Waiting on line to see what was for lunch, I finally reached the first container of food. After filling up my plate with the various foods offered by Navdanya, I hurried to sit down and begin my meal. Within the very first portion touching my tongue I noticed a difference in taste almost immediately. Its odd to describe it as such but I could taste the green of the vegetables and food I was consuming. After eating seconds, thirds, and even fourths, I went about the rest of the day with no usual stomach pains, or uncontrollable urges to run to the bathroom. In fact, after a day in Navdanya, my stomach (which had previously been quite ill) has actually fully recovered. The meals I ate at Navdanya were organic, grown and cooked within the compound. Touring the fields and witnessing the amount of work put into sustaining such a project was indeed an experience to remember.
My initial reaction to my meal times at Navdanya was suspicion. It is no surprise to anyone that I love to eat; in fact, eating is one of my favorite past times. This is even more so when I eat foods that are infused with the history and technique of a given culture. Being Hispanic has only increased such a delight. However, since being in India I have had some ill experiences dealing with my habit of consumption, which has therefore led to my suspicion. My suspicions were not realized, and I wholeheartedly feel that the food at Navdanya has actually had the opposite predicted reaction and healed me. The work and care put into the growth of such foods truly shows when one eats at Navdanya, and I feel food is one facet of culture equally important when compared to the economy, politics, history and many more of a culture.
When I read Vandana Shiva’s Stolen Harvest I felt as though something was finally being done towards the security of food and agriculture. Yes, I live in an apartment in New York City, but I still understand my dependency on the agricultural field for my own sustenance, as well as the knowledge of what I enter into my body. Those who chemically alter foods, pirate the right to grow and work the fields, and commit so many more wrongs are indeed evil. We as a people are already experiencing the effects of poor food quality, yet there is not enough attention being done to change said issues. Vandana Shiva’s book, I therefore feel is a first step in educating the masses on the activity of today’s agricultural businesses. Her movement is equally if not more important, as seed banks can now give farmer’s a chance to grow crops as they were meant to be grown. When reading her work all I could think was “evil geniuses,” only to find that my sentiments were shared exactly among many others. I can only hope to be able to leave such an important mark on the world as Shiva has done.
My initial reaction to my meal times at Navdanya was suspicion. It is no surprise to anyone that I love to eat; in fact, eating is one of my favorite past times. This is even more so when I eat foods that are infused with the history and technique of a given culture. Being Hispanic has only increased such a delight. However, since being in India I have had some ill experiences dealing with my habit of consumption, which has therefore led to my suspicion. My suspicions were not realized, and I wholeheartedly feel that the food at Navdanya has actually had the opposite predicted reaction and healed me. The work and care put into the growth of such foods truly shows when one eats at Navdanya, and I feel food is one facet of culture equally important when compared to the economy, politics, history and many more of a culture.
When I read Vandana Shiva’s Stolen Harvest I felt as though something was finally being done towards the security of food and agriculture. Yes, I live in an apartment in New York City, but I still understand my dependency on the agricultural field for my own sustenance, as well as the knowledge of what I enter into my body. Those who chemically alter foods, pirate the right to grow and work the fields, and commit so many more wrongs are indeed evil. We as a people are already experiencing the effects of poor food quality, yet there is not enough attention being done to change said issues. Vandana Shiva’s book, I therefore feel is a first step in educating the masses on the activity of today’s agricultural businesses. Her movement is equally if not more important, as seed banks can now give farmer’s a chance to grow crops as they were meant to be grown. When reading her work all I could think was “evil geniuses,” only to find that my sentiments were shared exactly among many others. I can only hope to be able to leave such an important mark on the world as Shiva has done.
-Handwritten September 18, 2009
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