Articles classés dans 'Sénégal' ↓

It’s so interesting that the reason we came here was for FOOD security and FOOD sovereignty. We are also pushing the education of Rights to FOOD. All of the topics based on FOOD, yet it seems to me they know more about food here than we do individually. Food isn’t only a way to live, but it’s a way of life.

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So if food is in need of defense and security, from whom or what do they need defending, is the question that I ponder strongly? I myself have a vague idea from who it would need defending, but according to the book “In Defense of Food”, by Micheal Pollan, brings up the idea that, with the influence of “Scientific Nutritionism”, we have shift our eating lifestyle from not just eating food, but to eating valuable nutrients. With that I feel we are becoming more dependent on the advice of nutritionist, and as a result delivering a “Narrow concept of physical health”(Pollan, M). He continues to say that food appears to be now a matter of “Biology” eating scientifically by the nutrient and the number under guidance of “experts”. To me food is equivalent to eating: for pleasure, with family, as a community, including expressing our cultural identity. Eating to me has been about culture, bodily health, but with nutritionism on the rise has changed our eating and I believe has elevated sickness (diabetes, obesity etc.) in the lives of eaters. Many people have access to food but with the advice of nutritionist, in my opinion may not necessarily or exactly have access to Food, nonetheless the idea that nutrients is more important than food itself. But with our minds conditioned to think nutrients instead of food; could this be a lack of food security or a sense of insecurity? So what is food security? Is it eating the right amounts of cholesterol, eating saturated fats, eating high or low amounts of calories or, is it having the accessibility to eat whatever we want whenever we want without scientific nutritional values hanging over our heads which “secure” our eating. Is it “secure” to say, eat only saturated fats, lower your cholesterol in order to eat healthy. Or is it secure to say, that it has become a sense of agribusiness to make processed foods that contain the suggested amount of nutrients to maintain “good health”. Why does it matter the amount of nutrients consumed in a single meal and why not focus on just eating natural grown foods that are God’s gift to mankind. While the majority of Americans scramble to eat carbohydrates or foods full in protein, the majority of Africans scramble to eat food period.

Two weeks ago, we begun our Micro-Gardening project in Liberte 6. Our trainer as well as the brain behind the project, Mme Diouf, known as Mama Africa, started out by teaching us how to build a table from scratch. The sheer experience of assembling these tables, adding the tube that will evacuate the excess water, cutting the wood and hammering in the nails, was empowering. What amazed us the most was the substitute for earth ; peanut shells and rice . The vegetables, fruits and herbs cultivated are 100% organic and pesticide free. The material used as an earth alternative is waste from foods commonly used in Senegalese gastronomy, and thus, the costs involved in the project are reduced. The main expense remains the material used to build the table, as well as the initial purchase of seeds. The beauty of the project lays in its absolute self sustainability; once the tables are built, they can be reused for every other cultivation, and once the plants are harvested, their seeds are cultivated for the next batch. Mme Diouf fervently believes in training as many people as possible, she believes micro gardening can be the difference between being malnourished and being well fed. “Le Micro- jardinage peut eradiquer la faim en Afrique.” she says. Micro-gardening can eradicate hunger from Africa. Whether this agriculture project can be maintained at a larger scale is questionable. One thing is sure, those involved in the project experience its benefits everyday; working under the glaring sun, rain or shine, the women and men supplement their nutrition with fresh produce from the garden. Situated smack in the Urban midst of Dakar, Micro-gardening is like the pebble that creates ripples on the water; because of its high visibility, a population that has been removed from agriculture can now participate and experience food, from earth to the table.

Voici deux des vidéos du Forum ouvert de la jeunesse qui s’est déroulé dans le cadre du Forum social mondial 2011 à Dakar, et dont le montage a été accompli par les stagiaires d’Alternatives, des groupes du Sénégal et de l’Équateur, dans le cadre d’une formation!

C’est dans les rebuts de moutons morts de Tabaski -précisément entre une oreille et un foie- que l’équipe Sénégal veut souhaiter un joyeux Noël à ses confrères et consoeurs dispersés sur le globe. Vous nous manquez tous beaucoup. Nous avons eu une pensée spéciale pour vous en décorant notre sapin il a deux jours. Pour ceux qui seraient jaloux du fait que nous possédons un sapin… nous tenons à préciser qu’il  est à l’image de son pays d’accueil: rachitique. Sa seule boule de Noël (semblant d’ailleurs un peu trop lourde pour lui) est le fruit d’un acte clandestin perpétré au centre-ville de Dakar.

Contrairement à vous tous, nous pouvons nous réjouir de ne pas avoir passé le réveillon dans la solitude la plus totale. En effet, coquerelles et souris étaient de la partie dans cet appartement affublé du sobriquet Cucaracha 2000.

Ceux et celles qui s’inquiéteraient de notre intégration seront rassurés de voir qu’une transformation majeure est en cours: Cliquez ici!

Joyeux Noël à tous!

Dommmpierre et Amadou(ou Équipe gratte ta gale)