seeds and dietary trends

Today marks 2 weeks in Ghana. Still at the guest house in Legon, but plan to go by the house in Baatsona (near Tema) this afternoon. It’s taken this long to get oriented and over jet lag. 

Last week I spoke to my cookbook collaborator Barbara Baëta and we plan to meet this coming week. Also, started reading an interesting article in The Lancet, a respected online journal, on evaluating trends in global dietary patterns. Ghanaians are thrilled to claim that in it Ghana’s foods are listed as the 6th best in the world. Will study the article for answers to the many questions in my head and share my reactions.

I'm to give a guest lecture at the University of Ghana on Wednesday, and have started some seeds to plant at the house. Looking forward to an herb garden mixing seeds from both my worlds (Ghana and the U.S.), along with fruits and vegetables. The rainy season is just beginning.

Met up briefly with a young woman, Dziffa Ametam, visiting here from New York for a number of months. She's advising and interviewing young Ghanaian entrepreneurs. This includes those setting up an organic produce delivery service (sounds similar to Freshly's Farms) called "Just Fresh" in Osu, one of the projects supported by the AKO Foundation. It’s very refreshing to see the energy and enthusiasm among the youth and their dreams and plans, especially in the area of sustainable and local agriculture and entrepreneurship.

Well, the power is off again, and I need to conserve my computer power. Will check in again soon. Still not missing the snow and cold in Pennsylvania.