sandriana ngwi

My uncle told me a funny story a couple of years ago.  He said that his father, and all the other men in the village, occasionally, enjoyed walking out of their homes with their toothpicks.  That was meant to show that they had meat that day.  We started to chuckle, but after that, it dawned on me how much sense that made.  The meat was not relatively scarce, but it was not something you ate with every meal.  It was expensive, it takes time for it to grow to maturity, and there is just was not enough of it for every single family to consume it with every meal every day.  I believe people in richer countries eat more meat because of consumerism.  People want more and want it fast, not mention cheap.  Eating more meat as a whole has caused the meat industry to find ways to accelerate growth (which has affected our bodies), it has contributed to deforestations (which affects climate change, among other things), and has taken jobs away from smaller farmers and butchers.  

Until I started reading about regenerative agriculture, I never gave much thought to the importance of soil.  Every year our earth loses billions of tons of fertile soil.  To save our topsoil, we need to find sustainable ways of farming.  This topsoil is not only essential for our food, but its loss leads to more wildfires, droughts, floods, and accelerated climate change.  Regenerative agriculture can positively impact our communities.  Farmers can put some balance back into our ecosystem, that we have been destroying, which in turn will allow them to farm on the existing land as opposed to looking for “untouched” lands.  

There are several single-use items that I used to regularly use.  Those being straws and vegetable bags.  I do not remember when, but I came across an article, just about straws and how our single-use straws affect the environment.  And the visuals changed me.  I have since bought the paper straws, that I used to not like, and reusable straws.  For my vegetable bags, I have bought additional glass containers of different sizes.  I think me being more conscious of waste, has resulted in less ‘excess’ foods being refrigerated because I have been buying less, and just making more produce runs.   

I enjoy using smaller plates and silverware for my meals.  Ironically, for the past couple of years, I have been using the regular size plates way more than I have been using the smaller ones.  When using smaller plates, at least for me, there are some personal benefits. For one, I put less on my plate.  That makes me a little pickier as to how much of what I serve myself.  I have been paying attention more to the types of foods I buy, and what nutritional value I am actually getting from what’s on my plate and now, I have been more conscious about the waste aspect than I ever was before.  These choices are helping me become healthier from the inside out.