In Which I Write About Food

As we adjust to life in Tanzania, one of the things we have been enjoying (among many things) is buying and eating local food.  Here is a great article on the reasons and benefits to eating local.  My favorite reason from the article is reason number one – local food just tastes better.

The school where I worked before, the Western Academy of Beijing, had a great unit in Grade 7 called “Food Kilometers” where the students studied the issues related to where food comes from, particularly from far away versus close and the impact of each.  I found it to be a fascinating unit and this post is dedicated to the Grade 7 students of WAB.

And here are a few photos of some of the local foods that we buy:

Orange juice from Dar es Salaam.  I like the list of ingredients and that it must be consumed within 5 days.  Why?  No preservatives.

Just a few fruits and vegetables.  Notice they are “normal” size.  No Frankenfood here.  Not pictured: mango and pineapple – the best fruits by far here.

The dairy and eggs section.  Milk, cheese, and eggs.  All 3 come from farms in Tanzania.

Close up of the back of the milk.  It is very local, but the bummer is that the package is plastic as opposed to recyclable glass, although the plastic can be recycled as well…

The cheese which tastes amazing.  Again, very local to Dar es Salaam.  I like the short list of ingredients.

Local yoghurt.

The sandwich meat here comes from our neighbor to the north, Kenya.  So far, the best meat seems to come from Kenya.  A little further away, but great tasting.

Beef from Tanzania.

Local flour.

And finally, a favorite – a sweet, but not too sweet treat from Zanzibar – coconut peanut bars with spices.

• 2012/09/02
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