Hello 👋, my fellow night owls, it's midnight here, and these thoughts kept me occupied.
As I lay on my bed this silent night 🌃, I can't help but go back to the thought I had this afternoon while I was preparing my family dinner. When I put the bell peppers inside the grater, I kept asking myself, Where are the bell peppers I used to know just two years ago? The ones that gave your stew and jollof rice a beautiful red color. As I grated my peppers 🌶️🫑 and tomatoes, I couldn't seem to find any trace of the reddish bell peppers. I asked myself, What are we eating nowadays?
I used to be very excited about the reddish and delicious taste of my bell and chili peppers in my food just two years ago, but now I almost cannot tell the difference between the reddishness of my tomatoes and bell peppers; the taste is not what it used to be either. Is anyone not alarmed? Because I am.
The fertilizer in our food these days is simply too much. Are you paying attention to the taste of our staple rice? The beans, okra, and even yams. Our catfish 🐟 is not left out. They taste like something I can't describe, as most parts of their naturalness are getting lost. Don't even let me get started with our fruits 🍓 and vegetables these days; their taste is not far from chaff.
My parents were farmers, and I used to work on the farm while growing up, but how food used to taste back in those days is gradually becoming a thing of memory, which worries me. How far are these people willing to go in the name of modifying our foods? What is our food going to taste like in the next five to ten years?
I know what you might be thinking 🤔 — oh Funshee, why can't you grow your food? Let's face it, can everyone grow their own food — like all the food items? Let's not forget that not everyone has access to farmable land, and some who used to have vast land are no longer safe, thanks to insecurity in most parts of this part of the globe 🌎.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I'm beginning to feel like our food sector is under a deliberate attack. The government does not seem to care about all these, nor do the majority of the populace.
I really wish we could go back to the time when apples 🍎 used to taste like apples, when tomatoes, potatoes, and every other food used to taste natural.
What can we do?
If you live in a house with extra space or can access farmable, safe land, grow your vegetables or any other farm produce you can grow. I think this is the only way for now. Imagine if a significant number of people could key into growing their own food, the demand for unhealthy farm products would reduce, and who knows, maybe that would send a message to our farmers and every concerned key holder to start going back to producing farm produce the natural way. Until then, stay safe out there.
Wow, it's getting to 4 a.m. over here; let me go back and catch some sleep before the start of my day. Bye, my fellow night owls 🦉.
All images used are mine @funshee✍️🙏❣️
