Recommendation Number One: Of Broccoli and Tears

Food has always been an large part of my life.

My mother is an excellent cook and spent almost all of her life preparing delicious meals for enjoyment and profit. She would have annual bbqs and almost every holiday culminated with a lavish meal at our home. She is the go-to woman for meals for every reason and every season. My childhood is filled with waking up on mornings to the sound of potspoons clanking against pots and the sweet aroma of whatever amazing dish my mother would be up to that day. That woman adds love as her secret ingredient to every pot.

Some pictures that don't do my mother's range or her cooking justice at all. Just imagine this but 100 times better.

I remember when she was driving down a street where some guys were liming on the block and this one guy said comically, “Aye, goodday... goodday...BURGER!”

As you can see, her face is synonymous with food.

Mummy and Tyrell (my nephew)

“If is one thing I will never deprive anyone is food” she always says. You can never go hungry at my mother’s house. Her legacy is food. In the midst of all our hard times, we were never in want for food. Mindblowingly delicious food. My mother can make food fit for majesty out of very little.

I never had a meal at home where I didn’t eat because I didn’t like the taste of the food or where I wasn’t allowed seconds (and yuh know I took advantage of this feature). The concept of bad food or no food is foreign to me. Even when I moved away from home, food was always a phone call away. Countless times my mother would drive 1 hour from home just to bring a bowl of food and that would, of course, brighten my entire week.  

Almost like a hobby, food brings me joy. Of course, no one is ever sad when your mouth is filled with an explosion of flavour, right?

I joke that my body is now evidence that food has always been a source of pleasure for me. I am pleasantly plump. Full and fluffy. Considerably cuddly. Horizantally lit. Lol. In other words, I’m now fat. Thankfully, I no longer carry the dread or hatred for my body that I once did and many young girls do. I know the amazing things that this body is capable of. I am proud of my body as it was in the past, is in the present and will be in the future.

Further, I despise the idea that my worth is measured by how well I fit into society’s mold or how “effable” (not affable) men find me. Who, then, would I be at 70 years? A worthless woman because men are not attracted to me or ….something more. I prefer a damn great deal more.

I also come from a region where we place a lot of pride in our food (evidenced by the heavy debate between chicken curry and curry chicken. (I am sure I don’t need to explain my stance on that). Food is clearly entwined with Caribbean patriotism.

On TV, I would see people being forced to eat their veggies with disgusted faces but I never felt that pain because my veggies were always melted into a hot green, slimy yet delicious bowl of callaloo or sauteed with ginger, onion, garlic and dry seasoning. My point is that food has always been a pleasant experience for me and I think this extends to the region. On the other hand, though, almost 60% of the population of our region is overweight.

My refusal to accept society’s measure of my worth and the Caribbean’s pride in our food however, do not make up for the fact that a great number of us die from lifestyle diseases. The food that we are eating is not contributing to our health.

I have tried many ways to lose weight. I know that I am not alone as I have existed in spaces with predominantly women all my life. We WANT to lose weight. Despite the fame of ‘rolly pollies’ and ‘thick sauces’ with many Caribbean men and the pride with which we hold our fluffy bodies, we know that this version of ourselves isn’t the healthiest. Many of us feel the extra weight coming on and we’ve tried countless ways to get it off but it goes and it comes back or it just never leaves.

Are we just lazy? Anyone who would say this has surely never seen our savannahs, parks and gyms on mornings, evenings and weekends or walked into DVD stores and seen the often replenished shelves filled with Shaun T and Jillian Michaels' videos. Or seen the success that many athletes have with their bootcamp type clubs across the country. We want to lose weight and we put effort into it. So, then, why are we rotund?

After being in Japan for almost three months, I feel like I had an ‘aha’ moment a few weeks ago. Trinidad and Tobago is the 6th fattest country worldwide. Japan has the lowest rate of obesity (WHO).

In Japanese schools, everyone (teachers included) eat kyushoku (school lunch). The lunch is prepared under the close supervision of nutritionists off site and brought to the schools. Students then serve the lunches. It is quite beautiful to see these little students hauling heavy pots and pans donning their aprons and hats, serving each other and their teachers then all sitting to have a meal together. At some point during the meal, a student or two would stand and say where each item of the meal came from. Service and gratitude practiced daily.

Kyushoku being dilligently served

Typical kyushoku

On my first day at my first school, things were served that I was not accustomed to (duh!). I had read online that as a teacher in Japan, you are supposed to set the example and finish all your food and, being the overthinker that I am, I started to panic about how I would deal with the food. I didn’t want to offend anyone but I was used to perfect paratha and pelau and the mild taste and strange texture of the food on my plate was unsettling. The idea of forcing myself to eat that which may be healthy but not pleasurable scared me. Like, really. I almost felt like crying. I could not do it. I once watched a video where a guy was maybe 500 pounds overweight and would cry when presented with broccolli. This was me. I was that guy. I only view food as a pleasure-giver. Long story short, I asked my supervisor to cancel my lunches and instead, I am now taking my own lunches to school.

I don't regret my decision because it has made me see things about myself that I had not noticed before..

It’s now been two months removed from that incident and with some reflection, I think that that shows exactly why we have an obesity problem in our country. It’s even deeper than food choices and policies. It goes straight down to our relationship with food. All of our food is comfort food. We, at least me, never had to force myself to eat anything that wasn’t enjoyable. I’ve always seen food as happy time. Enjoyable time. Blissful time. I eat what I want when I want.  It’s like my parents split up and I’ve been living with the parent who believes that every minute of every day should be all fun, all the time. No discipline. No structure. No doing something you don’t like because it’s the right thing to do. Just enjoyment.

Maybe I could benefit from having a more balanced view of food. Maybe all of our kids can benefit from a more balanced view of food. Maybe, just maybe, our mindset towards food could do with some work. I do believe that Japanese kids are taught this. From a young, they are not allowed certain foods in their schools that are bad for them and they know that they must eat all of their food or they would have to listen to their teachers patiently saying ‘ganbatte’ until they finish. They are trained into a healthy lifestyle. They are treated with care and closely monitored as though they really are the future of the nation.

Meanwhile, I ate chocolates almost everyday of my primary and secondary school years. (Shout out to JET chocolates, Cheers, Ping Pong Catch, Peanola, Orion, Twin and my favourite Bonanza). Japanese kids are SHOCKED when I tell them this. Chocolates and other sugary things are strictly banned from their schools. Zero tolerance. Meanwhile , every couple of years someone laments that our children are too fat and getting fatter and we simply continue with life. How is this showing that we care about them and their future? Is anyone at all monitoring what our kids are eating and drinking? Do we really believe that our children are our future? Are we really serious about reducing mortality rates in our nation?

What can happen if we take a no tolerance approach to unhealthy food, monitor student lunches closely and encourage school wide exercise daily?  Well, amazing things. Our students would learn healthy habits that they would keep for a lifetime. In a couple years, we would have a population that knows how to live a healthy life.  Our population would live longer. Our students would learn discipline and we know that this is needed desperately in our nation.

Yes, sometimes you will get a slamming meal that makes you happy to be alive but also, sometimes you just have to 'ganbatte' and finish your veggies.

-Ganbatte means to stubbornly persevere.