (but time will surely tell, its still pretty new).
Can a major source of oppression become anymore obvious? I always tell the youth that I'm not talking about these things to depress them, because I can see it in them - they are so bright and wise beyond their years having seen so much already. I see the effect that the constant bad news in the media and in our community has on them. I am mindful about reminding them that this is exactly why having the skills of cultivating food, taking the time to read nutrition labels, and believing that you have the tools within to make things happen, is a very easy way to sidestep the time bombs so much a part of the daily industrialized consumer paradigm. We make it as functional as possible.
With that said, there will be footage posted soon of last Friday at The Reginald F Lewis Museum, myself and a youth were interviewed for WYPR about our reactions to the African American history Exhibit (should be airing in mid august). Later that afternoon, I was interviewed with the Boone St Farm manager Cheryl by Baltimore magazine to talk about the YouthWorks program and our projects and triumphs this year.
Drink Lots of Water & Be Good To Yourself :)
Link to interview with Baltimore Magazine is here.
Lotus- Biko got in the garden this weekend too <3
